Film Study – Edge Rusher Jordan Brailford
May 29, 2019
by Steve Thomas
The Redskins drafted Oklahoma St. edge rusher Jordan Brailford with pick #39 in round 7 of this year’s draft, the second to last selection of the entire event. This pick came on the heels of the Montez Sweat pick in round 1, so Brailford was most likely another case of the Redskins’ front office simply seeing a talented player and refusing to let him fall to undrafted free agent status moreso than a need pick. Brailford put up big-time numbers at a major power 5 conference school, and it was a little surprising that he fell this far. The old adage that you can never have too many pass rushers definitely applies here. Let’s dive into this player and see what we can learn.
Brailford, who originally hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is 6’3” and 252 pounds. He spent four years at Oklahoma St., redshirting his 2016 season after suffering a serious shin injury. In total, he played in 35 games, making 135 tackles, including 90 solo and 45 assisted tackles, 16 sacks, and 1 interception. He made 55 total tackles, including 55 solo and 17 assisted tackles, and 10 sacks in 13 games in the 2018 season, and was the Big 12 sack leader (10th in the country across all division 1 conferences). He was awarded First Team All-Big 12 honors in 2018 and Second Team All-Big honors in 2017. At the NFL Combine, he ran the 40 yard dash in 4.65 seconds, did 22 bench press reps, jumped 37.5 inches in the vertical leap and 10’6” in the standing broad jump. Those aren’t elite objective measurables, but they are certainly respectable. He isn’t considered to be a speed rusher, but is more of a traditional bull rusher in the mold of players drafted by the Redskins in previous years. To be fair, his sacks did come in bunches in 2018, and he was shut out from sacks in the last four games of the season by some quality programs like West Virginia and Oklahoma, but nonetheless, Brailford’s reputation precedes him to some extent.
What does his film show?
As I always say in these things, I’m not a professional scout. #notascout. I’m just person who loves football. I would like to think I know something about the game, and I spend a significant amount of time watching game film for each of these film columns, but at the end of the day, I don’t pretend or claim to be a serious NFL-level scout. Take my observations for what you will.
In 2018, Brailford (jersey #94 in all of the film clips) developed a reputation as a feared sack artist in Big 12 circles. He did significant damage to quarterbacks all year in a variety of ways. To start off, here are clips of his 3 sacks against Kansas from September, 2018:
This is Jordan Brailford at his best – these are the types of days he can have when presented with the right opportunity. Brailford’s best quality is his ability to charge either off the edge or through a gap and get to the quarterback. Clearly, Kansas had neither a mobile quarterback nor a top-tier offensive line, and Brailford was able to take advantage of what was presented to him. As you can see in the first two clips, he has a good first step. I wouldn’t necessarily say that he’s in Montez Sweat’s league in that regard, but he’s not too far back from that level, either. Brailford isn’t “explosive”, but he is quicker than you’d think for a guy who only ran 4.65 in the 40 yard dash.
What you should understand about this player, first and foremost, is that he is extremely versatile. The Oklahoma St. coaching staff did everything they could to put him in a position to succeed and routinely had him line up all over the field: at middle linebacker in a 3 – 3 nickel formation, left and right outside linebacker both in that same nickel formation and in a 3 – 4, defensive end in both 3 and 4 alignments – anywhere and everywhere. This next series of clips are three plays in a row from early in that 2018 game against Kansas:
Brailford is lined up as the middle linebacker in the Cowboys’ 3 – 3 nickel formation, which they used on a regular basis. On the second play, he’s at left outside linebacker in that same formation. On the third play, he’s at the left defensive end position in a three point stance in the same 3 – 3 alignment. The fourth play is a screenshot from Oklahoma St.’s matchup against Oklahoma in November, 2018. Brailford (circled) is at the left defensive end position, hand in the dirt, in what appears to be a wide 9 formation on the defensive front. The prior play against Kansas may have also been wide 9; the point is that this isn’t just a fluke play in one game against Kansas. None of these plays really amounted to much, but they give you a good flavor of who Brailford is and reasons why he was effective at Oklahoma St. He certainly spends more time on the left side, but he also lines up on the right side as well. Opposing offenses never knew where he’d be and were often forced to scramble to account for him. NFL offenses won’t be scared of Brailford, at least initially, but this kind of experience will allow the Redskins coaching staff to use him in a variety of ways. Jay Gruden values versatility perhaps above any other quality, and Jordan has that in spades.
