Last year Texas Tech told David to watch for Tyree Wilson in 2022. Watching his 2021 film, you saw incredible size and potential, but a raw player. But his improvement in 2022 is staggering. I’ll put it simply:
Tyree Wilson has the potential to be an absolute plague to offenses.
Tyree is one of the later DL prospects I watched but I’m immediately a fan. Teams, especially those that play multiple fronts and value versatility, should be praying Tyree falls to them.
He will swallow runs up, cannot be left unblocked when you run a play away from him because of his range, and with continued pass rush improvement his length and power will be line-wrecking.
Statistics
Tyree is one of the few defensive linemen in this class that has done it against the run and pass.
- 6’6″, 275 pounds. 35 5/8 arms (unofficially)
- 35.5% true pass-set pass rush win rate, behind only Will McDonald and Mike Morris in this class and right with Aidan and Thibodeaux in last year’s class
- 50 pressures (8 sacks, 10 hits, and 32 hurries), 3rd in this class behind Will Anderson (59 pressures) and Tuli Tuipulotu (51) but he did it on over 100 fewer pass rush snaps
- 25 run stops and a 12.5% run stop rate, 4th in this class behind Jalen Carter, Mazi Smith, and MJ Anderson and this would have been the best stop rate in last year’s class
- 27.5 TFLs over his last 23 college games
- Consistency with at least 3 pressures and 1 run stop in all 10 games this year
Tyree is one of only four defensive line prospects with both a run stop rate over 10% and pass rush win rate above 30% – Jared Verse, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, and Nolan Smith are the other three.
Clips
Run defense
First, I have to start with his run defense because he has day one value to an NFL team here. Because of his length and power, Tyree is the Bermuda Triangle when backs run his way.
Here are 3 clips from 2022:
- First he uses his length to pull down a rush to the other side
- He uses his length to stay off a block to take down an outside run.
- And he pushes the RT 3 yards back into the RB’s path, diverting the run
Great, so just run away from his side…
Tyree’s ability to close a large amount of space quickly makes running away from him difficult as well. Here are 3 clips where he is left unblocked on the backside which teams need to learn you just cannot do.
- Crosses the formation, navigating traffic to take down a run to the other side
- Bijan stops to cut back through a hole, sees Tyree and looks to continue outside but Tyree pulls him down
- He brings down Bijan’s teammate and underrated back Roschon Johnson
(Credit to @FrankiesFilm for the Texas clips)
And one last set of clips to show his range. Both of these are against Baylor with Tyree tracking down RB Richard Reese. Reese isn’t a nobody… he was clocked at over 21 mph this year, making him one of the fastest backs of 2022.
Pass rush
There is nothing else to say about his run defense, but with Tyree you are banking on continued growth as a pass rusher. First a clip from the 2021 season.
A really poor first step, power rush only, weirdly doesn’t use his length at all, gets locked up tight on the LT, and has no counter.
I could have posted many more of these from 2021.
Coming into the 2022 season, Tyree spoke about working on both his speed and additional pass rush moves including adding a swim move. It is apparent with him doubling his pressure rate in 2022.
First, two clips from 2022 (vs. Houston and Texas) where he looks like a different player from 2021. He now uses his length to generate pressure through the LT and his first step is quicker.
A second clip which shows him using his brand new swim move which you did not see at all in 2021. He jumps inside the RT with speed to beat the RG coming over to assist. He draws a hold on the play with the QB pressure.
And he still can win with pure power. Just a couple of clips to show how Tyree can wreck a line. The first he just pushes through a Texas double-team and uses his reach to pull down Hudson Card. In the second he gets good leverage inside on RG Grant Miller to get a QB hit.
What others are saying
Tyree’s strengths and weaknesses are pretty consistent across scouting reports:
- Great size and power
- High effort defender
- Limited pass rush moves, primarily bull rush (2021 comment)
- Questionable first step speed to win on outside in NFL
- Can play with high pad level
What is wildly varied is where he projects in the NFL with some saying he is an OLB and others thinking he needs to be inside due to his first step speed.
Tyree primarily played defensive end or EDGE with 1,528 of his 1,654 college snaps coming over the tackle or wider and only 126 snaps coming as a 3-tech.
A good analysis is here from ex-Jet scout Daniel Kelly. Daniel sees Tyree bringing more value on the inside and leads it off with “Tyree Wilson has elite brute power.”
Draft projection
He is going high and teams are going to be enamored with his build, day one run defense value, and upside. For me, you can group Jalen Carter, Will Anderson, and Tyree together at the top and pick your style.
If Tyree is there at the Eagles pick, I don’t hesitate on taking him.
Looking ahead to the Combine, it will be really interesting to see what he tests. At 275 pounds and a projected 4.8 forty, he would have a Speed Score around 103, in the same area as Josh Paschal and Aidan Hutchinson last year. The most interesting thing will be to see his broad, vertical, and 3-cone. His speed / power / frame makeup could be crazy.
Just imagine a line with Tyree and Jordan and Josh and Haason and Milton.
Tyree, let’s hope we see you in Philly…
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