Boise State v. Hawaii: Five NFL draft prospects to watch
By Seth Steere
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Curtis Weaver Defensive End
Scouting Report
Curtis Weaver has a ton of fans in the draft community, and rightfully so. He has totaled 13.5 sacks this year alone and 34 over his three-year stint with the Broncos. It took Weaver just 32 games to steal the record for the most sacks (29.5) in the Mountain West conference, recently held by TCU’s — now a Big-12 school — Jerry Hughes.
Weaver has good size (6’3″ 265 pounds) projecting to the next level but carries most his weight in his upper half, lacking the explosiveness in his lower half that you’d like to see from an edge defender/pass rusher. Although he doesn’t have the muscle in his lower half, he makes up for it with his grip strength and dominance with his upper body.
His upper-half doesn’t need much work other than adding a few more counter moves to his repertoire; it’s the lower half that gets him in trouble. Against the run, he isn’t able to anchor down and is often forced out of most run plays by opposing linemen. In order for him to be successful against the run, he’s going to need to transfer some of the weight he holds in his gut to his legs.
Even though he doesn’t have the ability to stand his ground against the run, he does a good job of getting upfield and setting the edge against the run. He tends to keep himself in position, not over pursing or getting too aggressive allowing for the help to arrive from the inside.
For some, Weaver is a first-round talent, but personally, don’t see the traits that you look for in a first-round edge defender, nonetheless, he is still a talented prospect worth keeping an eye on in this match-up.