Brailford’s best pass rush move is probably a bull rush, but he does use a variety of moves:
The first play, against Kansas, is a simple stunt (what some call a twist) in which Brailford (left outside linebacker) is able to explode through the interior gap. He doesn’t get to the quarterback on this rep (none of these plays are sacks), and in fact ends up on the ground, but this is a good example of a standard rep for him. Running headlong into a gap schemed open is a bread and butter play in his arsenal. On the second rep, Brailford tries a speed rush from the middle linebacker position through the A gap, and the center is able to match his efforts, but he does at least cause the quarterback to feel the pressure and scramble in the pocket. The third rep, against Texas in October, 2018, is a traditional bull rush from the left edge. Once again, it doesn’t work, but it’s a good, easy to see example of something he did quite a bit at Oklahoma St. The third and fourth plays – one against Kansas (Brailford is the left defensive end, hand in the dirt with 4 down lineman) and the other against Texas (left edge with 3 down lineman; Brailford is standing up) – show an interior spin move that he uses on fairly regular occasion. Finally, on the fifth play, Brailford, who is once again on the left edge as the defensive end in a three point stance with an outside linebacker to his left, is able to slide laterally slightly to his left, split the gap between the tackle and the tight end on what appears to maybe be a busted protection scheme, and get into the backfield. Please understand that it’s more coincidence than anything that he’s on the left side instead of the right on all but one of these plays. These are just examples that were easily viewable on the film more than anything. Brailford does play from the right side, too; just not quite as often.
Run defense isn’t really what Brailford is known for, but he can do some good things on occasion. He’s aggressive, and that will sometimes result in positive results. Check out these clips:
The first play, from the Kansas game, is Brailford doing what he does best, charging through a gap to put a hit on someone, in this case, the running back. In the second play (from the same game), he is lined up as the left defensive end in a three point stance, and demonstrates his ability to shed a block and pursue laterally. His game film doesn’t really establish that this is really a strength of his, necessarily, but he can do it and make a play when the situation is right. The third play in this clip series is a goal line play against Oklahoma (incidentally, this is one play after a missed tackle by Brailford, which we’ll get to below). You can see him once again pursue laterally despite quality blocking by the Sooner offensive line and get in on a critical stop of a touchdown. The fourth play, against Texas[1], looks at first glance to possibly be a bust by Brailford, as he ignores the quarterback, who pulled the ball on an option play, to hit the running back. However, it’s likely that Brailford’s assignment on this play was to hit the running back no matter what. I use it as an example play here because you can once again see him charging through a gap to put a quality hit on someone. As I said above, this is what he does best in the run game. If this is a misread by Brailford, then, well, he blew it, as the quarterback was able to prance untouched through a wide-open gap into the endzone. Either way, it’s a good hit by Brailford.
Even though it’s more fun to show the good plays in these film studies, I’d be remiss in also not showing you the other side. The truth is that Jordan has a bit of tackling problem, as he misses entirely too many. I could show you more, but this series of plays gives you a sense of what I mean:
In the first play, against Oklahoma, Brailford is at the middle linebacker position. He laterally pursues the running back to his right to a point just two yards off the line of scrimmage and puts himself in a position to make a stop. However, Brailford meekly attempts to arm tackle the back, who easily shakes him off to run for 40 yards down to the 2 yard line late in the 4th quarter. This play was the predecessor to the goal line stop play I showed above. It was one of the key plays in the Cowboys loss in this game and was a major gaffe by Jordan. The second play, from the Texas game, Brailford features lined up in a three-point stance as the left defensive end. He once again pursues the running back laterally but tries to arm tackle him, resulting in a bigger gain than the play should have been. The third play is from the Oklahoma game. In this rep, Brailford is at middle linebacker. Jordan pursues the running back, whoa gets to the second level, and is met by star Sooner tackle Cody Ford. Brailford is able to shed the block, but fails to make an attempt to drive through the running back. As a result, the play goes for a long gain. There’s traffic at his feet right as he’s about to meet the running back, but nonetheless, at least in my view, this is still a failure. It’s a lazy play, and he could and should have done more.
