Scouting Profile: Elijah Roberts - EDGE - SMU
Sales Pitch: Thick powerful edge rusher with alignment versatility. Lacks the speed or bend to be an impactful rusher but projects as a solid rotation player.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Elijah Roberts is a former 4-Star recruit from the state of Florida. He spent his first three seasons at Miami (FL), where he was primarily a reserve player with one career start. Roberts transferred to SMU prior to 2023 and went on to start 27 consecutive games, putting up 130 pressures and 21 sacks in two seasons, receiving All-Conference honors in both campaigns.
Roberts is a thick powerful defender with long arms. He primarily aligned as a stand up outside rush backer for the Mustangs, but showed the ability to slide up and down the line. SMU particularly liked to move him around on 3rd downs, letting him rush from standup alignments over interior players, where he holds the traits advantage. Roberts primarily wins with power as a pass rusher, whether he is aligned outside the tackle or guard. He does an excellent job of converting speed to power to squeeze the pocket with a bull-rush, or smash his way through the inside shoulder. Roberts is a stout run defender on the edge who plays with good leverage and hand usage to hold his ground. He has the length to extend and shed to quickly leverage his gap and shows a dynamite arm over for quick penetration.
Roberts is a very big edge but he sacrifices a lot of athleticism for his size. His thick frame lacks twitch or bend, which greatly limits him as a pass rusher. Roberts was a stand-up edge in college but lacks the burst to win with speed consistently at the next level. Tackles that are able to anchor versus his strength are easily able to mirror him in their pass sets. Even when he is able to get initial wins, he lacks the bend to dip around the corner into the pocket. As a run defender Roberts is an aggressive player, but can run himself out of plays. Blockers that force him to react on the move are able to get around and seal him. Roberts lack of movement skills really show up on perimeter runs, where he lacks the redirect ability to cut off ball carriers to the sideline. He also struggles to secure runners as a tackler in space, sporting a 18% career missed tackler rate.
Roberts profiles best as a 4i in an odd front. His size and power rush profile fits better inside the tackle than being a standup rush backer like he was in college. Roberts limited athletic profile and role change will limit his draft ceiling but he still projects as a quality rotation piece who should go early Day-3.