Danny Shelton has emerged as a prospect to watch for the 2015 draft with a highly productive start to his senior season. (Photo: Joe Nicholson — USA Today Sports)
BBD Contributor: Brian Krosky
Entering the seventh week of the college football, Washington defensive tackle Danny Shelton is tied for third in the nation with seven sacks and third outright with 10 tackles for loss.
Those numbers are typically reserved for edge defenders, not nose tackles listed at 6’2″ and 339 pounds.
Playing a position at which he is responsible for two gaps and consistently sees double teams, his production is incredibly valuable.
What Shelton Does Well
Shelton has a combination of strength and discipline that creates disruption.
The following play shows Shelton winning a battle against two linemen simultaneously, exemplifying his great hand skills.
The impact on the result of the play was minimal, but one can see Shelton’s potential of defeating multiple blockers.
This next play is Shelton at his best. He penetrates a lineman forward with his lower body, anticipates a pass being thrown and attempts to swat it, but eventually gets to the quarterback to wrap him up behind the line of scrimmage.
When Shelton can drive forward with his lower body in one-on-one situations, he can be lethal.
When playing in the trenches, it’s imperative to have good awareness on what’s unfolding on a given play. The following clip demonstrates great attentiveness from Shelton. Noticing a guard pulling off a block, Shelton immediately sees a screen unfold and quickly eludes blockers to bring a ballcarrier down.
Often players will try and sack the quarterback before he gets the ball out, but Shelton plays smart. He makes the best decision and gets a great result.
Where Shelton Needs to Improve
Shelton sometimes plays with his pad level too high and lets players that are smaller than him control him. He can be great with his upper body but he can be too over-reliant on it. He needs to work on driving with his leg and pushing through opponents with his arms. If he perform this consistently, against players he’ll most likely continue to outweigh at the NFL, he can be more disruptive.
In the following play, Shelton does a poor job of lowering his pads to drive the lineman, and the lineman is able to control Shelton’s movement. Even though he was near the ball carrier, he had no shot because the lineman dictated his action.
This next clip shows Shelton trying to elude a blocker but ending up in a double team instead.
Shelton will sometimes only have one-gap responsibilities, but does himself no favors when he puts himself in a disadvantageous situation with two or more blockers.
Projecting Shelton’s Draft Stock
Shelton does what he’s supposed to do: he occupies space and takes on multiple blockers. Even when he is blocked, he still causes disruption. Shelton moves very well laterally for someone his size, especially in the trenches.
However, Shelton’s production is also aided by the talent on the team around him. The Huskies have three other potential first-round picks on their defense—linebacker/safety Shaq Thompson, edge defender Hau’oli Kikaha and cornerback Marcus Peters—and those players have made it easier for Shelton to get playmaking opportunities.
Shelton doesn’t do anything great, but he does a lot well. His ceiling is not extremely high, but his floor is not low either. Some teams might see him only as an early-down player, but he has shown this year that he is capable of being disruptive on all three downs.
Best equipped to play nose tackle in a 3-4 scheme, he would need to shed weight and make a transition to play 4-3 defensive tackle. Even so, Shelton should hear his name called early in the 2015 NFL draft. A fringe first-round prospect, Sheldon should be drafted somewhere between the 26th and 50th picks.
