2020 NFL Draft profile: TCU DT Ross Blacklock

TCU was home to a 2019 first-round pick in L.J. Collier, but can another stud defensive lineman, Ross Blacklock, make it back-to-back first-rounders for the Horned Frogs?

The NFL Draft is nothing if not full of surprises. Whether it’s Daniel Jones in the top 10 or the agonizing fall of past stars like Aaron Rodgers, nothing is a guarantee on draft day.

One of the biggest surprises in the 2019 NFL Draft came by way of perhaps the most unpredictable draft-day team, the Seattle Seahawks. John Schneider and company selected TCU standout L.J. Collier with the 29th overall pick in the first round. While Collier has yet to make an on-field impact for Seattle, the Horned Frogs could very well hear another one of their alumni called in the first round in 2020. He’s a name you will probably continue to see rise up draft boards around the league and the subject of our in-depth scouting profile this week: defensive tackle Ross Blacklock.

Ross Blacklock, DT, TCU

Tale of the tape:

• Height: 6-foot-4
• Weight: 305
• Hand: TBD
• Arm: TBD

Background

Standing out as a high school football player in the state of a Texas is an accomplishment in and of itself, and Blacklock certainly did so. He was a U.S. Army All-America game participant and coveted four-star recruit from Elkins High School in Missouri City, and he ultimately chose the Horned Frogs despite strong interest from Texas A&M, Alabama and Fresno State.

After redshirting his first year on campus, Blacklock went on to earn Freshman All-American honors and was named Big 12 Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2017. His sophomore campaign was over before it even started after suffering an Achilles injury during non-contact drills in training camp.

He was back to his usual self in 2019, however, and finished the season with 40 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. After opting to skip his senior season, Blacklock now finds himself among the top interior defensive line prospects in the entire class and a potential first-round pick.

Strengths

Blacklock is built like a refrigerator that comes to take your food instead of holding it for you. He’s made a pretty remarkable body transformation since entering the Horned Frogs program, playing leaner and with much more upper-body strength than in his high school days.

He’s always been an outstanding athlete for his size, but Blacklock is able to combine that ability with excellent technique to make plays in opposing backfields.

Hand usage is critical for the success of defensive linemen at every level of football. As they say, “If you beat the hands, you beat the man,” and Blacklock shows a great example of this in the clip above. Winning with quickness, power and exceptional balance allows him to keep offensive linemen guessing and consistently off-balance. Heck, not even getting a head start can stop this man.

One of the things I’m most impressed with about Blacklock is his ability to get skinny and blow up gaps to disrupt opposing offenses.

Blacklock’s tape is absolutely littered with plays like this. Once he gets set in a four-point stance, offenses can pretty much forget about trying to go anywhere near his assigned gap. And even when he’s not making the play himself, he very rarely uses ground and at a minimum can force the play into directions it wasn’t intended to go.

Weaknesses

The obvious red flag here is the 2018 Achilles tear, but he sure as heck didn’t look like someone who had suffered that type of injury last season. Regardless, teams will thoroughly scrutinize his medical history to make sure they’re comfortable using a high pick on Blacklock. I’ll also be interested to see his weigh-in at the NFL Draft Combine, as that could have an impact on whether teams playing odd fronts see a future for him as a true nose tackle.

As far as on-field play is concerned, Blacklock could stand to get better at working off of double teams and continuing to improve his pad level.

He’s clearly the emotional heartbeat for a defense and sometimes that passion can cause him to make some less-than-ideal decisions in the heat of the moment.

Plays like this are just as easy to call in the NFL as in college and could lead to costly penalties and potential suspensions in the future.

Evaluation

It’s pretty easy to love the toolbox Ross Blacklock shows up to play with between the lines. He checks all the boxes from a physical standpoint and plays with freakish power and lateral agility. In my eyes, Blacklock is best suited for a role as a 3-technique but certainly has enough versatility to thrive in a number of different defensive schemes.

He’ll have to “win his medicals” at the Combine, but make no mistake about it: Blacklock is a first-round caliber talent who should make an instant impact in his rookie season. Expect teams like the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings to be highly interested in the former Horned Frog near the end of the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Draft Diagnosis: Late first round-early second round