From now until the 2025 NFL Draft takes place, we hope to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Oregon defensive lineman Jordan Burch.
#1 JORDAN BURCH, DL, OREGON (rSR) – 6051, 295 lbs.
Measurements
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Jordan Burch | 6051/295 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
The Good
— Good height and weight
— Good athleticism and play strength
— Versatility to play on his feet or with his hand in the dirt
— Can power or speed rush
— Good bend, flattens to the QB and good closing speed
— Very good screen awareness; gets hands in passing lanes
— Strength to stack blockers and set the edge
— Solid chase from the backside
— Good physical tackler
The Bad
— Coming off a knee issue that slowed him in the second half of the year
— Timing at the snap varies
— Just feeling things out at time rather than getting after the QB
— Will miss with his hands when rushing inside
— Pass rush plan can use fine tuning
— Timing to shed blockers needs to quicken
— Takes on pullers with outside shoulder leaving open running lane
Bio
— Career: 170 tackles, 81 solo, 33 TFL, 16 sacks, 1 INT, 11 PBU, 3 FR, 1 FF
— 2024: 31 tackles, 13 solo, 11 TFL, 8.5 sacks, 6 PBU, 1 FR, 1 FF
— Three years at South Carolina, 2 years at Oregon
— 58 games/ 37 starts
— 2024: third team All-Big Ten
— Senior Bowl invitee (withdrew)
— Injured right knee in practice in October 2024, missed three games
— Also played basketball in high school
— Birthday 10/10/2001 (23)
Tape Breakdown
Jordan Burch has good height, weight, and athleticism. He is a versatile defender who aligned on both sides of the defensive formation and in 2-, 3-, and 4-point stances. With the defense, he lined up everywhere from the 3-technique out to the wide 9.
As a pass rusher, he displayed solid snap quickness with his hand in the dirt and good quickness on his feet. He plays with good pad level and shows a varied pass rush. As a power rusher, he uses good hand placement, leverage and leg drive to push the pocket. Inside, he will use a bull rush, while on the edge he uses a stab. When the pass rush isn’t working, he is quick to get his hands in passing lanes.
Power rushes inside:
Power rushes from the edge:
As a speed rusher on the edge, he displayed a rip, swipe, chop/rip, ghost, and spin move. He gets up-field quickly to stress the tackle and showcased good hand usage and bend to flatten to the quarterback. He has good acceleration to close on the quarterback. As a looper on stunts, he has good quickness to circle and close on the quarterback.
A chop/rip, swipe and ghost move to apply pressure off the edge:
His screen awareness is very good, and he displayed good pursuit to the outside. Additionally, he was occasionally asked to drop into short Zone coverage in the middle field and displayed good agility and solid awareness.
As a run defender, he plays with good pad level, hand placement and play strength. When inside, he was good at stacking his opponent and reading the runner. He was solid defending his area when he was 2-gapping and has solid quickness to play split blocker as a 1-gap defender.
Against double teams, he shows good play strength and technique to split blockers. On the edge, he was very good setting the edge using strength and leverage to hold off blockers. From the backside, he was good shuffling square to the backfield while reading the mesh point. He displayed solid explosiveness chasing down from the backside. Overall, he’s a very good tackler taking down anyone he gets his hands on.
Setting the edge and playing from the backside:
His overall snap quickness will vary, and at times he was the last guy moving after the snap. His pass rush plan was spotty at times when he looked like he was just feeling things out rather than attacking. When rushing inside, he needs to develop more than just the bull rush. Also, when rushing from the inside, if he misses with hands he needs to counter more. His shed timing in the run game was a touch slow. When taking on pullers, he uses the outside shoulder, which leaves the outside open.
Good punch and leverage to stand up the blocker but a little slow to disengage:
Using his outside shoulder to take on the pulling guard leaving the lane open to the outside:
Conclusion
Overall, Burch has good size, strength and athleticism. He played from the 3-tech to the Wide 9 on both sides of the defense. As a pass rusher, he uses power and speed rushes to put pressure on the quarterback, while also having very good screen awareness and the ability to drop into coverage. As a run defender, he can stack blockers, set the edge and display good technique from the back side.
Areas to improve include being more consistent with his snap quickness and refining his pass rush plan. Quickening his timing when shedding blocks and improved technique taking on pulling blockers would be beneficial.
The mid-season knee injury really sapped his athleticism, and it was very apparent in the second half of the season. But give him credit for playing through it while his team was on the playoff hunt. Hopefully, there will be no lingering effects.
Burch is a well-rounded defender and has some scheme flexibility. His best fit would be a defensive end in an even front where he could kick inside on passing downs. However, he has the play strength and technique to play the 3-4 defensive end as well, with room to add weight on his frame. The talent is there to be even better going forward.
For a player comp, I’ll go with Keion White. Both have scheme versatility, athleticism, play strength and haven’t met their potential yet.
Projection: Day Two
Depot Draft Grade: 8.4 Future Quality Starter (2nd Round)
Games Watched: 2024 – Vs Boise State, Vs Michigan State, At Michigan, vs Washington, Vs Penn State
