2021 NFL Draft: Why Gregory Rousseau needs the College Football season
By Seth Steere
What another season could do for Rousseau
As the season progressed you began to see him start to pick on up tricks. Instead of just bull-rushing straight at the defender, he would first start by widening the rush angle and then attacking downhill at tackle. Widening the angle gives Rousseau options, he can go inside, outside, or through — and he often chooses through the blocker.
He began understanding leverage and how to use his long arms as levers; the more and more Rousseau plays, the more he begins to pick up pieces of the game. Just a redshirt sophomore, last season was just Rousseau’s first full season playing off the edge; getting another year under his belt is a much-needed box for the Miami phenom to check off.
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The college football season is extremely important for Rousseau because it will give him the time that he needs to develop his game before he’s thrust onto an NFL field. Even if there are no out-of-conference games, live reps are important and can’t be simulated in a practice environment no matter how hard a coach tries. Without football, what appears to be a top-5 pick could end up falling out of the top-15.