Jaquelin Roy 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the LSU IDL

Jaquelin Roy, LSU: 6’3”, 305 pounds; JR.

A top-50 overall recruit in 2020, Jaquelin Roy immediately saw action as a rotational player on the LSU D-line and was a full-time starter by year two. Over his first 18 career games, he recorded ten tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries (plus one forced). This past season, he reached a career-best 49 total tackles, with 3.5 of those for loss, but one half a sack.

Jaquelin Roy scout report: Strengths

Jaquelin Roy of Louisiana State participates in a drill during the NFL Combine

+ Jaquelin Roy has pretty freakish natural strength, I’ve seen him just throw 320-pound guards off him after the play was over a couple of times.

+ Offers a trunky lower half and can control his space in the run game.

+ When dealing with down-blocks, he digs that opposite foot into the turf and drops the near one, in order to absorb force.

+ However, he’s really at his best as a penetrating one-technique, where he can take away the front-side and force premature cutbacks.

+ Routinely squeezes blockers into the action to plug up gaps/lanes and can push guys off himself late, digging underneath one shoulder-pad.

+ Also has some pretty impressive lateral agility to work down the line against zone-blocking and can then fall back into the opposite gap as the back cuts it upfield or rips and flattens as the ball goes wide.

+ Displays the contact balance to stay upright as he takes bumps from the side and does not get off his landmarks.

+ Continues to occupy two bodies on combo-blocks and can do so whilst staying square, rather than having to attack one man.

+ Great quickness as an interior rusher, with a forceful rip move to drive through one shoulder of pass-protectors.

+ You see him really whack the upper body of blockers sideways when he connects that initial club with their elbow and has room to become more dangerous as he learns how to follow that properly with the opposite arm.

+ Uses one-handed stabs and long-arms to test the balance of interior linemen.

+ When he gets guards to commit to turning towards him shooting up the B-gap, he can crash through the inside shoulder or swim that way effectively.

+ Can power through one shoulder of the center and flash to the quarterback early, as well as get there late with the arm-over, if he sees a path for himself.

+ Had a 81.2 overall PFF grade, with a 89.6 in the pass-rush department in 2021, and was close to those on a higher snap count this past season.

+ Regularly saw three or four hands on passing downs, forcing him to switch intro control rushes, where he tracks the quarterback’s movement pretty well and is able to press off blockers consistently as he sees that guy try to take off.

+ You see him close ground in a hurry for a guy his size as he’s slipping the blocker and chases after QBs pulling the ball on bootlegs.

Jaquelin Roy scout report: Weaknesses

Running back Treshaun Ward #8 of the Florida State Seminoles is stopped by defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy #99 of the LSU Tigers

– Jaquelin Roy isn’t a real “play-maker” in terms of beating blockers by countering their steps, or disengaging in time to create negative plays (testing in the bottom 11th percentile for both the agility drills is part in that).

– Still has to find a better balance dealing with zone-blockers, where he’s sometimes too hell-bent on crossing their face and creates cutback lanes that way. Other times, he could easily mirror and maintain leverage to the play-side gap on those.

– Way too many wasted pass-rush reps, lacking a defined plan or reliable counters if the initial approach doesn’t work.

– There are several snaps, where he’s basically just hand-fighting with the center on the spot and doesn’t stress them laterally.

– Has to do a better job of pro-actively countering the hands of blockers sliding his way and as they re-fit, he has to continue to do combat and take back control.

Jaquelin Roy scout report: Grade

Physically there’s not much to find issues with looking at Jaquelin Roy. He carries 305-315 pounds well, with a plus get-off for that size, the ability to own his space against solo-blocks and some impressive moments of getting up the field in passing situations.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t quite found that knack for how and when to disengage from blocks in order to make many plays in the run game, while his approach rushing the passer leaves things to be desired.

To me, he can become the best version of himself shaded to the edge of the center in an even front, where his ability to win the A-gap and force cutbacks with penetration or avoid being scooped/reached on the backside can really shine. His value on longer downs will depend on how well he takes teaching and is able to dictate terms with his hands and power. Slightly inside the top-100 picks seems like the appropriate value for me.

Grade: Late third / early fourth round

You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Tyree Wilson (EDGE), Texas Tech; Will Anderson Jr. (EDGE), Alabama; Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR), Ohio; Zay Flowers (WR), Boston; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Quentin Johnston (WR), TCU; Zach Charbonnet (RB), UCLA; Bijan Robinson (RB), Texas.

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