While we continue our review of inside linebackers the Steelers could select in the upcoming NFL draft, one reality has to be accepted: all of the linebackers worth the value of the Steelers' first-round pick could be taken by the time pick 28 rolls around.
Taking that into consideration, we further our dive into this class of inside linebackers with a review on Josey Jewell out of Iowa:
At 6-foot-1, 235 pounds, Jewell is coming off a strong finish to his four-year career with Iowa. His final season featured 132 tackles, which led his team, 13.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two interceptions and 11 passes defensed. Having 20 passes defensed over a course of his final two seasons put him on the map as an NFL prospect.
His 4.82 seconds in the 40-yard dash showed he's not a sideline-to-sideline linebacker, but his 6.80 seconds time in the 3-cone drill showed off his ability to change direction quickly in tight spaces.
The aspect of Jewell's game I admire most is how he feels his way through offenses and gets to the ball carrier, or blows up a play by being at the point of attack. Even when a play is designed to create misdirection, Jewell sticks to reading his keys and finds where he's supposed to go.
Watch how he reads this wide receiver screen from Purdue by keeping his eyes on the pulling guard instead of focusing on the quarterback after the play action:
Plenty of linebackers would have bit on the play action by targeting the quarterback and chasing the sack, or even chasing down the running back to cover him, but Jewell recognized the entire play and delivered a huge hit to force an incomplete pass.
From Jewell's tape, I got a strong sense of how being fundamentally sound in maimtaining his gap integrity made him a good player in the Big Ten Conference. But often he faced problems where his limited athleticism prevented him from making a key play. For one, while he could take on a block and prevent himself from being blown up, he wasn't very consistent at disengaging from blockers.
There were times when Jewell maintained leverage and won, but too often he was controlled by average to below-average blocking tight ends and linemen. Here's an instance when he got driven off the ball by Penn State's tight end, Mike Gesicki, who for all his receiving talents is not well-respected as a blocker. Notice how Jewell is driven five yards off the line of scrimmage and only disengages when Saquon Barkley is being brought down:
But Jewell's most coveted talents might be how he drops back in coverage and plays in the middle of the field. While he's not going to cut and run with slot receivers or scat-style running backs, he can run with tight ends and help play intermediate spots in the middle of the field. Watch how Jewell turns and runs with this Nebraska tight end and challenges the ball while running to create an extremely tight passing window:
While Jewell can change directions quickly and has solid footwork to turn and run when he has to get deeper down the field in his coverage, offenses in the NFL might pick at Jewell by getting faster players to match up with him. Here he is against Barkley in that same game against Penn State, and you can see Jewell try to run with Barkley without laying a finger on him:
While Barkley is the best player in the draft, the difference in athleticism between the two illustrates a problem Jewell could run into in the NFL when he faces running backs such as Giovani Bernard, Darren Sproles, and Todd Gurley.
That part of his game is why Jewell ranks behind the likes of Rashaan Evans and Leighton Vander Esch, both of whom we've reviewed already. They are players who demonstrate a command in the center of a defense like Jewell, but are faster and provide more athletic advantages.
Still, Jewell's instincts as a player should not be overlooked. What made him extremely successful for Iowa was how he was often in the right spot, made the proper reaction and made the play. Here's an example where he did just that by dropping back into his assigned zone coverage, read the eyes of the quarterback and reacted to the curl route of a tight end for a pass defensed:
With the Steelers' loss of Ryan Shazier, they are looking for a linebacker who can contribute in pass coverage, so Jewell poses an interesting trait that could provide some help in that department.
But Jewell's lack of speed compared to Shazier's elite athleticism will be a major dropoff and poses serious questions about how his game will translate to the NFL. He's currently projected by many to be a third-round selection, which means the Steelers would have had to pass on inside linebackers in the first two rounds.
Jewell's talents could make for a solid backup behind Jon Bostic and Vince Williams in 2018, and maybe a starter in the future. But if selected, his biggest challenge will be negating any size and speed disadvantages.
