Underrated Justin Hollins Could Make Some Noise As A Speed Rusher For The Redskins

Justin Hollins, EDGE
School: Oregon | Conference: PAC 12
College Experience: RS Senior | Age: 23?
Height / Weight: 6-5 / 248 lbs
Projected Draft Status: 3rd or 4th Round
NFL Comparison: Lorenzo Carter

College Statistics

Player Overview

Justin Hollins was a 3-star prospect from Arlington, Texas who committed to the Ducks after his official visit to the program. Hollins picked the Ducks over other big time programs who offered like Oklahoma, Baylor, Missouri, and Iowa. Hollins arrived on campus as a 6-5 210-pound defensive end but contributed immediately on special teams. Hollins was slated for an increased workload going into his sophomore season before an injury in spring practice caused him to miss a year and use a redshirt. He came back strong for his redshirt sophomore season and started putting up production that encouraged the coaching staff. Hollins was playing defensive end in Oregon’s 4-3 defense during this time. When Oregon switched defensive coordinator’s heading into the 2017 season Hollins was ecstatic because it changed the base defense to a 3-4. Hollins was converted to an outside linebacker and loved it because he got to attack more. The scheme paid off for Hollins’ production and he improved each year since the switch. Hollins has been a consistent force for the Ducks. He can rush the passer, he has cover skills, and he’s not too bad at playing the run either. He showed out at the combine and likely cemented himself as a day 2 pick heading into the draft. For teams looking for an athletic speed rusher who has cover skills but for a value it doesn’t get much better than Hollins in the day 2 range.

Strengths

• Excellent athleticism, speed, quickness, and strength for the position.
• Shows good instincts and read and react ability. Doesn’t take himself out of plays by guessing and plays pretty disciplined and doesn’t get fooled often. Diagnoses plays then closes quickly when he can.
• Shows great fluidity, movement, awareness, and depth when dropping back into coverage. Has the athleticism to stick with a lot of guys and can position himself based on clues from the QB. Probably could use more technique work in coverage but the base skills are there. Active hands at the LOS and in coverage - 6 passes defended this year
• Has good speed, contact balance, quickness, and strength off the edge. Can win with his initial quickness but he also has attacking hands that can get him free and past blockers. Has experience playing strong and weakside.
• Has really good technique as a tackler and finished violently by locating and attacking the ball - 5 forced fumbles this season.

Weaknesses

• A little light for the position especially in the 3-4. It doesn’t seem to have an impact on his functional strength but he could probably “bulk” up with 5 lbs of muscle and meet that Von Miller, Dee Ford, Kalil Mack weight threshold.
• Lacks some agility and flexibility when trying to bend. Some of this could probably be helped by improved technique and more efficient movements. Needs to add more pass rush moves to his arsenal anyway. He has a couple and has been effective with him but he’ll need more variety at the NFL level.
• At times can seem hesitant when tacking on some of the linemen. I don’t know if he’s sizing them up, peaking into the backfield, or he didn’t come prepared for that play but he needs to be more consistent.

Let’s see his work:

More Justin Hollins videos

How He Would Fit On The Redskins

There was a time not too long ago when the Redskins used power and size at both their edge positions BUT they had a speed rusher working from the 7 or 9 tech. Hollins could be that player. While Jalen Jelks was more of a household name to those who watched PAC 12 football I think its clear that Hollins was the better player on Oregon’s defense. I think he is one of the most underrated edge prospects in this draft. His shortcomings can be chalked up to being more consistent, aggressive, and improving his technique. A lot of those areas can be greatly improved with coaching. Hollins could have a feature role at la Junior Galette had when he was on the team and could contribute right away. He also would not be bad depth behind Ryan Anderson and could fill out the weakside EDGE position nicely in certain situations. Hollins has gotten better each year of his career and was named to the All-PAC 12 first team this past year. Hollins has the tools and with the right coaching and situation he has the chance to show out as a speed rusher at the next level. Are the Redskins that team?