Despite having a strong start to his senior season, Jonathan Greenard is still being underrated because of his lack of athletic traits.
Heading into the 2019-2020 college football season, there were several intriguing edge defenders with tremendous upside: Chase Young, AJ Epenesa, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Julian Okwara among others. One name that fell under the bridge, was Louisville transfer Jonathan Greenard.
In the first game of the season for the Louisville Cardinals, against a formidable opponent — Alabama — Greenard suffered a ligament injury in his wrist and was forced to sit the entire season out. He was coming off a strong campaign the year before, racking up 15.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks as a redshirt sophomore.
With his former defensive coordinator (Todd Grantham) taking a job with the Gators, Greenard decided to follow and it has certainly appeared to pay off. In 9 games for Florida, he has put up great numbers, 12 tackles for loss and 6 sacks.
The product he puts on the field speaks for itself and still, he finds himself outside of the first round in most mock drafts (including my own, but that will change). He may not have the athletic traits you look for in a first-round edge rusher, but his ability to win in multiple ways — against top-tier talent in the SEC — should be enough to get him in the first-round conversation.
However, it has not.