Joe Tryon has been a late riser up many draft boards, even into first-round consideration. When a player takes off a whole year after being considered underdeveloped and still garners that consideration, it is hard to avert interest elsewhere. Are the rumors correct that Tryon is a first-rounder? It may just be hype, or it may be warranted. Everyone knows that he is an athletic freak with unreal potential. Is that potential worth the value he is projected at? Let’s find out if the hype is real, or whether Tryon is the same prospect people thought of months ago.
Player Bio
Name: Joe Tryon
Jersey: #9
Position: Edge
School: Washington
Class: Redshirt Junior
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 262 lbs
Run Defense (5.5/10)
Tryon starts off relatively well. He has both some solid traits as well as some glaring ones. The former Husky does tend to fight through blocks (even double teams), which is a great trait to have. He puts great effort into his run defense; however, Tryon does have a few negative traits in his run defense. One, he can be moved off of his spot quite easily. This eliminates him from being effective on the play, and that can be a detriment to the defense as a whole. Even tight ends seemed to be quite impactful on this front which is alarming, to say the least. Tryon’s open-field tracking is also very poor. This can be developed, but it may hinder him if he plays somewhere besides the line. Overall, the pluses and minuses leave Tryon at just above average with lots of room to grow.
Note: This scale uses 5.0 as average and 9.0 as elite.
Pass Rush (7.25/10)
This was by far the biggest rollercoaster. Tryon started out looking ineffective and slow, so the initial notes stated that he had zero impact on the play. Eight snaps later, he flipped the switch and became a wrecking ball. This rating (for the most part) gives Tryon the benefit of the doubt. He certainly is aggressive and has a complete toolkit. He uses burst, hand fighting, and inside moves to add to his edge bend to create one of the more all-around pass rushers for the 2021 NFL Draft. This toolkit is still underdeveloped, but it shows that he only needs coaching to improve his lethality. That is a big plus. His only negative was that he sometimes bounces around at the line when he gets stuffed rather than pushing on.
Length (5.5/10)
Once again consistency ruins Tryon’s score. He uses his length on only a minor fraction of his snaps. The former Husky’s length is greater than most tackles in this draft (34-inch arms according to his pro day measurements). This measures out to be in the 75th percentile. Tryon tends to negate his physical advantage on many snaps and ram into the linemen. This shows that he is uncomfortable with his technique and would rather use his speed and overall athleticism instead. This can be easily coached out, however. For now, the score remains respectable but low.
Technique (6.5/10)
Again, Tryon has a full toolkit, but it is far from polished. With the right coaching, he certainly can develop into a top pass rusher that is not a one-trick pony. That trait on its own is very valuable in the NFL: if a tackle is solid at defending inside moves, then Tryon can resort to edge bend and speed. It is scary what he could become if coached properly.
Tackling (3.75/10)
Finally, Tryon is consistent, but he is for the wrong reason. To be fair, Tryon is an enforcing tackler: offensive players feel pain when they are hit by him. On the other hand, his open-field tracking is poor, which leads to embarrassing missed tackles. When he tackles, however, he still looks very high, not to mention that he does not have strong hands (in other words, he can slip off of a tackle). This puts him at a high risk of broken tackles in the NFL. Again, these traits can be coached properly, so there is hope still for improvement.
IQ (2.5/10)
This is Tryon’s biggest downfall. When engaging with blockers, he rarely looks to see what is actually going on before making contact. Tryon is an engage and react player, which could be detrimental to his team if a play was designated to his side and he needed to be ‘heads up’ to make a play. His play recognition is pretty poor as well. On a quarterback option, Tryon missed both options and ran to nowhere while the ball carrier went right past him. This could have been a one-time instance, but Tryon also lost the quarterback when he was the spy.
This may be the one reason why Tryon might not succeed at the next level. Hopefully, this can change soon. The only reason his score is above a 1.5 is due to the fact that he has solid route recognition in coverage. The only problem is that he usually is not in coverage.
Athleticism (7.75/10)
The numbers speak for themselves. Apart from bench press reps, Tryon is above average if not in the top 25 percent of every category. The best part is that (apart from the first few snaps studied) he plays at that athleticism as well. This is one of the main reasons why Tryon has even been in the high day-two conversation.
Power or skill at the Point of Attack (5.5/10)
Let’s say it again, Tryon is inconsistent here. Some snaps he will resort to technique because his attempt at power is ineffective in any capacity. The next snap (against the same opponent) he will drive them back five or more yards and make a play. This is such a head-scratching category because he is too bipolar to dictate whether it is a lack of effort or talent that causes the negative reps.
Positional Versatility (9.25/10)
Well, this was extremely unexpected. Firstly, Tryon can play on either side of the defensive line. Also, he can play both 4-3 end and 3-4 outside linebacker in the edge role. Oh, was it mentioned that he can cover well, too? Tryon played slot corner a handful of times and also off-ball linebacker. The crazy thing was that he looked like he knew what he was doing out there. That is insane versatility. As crazy as this seems, he can play anything but maybe boundary cornerback and nose tackle.
Competitive Toughness (3.5/5)
This score factors in the inconsistencies found in Tryon’s game. He plays with tenacity and grit the majority of plays, but one cannot turn a blind eye to the negative snaps that occurred.
Injury (3.5/5)
Tryon missed this year due to an apparent injury, according to the Seattle Times.
Player Summary
Talk about a rollercoaster. The hype is warranted for Tryon, believe it or not. Maybe not first-round hype, but the second-round talk is beyond warranted. The raw traits displayed as well as his athleticism puts Tryon in a scarily elite category in terms of his potential. The toolkit, athleticism, and versatility will be greatly welcomed at the next level. His only downfall can come from a lack of motor or a poor defensive coordinator. Otherwise, Tyron could become the best pass rusher in this class a few years down the line. That is scary for a second-round pick.
Final Grade (60.5/100): Second Round
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