2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Isaiah Foskey (DE – Notre Dame)

As the NFL season winds down, FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL draft scouting reports before the combine in March. Here’s a look at Isaiah Foskey.

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2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Isaiah Foskey (DE – Notre Dame)

Isaiah Foskey (DE – Notre Dame)

6’5″ – 265 lbs.

Background:

Four-star recruit who also played tight end at De La Salle High School, which has produced the likes of Austin Hooper, Maurice Jones-Drew, Amani Toomer, T.J. Ward, and D.J. Williams. Rotated in for just 54 snaps as a freshman, before seeing his role expand to a rotational one in 2020 (12-5.0-4.5 over 282 snaps.) Stepped into a starting job as a junior and picked up 52 tackles, ten sacks, and six forced fumbles. Had a strong senior year of 44-13.5-10.5.

Positives:

Favorable trajectory with a breakout junior campaign and strong senior year. Has prototypical size/length for an edge rusher, especially one who plays out of a two-point stance almost exclusively, coming from Notre Dame’s odd-front base defense; also took some snaps as a traditional off-ball linebacker. Shows discipline and patience in his reads/run fits. Does a nice job of keeping his shoulders square and locking out blockers in the run game. Bends at the knees and shows solid contact balance. Locates the ball well and can shed when appropriate. Able to play the read-option. Has a wide tackling radius. Uses a good straight-arm under the chin to create separation off the edge as a pass-rusher. Calibrates rushes to avoid getting too much depth or making him a liability in the run game. Able to force quarterbacks to climb and then shed blockers to come back inside. Flashes the ability to generate pressure with inside moves. Generally plays from a tight alignment but can run past some tackles from a wider technique. Took a handful of snaps in coverage each game (70 in 2021) and looks smooth carrying backs into the flats or even pattern-matching on wheel routes. Has additional value on special-teams units (primarily kick coverage, kick block units.)

Negatives:

Limited snaps with his hand in the dirt. A little bit high-cut. Not the most thudding tackler in the run game. Smoother than he is sudden or explosive; looks more comfortable reading and reacting than he does blowing by people with his initial move. Rush approach is still a work in progress, without a clear go-to move; relies much more on his length and ability to locate and shed. Ability to convert speed to power is just adequate. Spin move is generally well-timed but lacks violence. Doesn’t seem to have the closing burst of an elite pass-rusher; may end up as more of a pressure-generator than a sack artist.

Summary:

A big, smooth athlete who can do a little bit of everything, with almost everything a conservative two-gapping defense looks for in the run game and considerably more value in coverage than a typical edge, but who lacks the burst/explosiveness and go-to rush moves of a primary pass-rusher. Consequently, he may fit best with a team like the Patriots, who place relatively less emphasis on sacking the quarterback and instead value traits like technique, discipline, recognition skills, and versatility. Has a solid chance to come off the board on the second day, most likely as a strongside linebacker on a 3-4 defense.

Projection: Round 2-3