Top 10 interior defensive linemen in the 2019 NFL Draft

#8 Gerald Willis III, Miami

Willis creates problems with that quick arm-over swim-move off the snap combined with the feet to step around and get into the backfield

This former first-team All-American from Louisiana started his collegiate career at Florida but was dismissed from the Gators for multiple transgressions after eight games a reserve. Willis saw action as a reserve once again when he transferred to Miami, but took a leave of absence to deal with family issues in 2017.

When he returned to the team last season he was a different player, earning second-team All-American honors due to 18 tackles for loss and four sacks.

This kid finally had a full season in 2018 and dominated early on. At 6’2”, a little over 300 pounds, Willis has the heavy hands and anchor strength to control the point of attack, but also excellent quickness to be an inside disruptor.

He shows very active hands with a powerful club and quick rip or swims to go along with it and has excellent balance for a guy his size.

Willis creates problems with that quick arm-over swim-move off the snap combined with the feet to step around and get into the backfield. He also uses that go back-door on some running plays and chase down the ball-carrier.

Willis ran a bunch of stunts on base downs and had some run fits, where he got to a spot and just stood in there. He created enormous havoc for the LSU offensive line in the season-opener and earned an elite run-defense grade by Pro Football in 2018 with 41 defensive stops.

Willis has a lot of twitch and wiggle for a guy his size. He uses what almost is a jab-step and crosses the face of guards with a quick swim to free himself and bury opposing quarterbacks. The big guy lined up at true nose with three down-linemen quite in a bit in passing situations and dealt with a lot of double-teams, yet still was an effective pass-rusher with 23 additional pressures to his four sacks.

He can transition from one move into the other with another offensive linemen sliding over pretty fluidly at this point. Willis has experience with a bunch of tackle-tackle twists. Even though he had just two pass-deflections last season, he seems to have a good feel for when to put his paws up to take away passing lanes. Willis also shows a lot of hustle to chase guys down towards the sideline or jump on a pile late.

The biggest area for concern for Willis is the way he pops up out of his stance. He gets caught standing up when that swim move off the snap doesn’t land or he gets combo-blocked and someone gets under his rib cage from the side.

A lot of times it seems like Willis is content with banging heads with those offensive linemen instead of countering the blocking scheme and allows himself to be shielded from the play. Chris Lindstrom and Boston College did a good job getting hands inside Willis’ chest and largely neutralized him.

He is a little too much of a one-trick pony with that swim-move and lacks a quality counter, plus he stops his feet and rush while trying to look over his blocker in passing situations to find the quarterback at times.

Willis has missed almost three seasons of college football due to injuries and personal issues and even last year he missed the Canes’ bowl game due to a hand injury.

This is a somewhat projection-based prospect with tremendous upside but very little tape to show for it. At times it seems like Willis is more about creating chaos than actually making plays, but his combination of quickness and power could make him a disruptive force along with some team’s defensive line.

If he works on coming off the ball with better leverage and knocks back people the way he is capable of more consistently, I really like him going forward with that violent style of play.