With the annual scouting combine now complete, the next step in the NFL Draft process for the San Francisco 49ers is evaluating the data points gleaned from prospect workouts in Indianapolis and comparing them to game film.
One player that will get a close look from San Francisco in Round 1 is Boston College pass rusher Harold Landry, who put up prodigious numbers over the weekend that helped answer questions about his viability at the next level.
The thin market for pass rushers is could impact the way the 49ers feel about Landry, who’s a candidate to play the “Leo” defensive end. The top two free pending free agents, DeMarcus Lawrence and Ezekiel Ansah, are staying with their teams on the franchise tag. Otherwise, San Francisco is limited in its options not already on the roster to improve a pass rush that was league average in pressuring quarterbacks while finishing 27th with just 30 sacks.
Veteran Elvis Dumervil led the team with 6.5. The team’s recent first-round picks Solomon Thomas, DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead combined for 7.5, although Armstead missed the final 10 games after fracturing his hand.
None of those players are natural speed rushers off the edge that can take the front seven to the next level. Landry might be the missing piece off the outside. At least his combine workout indicated as much.
Landry (6-3, 252) ran a very good 4.64 in the 40-yard dash and logged 24 reps on the bench press. But far more important was the work he did in the three-cone drill, as well as the 20- and 60-yard shuttles.
Landry’s three-cone time was 6.88 seconds – in the 95th percentile among edge defenders. The three-cone drill might be the best indicator of a player’s short-area burst, ability to change direction and overall agility – all crucial elements of quality pass rushers off the edge.
(Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)
According to Pro Football Focus, the list of 250-pound pass rushers drafted in Round 1 to run the three-cone faster than 6.9 seconds features DeMarcus Ware, J.J. Watt, David Pollack, Melvin Engram, Joey Bosa and T.J. Watt. That’s elite company with the exception of Pollack, a first-round pick in 2005 and three-time All-American at Georgia who had his career cut short by injury.
Landry finished in the 91st percentile with a 4.19-second time in the 20-yard shuttle. His 11.35 seconds in the 60-yard drill ranked in the 99th percentile.
So how do those numbers stack up to what Landry did in college? They confirm what he did as a junior and show he wasn’t quite himself last season.
One of the questions facing Landry at the combine was his dip in production in 2017. He logged just five sacks after being limited to eight games because of an ankle injury. He also saw more double teams after logging 16.5 sacks and seven forced fumbles in 12 games as a junior. He likely would have been a first-round pick if he left B.C. after 2016.
The production from his junior season, when he was fully healthy, will play a big role in making him a first-round selection. Landry is an intriguing option for the 49ers with the No. 9 pick to improve the pass-rush starved defense without many promising alternatives.
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