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Because there has been such a high correlation in recent years between the top collegians invited to Valley Ranch for pre-draft visits and who the Cowboys end up drafting, its important to know as much as possible about these players. As a service to you BTB is providing a series of detailed scouting reports on each of these targets. Today the series continues with our look at Oregon State Edge Rusher, Scott Crichton.
Name: Scott Crichton
Position: Edge Rusher
School: Oregon State
Height: 6’3"
Weight: 273 lbs
Games Studied: Utah, Stanford, Boise St, Cal
Measurables vs others at his position:
Note: This spider graph provides a visual representation of a players measurable traits, and combine results. The filled in area of the chart, as well as the number in the light grey circle represents the percentile among the player's peers by position. A score of 85 here represents that out of every 100 players at his position, the player has a better result in that test than 85 of those 100.
Pass Game:
The pass-rushing highlight of the four games I watched in studying Scott Crichton was a rush in the Boise St game. Crichton lined up at left defensive end and as he came on the rush gave a hard jab step with his right foot to the inside, and when the OT tried to slow his kick-slide to stop the inside rush, he took a hard step back to the outside, and used a quick arm over, or swim move to clear the OT quickly and get in on the sack. Considering this was the first game I watched I was extremely excited to see more of those types of moves.
However, there aren’t many other examples of this type of prowess. He is a very good player, who comes after the QB hard, and plays all over the defensive line in his rushes. His best trait as a rusher is his motor. He is always working his way to the QB and stays active with his hands and his feet, showing the ability to convert his quickness into power and push the tackle back.
He has a plus first step and gets up the field very well, and that gets him in a good position against the blocker, but his biggest struggle is when the time comes to turn the corner. He doesn’t have great change of direction ability to turn the corner and finish the sack, and because of that you see him running past the QB on his edge rush.
Run Game:
Crichton’s quickness and motor show up against the run as well. He’s a guy who doesn’t stay blocked for long and showed the ability to slant inside when the scheme asked him to and penetrate for a quick tackle for loss. He holds up well against a double team, even when a team like Stanford runs extra O-Linemen on to the field as TE’s and double him. He does a good job of getting into the opponents backfield and making the play when he has a chance.
Conclusion/Cowboys Projection:
The best way I can describe Crichton as a player is the word active. By that I mean that he’s constantly working his way toward the play. This is a trait that coach Garrett and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli will surely value as they seek to improve their defense, particularly their pass rush during the draft next month. I think he’s probably graded in the very top of the second round, with a likelihood that he is drafted somewhere from 25-35 overall. If he makes it to 47 he would be a very good pick there especially if Dallas isn’t able to pick up an edge player in the first round. He is likely an addition to the left (Strong side) defensive end group, although he could probably be serviceable on the right side especially in early downs.
Pro Comparison: Jason Babin, DE, Jacksonville Jaguars, (2004 First Round Pick, #27 Overall, Houston)
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