• Name (#): Jonathan Greenard (#58)
• Position: Edge
• College: Florida
• Height: 6’3″
• Weight: 263
• 40-time: 4.87
• Length: 34 ⅞ inches
• Career Statistics: 123 Tackles, 38.5 TFLs, 19.5 Sacks, two Interceptions, 4 FF
• Season Statistics: 53 Tackles, 16 TFLs, 10 Sacks, three FF, INT
• Games played/started: 38/18
• Games watched: Auburn, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Georgia
• Prepared by: Nathan Papandrea

Summary (Prepared by Elijah McNaughton)

The Louisville transfer Jonathan Greenard had a bounce back season after injuring his wrist against the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2018. The former captain of the Cardinals, showed off his combination of speed and strength when attacking the quarterback in his lone season as a Gator. According to Pro Football Focus, Greenard racked up nine sacks, four QB hits and 33 QB hurries. The Georgia native is comfortable in a two or three point stance and did most of his work as an edge rusher in the Florida Gators multiple scheme. 

One of his finest traits is as a run defender. Greenard won’t why away from contact when he sees a pulling guard or tight end leading a run in his direction.

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His long arms and strength serve him well against opposing linemen. He is able to win early in a run play with outside leverage but then work his way back inside to disengage when the running back commits to run up inside.

Greenard does an exceptional job at meeting the linemen or tight ends with power at the point of attack. Greenard is as physical as they come in against the run, he will stun blockers with his facemask and then stack and bench press his opponent with his nearly 35-inch arms before easily discarding and bringing the ball carrier down.

Time and time again, Greenard shows underrated explosion off the ball and the ability to beat the hands of opposing offensive linemen. But while he shows that he can gain soft edges using his upfield burst, his lack of the bend and hand usage lands him just short of finishing at the quarterback.  He can struggle to maintain leg strength and show the proper balance to truly flatten and turn the corner. Improving his pass rush combinations and or flexibility will take his game to another level by year two.

Greenard is an intelligent player who quickly processes from run to pass while not falling prey to the eye candy that teams send at him.

 

Overall, Greenard has a nice combination of speed and strength. He can be an asset as a run defender thanks to his length and ability to stack and disengage versus the run. His edge-setting talent can be an asset to a defense on early downs. He will be able to shut down the run early and use his strong ability to process run to pass to threaten quarterbacks when they utilize play action. His burst and ability to threaten pass sets of opposing linemen is a good start. But his lack of bend and balance around the edge needs a lot of work.

As a pass rusher, Greenard will need to win more hand battles around the edge and improve his ability to flatten towards the quarterback. But his pass rushing skills need to improve in order to consistently finish at the quarterback. A year as a rotational defender could serve his career well. It’ll give him time to learn the nuances of being a pro including how to win with his plan and pass rush combinations.

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Full Series of Breakdowns (By Erik Turner)