Another weakness Jordan has is a lack of situational awareness. He’s a bit of a bull in a china shop who has a tendency to blitz headlong into the backfield without diagnosing the play first. Here are three examples:
In the first play, against Kansas, Brailford (left outside linebacker), proceeds to run into the backfield, focused on the running back, failing to see that the play is an option. The quarterback pulls the ball and hits the gap vacated when Brailford pursued the back. If Brailford had stayed home, or at least not committed to chasing the running back, the play wouldn’t have happened. In the second play, against Texas, Brailford (left outside linebacker), once again blitzes into the backfield. His attention remains on the running back, ignoring the fact that the quarterback kept the ball and proceeds to run right past him. If Brailford had displayed some situational awareness, he could’ve blown the play up for a probable loss. Instead, it went for a decent gain. Jordan is playing the middle linebacker position against Oklahoma in the third rep. He charges the gap, over-pursuing quarterback Kyler Murray, who then scrambles for about 25 yards. This play isn’t entirely his fault, as the defensive tackle appeared to have the responsibility to fill the gap that Murray ran through, but got blocked; regardless, Murray was probably the fastest quarterback in the country last year, and Brailford should’ve been aware that overpursing a guy like that is only going to result in . . . bad.
Finally, I know I said above that Jordan has a good first step, and he does, but he still doesn’t have a ton of burst, and it can cause him problems:
The first play is from the Cowboys’ game against Texas. Brailford is on the line of scrimmage, standing up, as the left defensive end. He effectively blitzes through the gap, pursues the quarterback, but just isn’t fast enough to chase him down. The quarterback is able to throw the ball away instead of giving up the sack. In the second play, from the Oklahoma game, Jordan is lined up in coverage to the left (either the Z receiver or a tight end; it’s hard to tell). He blitzes directly from that position, which is a good play call. He seems to surprise the quarterback, Murray, to some extent, but it unfortunately goes horribly wrong when Brailford isn’t quick enough to get to Murray before Murray is able to react. A quicker linebacker might’ve been able to hit Murray in those circumstances. Murray, though, gets away – aided by Jordan’s over-pursuit again (see above) – and is able to scramble and get a pass off. Finally, in order to end on a positive note, last play is a bit different. This is later in the same Oklahoma game. Here, the play is a screen play, and Brailford (left defensive end in a three-point stance), along with others, is allowed to penetrate as Murray rolls to his left. This time, though, instead of indiscriminately charging right at him, Brailford slows down, keeping Murray from scrambling away and forcing him to eventually throw the ball away instead of scrambling for a big gain again. This was a quality rep against a speed demon of a quarterback.
Brailford did occasionally drop back in basic zone coverage for the Cowboys, so while nobody should want him covering someone like Travis Kelce – he’s not agile or flexible enough for that – at a minimum he probably won’t be a complete zero at this in the NFL.
So, you ask, what’s my executive summary of Jordan Brailford? I like him. I think he’s talented enough to make the Redskins’ roster and carve out a role for himself. His best quality is his versatility and experience playing all over the defensive front seven except for the interior defensive line. He’s a quality pass rusher with good burst who will be able to get to NFL quarterbacks. I don’t believe that his bull rush will be overly effective against the top NFL tackles, necessarily, as he gets swallowed up by better lineman – the Sooners had probably the best offensive line in the country last season and they just about eliminated Brailford (who was the Cowboys’ best pass rusher, obviously) from the game. He’s probably not going to be a net positive in the run game, at least without NFL coaching and development, but I believe he can be a solid rotational piece behind Montez Sweat and Ryan Kerrigan and become a third down pass rushing specialist.
What are your thoughts about Jordan Brailford? Leave me a comment below.
[1] Special thanks to our friend Robbie Duncan (@RobbieDuncanOL) for an assist on the analysis of this play.