2018 Raiders Draft Prospect Profile: Edge Harold Landry

Name: Harold Landry

Position: Edge

School: Boston College

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 252 pounds

Arms: 32 ⅞”

Hands: 9 ⅜”

Background

Landry finished his career with 158 tackles, 25 sacks and 10 forced fumbles through four seasons at B.C. He broke school records and received All-American honors in 2016.

Landry returned for his senior year and graduated from school. He registered five sacks in six games in 2017. Last season, he rolled an ankle and played through it in one game but re-injured it a couple of games later and got hurt.

The edge compared himself to Vic Beasley, Von Miller and Khalil Mack at the Combine. Landry lined up as a standup linebacker and defensive end in various shades.

Traits

Athletic Ability

Landry brings solid height, weight or frame that for a defensive end. However, he has the length to play the edge position. The Boston College alumni shows good body control and he is very flexible in the hips.

Plus, he is a very good athlete with ideal agility, acceleration, and power to play the edge. Landry showed that on tape and at the combine. The edge finished in the top at his position in the cone and shuttle drills.

Play Speed

The Boston College edge brings good play speed. He can make up for any lapse in processing with his physical play speed. Landry ran 4.64 40-yard-dash at the combine. On the tape, he shows good play speed in backside pursuit. He also uses this speed to compensate for any time he is stuck on a block too long.

Play Strength

Landry put up 24 reps on the bench press at the combine which proves he is functionally strong. He showed solid strength at the point of attack as he is good at using his length and strong arms to keep his outside should free.

Nonetheless, he can get pushed in 1-on-1s versus bigger and stronger tackles in the run. He also did not show the upper body strength to extend and separate versus the run. Landry needs to improve on translating his strength to power in tackling too. He arm tackles more than you would like.

Strengths

Upfield Burst

Landry is often the first player off the ball. He’s very good at getting upfield, maintaining leverage and beating his blocker out of their stance in the pass and run.

Pass Rush

Landry is a very good pass rusher with the ability to maintain lean and balance to corner the quarterback. His favorite move is an outside-inside fake and Landry is good at dipping under the tackle’s punch. Landry turns the corner very good and he can also close on the QB with speed. He can maintain power and leverage on stunts and twists too.  However, he needs to work on counter moves when his initial plan breaks down.

Pursuit

His good motor showed on the backside in run support. Landry is a rangy player who prefers to chase the ball and make the play rather than have the run through blockers and players. He needs to show more consistency at chasing the ball and getting into the play.

Mental Processing

Landry plays with solid awareness in the game. Once he finds the ball, he is able to use his speed and acceleration to make the play.

Further, he’s good at getting his hands into passing lanes when he can not make the play. He can also find and leverage the ball at an above average rate. Landry is solid at playing the backside fake as well as processing fakes and draws but needs to be more discipline.

Competitive Toughness

He’s a solid competitor who proved he could battle through injuries and lineup at different positions. He also seems to have fun playing by his added emotion before and after the snap.

However, he wasn’t on the field at all times. He didn’t always dominate physically as you would have hoped especially if his first move did not work. His motor ran hot and cold throughout contests. It is unclear if his motor wore down because of injuries or conditioning. He can give away his assignment with his stance too.

Weaknesses

Versus the Run

Additionally,  he is solid at diagnosing the run and he can stalemate his blocker with his length on the edge. Landry has a quick enough first step to beat his defender off the ball, get into gaps and disrupt the running game or make the play in the backfield.

Still, Landry needs to improve on using his hands to leverage and defeat run blockers.  He needs to improve his hands to shed his blocker on the interior and make the play at the ball.

Also, Landry lacks the big body to drop anchor versus stronger base blockers. Longer tackles were able to seal the edge versus Landry as well. Too many times he got pushed out of the play due to his overaggression on the backside too. Further, he settles for leaning on defenders and his pad level will get high at times.

Use of Hands

Added, Landry stayed on blocks too long in the run. He needs to work on breaking down and tacking kick outs with power, leverage and his hands. Versus the pass, he’s still putting together working together to match his hands with his footwork. Cut and chip blocks also slowed him down because he lacked the hands and processing speed to defeat them.

Raiders Fit

Comparing Landry to Von Miller or Khalil Mack because he is an explosive edge player is lazy. Landry doesn’t have the size of Miller or the playing strength of Mack. That’s not a knock on Landry because few players are generational athletes like Mack and Miller.

In terms of the Raiders, Landry is more similar to Bruce Irvin because he is best at chasing plays. He might also compare to Vic Beasley but both Beasley and Irvin were faster players in college. However, Landry does have more length and comfort out of a 3-point stance than either of those players.

The point is, Landry is his own player. Any team that drafts him is getting a long, athletic and explosive playmaker who can bend and lean on the edge. If he can learn secondary moves and pair his quick hips and feet with his hands and upper body strength, he can become a Pro Bowler and force off the edge. That’s the sort of edge rusher the Raiders need considering they’ve finished in the bottom half of the league the past few seasons.

Landry played himself into top-10 draft consideration with a dominate 2016 season and a very good combine. However, he’s still a high-risk versus reward player. Teams will have to consider if he is the dominant player from 2016 or the inconsistent player from 2017. That probably depends on how bad his injuries were last season. GIven the Raiders lack of pass rushers, the Silver and Black might be wise to trade into the teens and see if they can snag Landry and an additional pick.

Nonetheless, Landry might be the best prospect available at No. 10. Pairing him with Mack could give the Raiders a lightning and thunder duo on the edge. Plus, Oakland has Irvin who can help Landry adjust to playing on the edge versus bigger tackles consistently. The Raiders can use Landry as a situational pass rusher in the short-term with hopes that they can develop him into a consistent three-down player who uses his hands, motor and power on every down.