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49ers Prospect Watch: Texas A&M EDGE Rusher Myles Garrett

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:29 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Eric Gamboa/FanSided via Niner Noise

Niner Noise provides 49ers fans with a scouting report on Texas A&M EDGE Myles Garrett. Garrett has been a dominant edge rusher for the Aggies making him an almost perfect target to put up on the 49ers’ 2017 draft board.

Sep 19, 2015; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Myles Garrett (15) Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Today, Niner Noise will breakdown Texas A&M EDGE rusher Myles Garrett. Garrett is a highly rated college defensive lineman who is best when allowed to charge after the quarterback.

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Garrett is, without a doubt, an elite prospect with huge upside. Garrett’s athletic ability alone would have him rated as a top-10 draft prospect. But, combine his athleticism with his skill set, and Garrett is clearly the best player in this year’s draft class.

Many fans want the 49ers to trade down or nab a QB with the No. 2 overall pick, but passing on a player of Garrett’s caliber would be an egregious mistake. Garrett’s college head coach Kevin Sumlin agrees.

Sumlin stated such in an ESPN article:

Without a clear-cut top-five college QB prospect, Garrett should be the 49ers’ No. 1 target heading into the NFL Draft.

Today, we present to you the scouting report on one Myles Garrett, EDGE out of Texas A&M.

Sep 24, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Myles Garrett (15) Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Measurables

The first thing that stands out about Myles Garrett is that he is a freakish athlete. Watch any tape and you can immediately see that he is an explosive player. More than just that initial burst off the line, Garrett also possess incredible bend which allows him to get around larger offensive tackles.

Garrett’s physical measurements make him the prototypical defensive end in a team’s 4-3 scheme, but he could be even better as a 3-4 outside linebacker. Especially one that is set on allowing Garrett to pin his ears back and get after the QB.

Measurables

Height: 6-foot-5

Weight: 270 pounds

Position: EDGE

School: Texas A&M

Year: Junior

Projected 40 Time:  4.60 (per Walter Football, however, Niner Noise expects Garrett to record a 4.5 40-yard time).

The measurements are taken from the Texas A&M’s 12thman.com website.

Nov 12, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

By The Numbers

Myles Garrett has been an absolute stud for the Aggies. Garrett has simply put up some eye-popping numbers. As a freshman, Garrett recorded 11.5 sacks and 14 tackles for a loss. Those numbers put Garrett on everyone’s radar, and scouts have been studying his game ever since.

By that same token, opposing offensive coordinators also paid attention. Teams specifically game planned so that the offense flowed away from Garrett’s side of the field. Still, as a sophomore, Garrett posted higher sack totals (12.5) with TFLs (19.5) and added five forced fumbles to boot.

Coming into his junior year, teams decidedly managed games by continuing to flow the offense away from Garrett but also used triple blocks, chip blocks and screen plays. Other teams decided to simply run the ball in order to wear down the Aggie defense. Nevertheless, Garrett still posted an impressive season finishing the year with 8.5 sacks, 15 TFLs and two forced fumbles.

In his total Aggie tenure, Garrett has sacked opposing QBs 32.5 times, dropped players behind the line of scrimmage 48.5 times with seven forced fumbles and one interception. For context, let’s compare Garrett’s stats to previous college standouts and current elite NFL EDGE rushers:

Stats were provided courtesy of sport-reference.com/cfb.

In summary, Garrett’s stats simply cannot be ignored. Pass on Garrett and you could be skipping on the next best edge rusher. Another common thread for the other three players on the chart above, they all have or will soon play in a Super Bowl.

Not too shabby, right?

Sep 5, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Player Profile

Where he wins

First and foremost, Myles Garrett wins with his uncanny speed. Garrett has superhero-esque explosiveness that allows him to zip right past offensive lineman. You do not need to be a professional scout (or even a twitter scout) to see that Garrett has been gifted with scorched-earth speed.

Many previous pass-rushing prospects have been drafted high based off that one attribute alone, but Garrett is so much more than a speed demon. The problem with Garrett is that his speed overshadows all of the other things that he does really well. Such as setting the edge against the run which he does very, very well.

Versus the Run

Sep 26, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Myles Garrett (15) in action against the Arkansas Razorbacks at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Garrett understands the fundamentals of the position. He understands that he needs to keep his hips below the opposing offensive lineman hips in order to win the leverage battle. Offensive lineman normally outweigh defensive ends and outside linebackers by a large margin.

EDGE players win by utilizing a variety of moves but they all revolve around using leverage to gain the advantage. Garrett accomplishes this on run plays by staying low when coming out of his stance, ensuring to place both hands on the inside of the opposing blocker’s chest, and “uncoils his hips” as he extends his body.

By doing so, Garrett forces O-lineman to stand up, lose bend in their knees, making them that much easier to maneuver. Once Garrett “squats” the blocker and gets both hands on the inside of the player’s shoulders, then Garrett often switches to a one-hand technique in which he uses to keep the blocker off his body and frees the other arm so that he can  make a play on the ball carrier.

Often times, the run play is designed so that the tailback runs away from Garrett’s side of the field and yet Garrett is still able to stack, shed, chase down the back and make the tackle behind the line of scrimmage.

Getting to the QB

Garret is a shot-out-of-a-cannon explosive pass-rusher. There have been many flash-in-the-pan speed EDGE prospects, who were unable to utilize more than their speed. In the NFL, edge rushers need more than speed to win. In fact, that was a major criticism of current 49ers outside linebacker Eli Harold.

Coming out of college, Harold also demonstrated excellent quickness but not much else. Harold required, and still requires, more time to develop the strength and skills needed to play the position well at the NFL level.

In contrast, Garrett is so much more than a fast dude. He has the flexibility to lean into blockers and “bend” around them so that he can get to the QB. Garrett sets up his pass rush from three basic factors: his initial burst, his long strides and lateral agility.

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Garrett’s burst off the line is excellent but just as impressive is his ability to move up field with long strides that do not lose any speed. This forces offensive linemen to try and shadow Garrett’s burst and long strides causing them to become unbalanced.

As lineman reach out to place their hands on Garrett’s chest, Garrett uses incredible subtle side steps that make lineman misplace their hands. He also accomplishes this by taking savvy angles, which are elements seen from more seasoned NFL pros not college players.

When lineman fail to get their mitts on Garrett, he can easily convert speed to power, leans into the blocker, bends and then comes in for the kill. His closing speed is just as lethal as that of former Aggie standout Von Miller.

When an O-lineman do manage to get good hand placement, Garrett responds by utilizing either a shortened swim move or a short rip move. The Aggies have been teaching their EDGE players to use shortened swim and rip moves that allow them to still gain separation from the block while not reducing forward momentum. It is a difficult skill to master and yet, Garrett is extremely adept at it.

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Other moves that Garrett deploys are the spin move and the speed to power bull rush. The latter move has been a newer addition as Garrett has grown stronger over the years. While Garrett already weighs 270 pounds and is projected to run a ridiculous 4.6 40-yard dash, Garret could still gain an additional 10 pounds and still retain his blazing velocity.

Some things that were not very common within the Aggie defensive scheme (or at least not in the games that I watched) Garrett was not asked to do a lot of stunts. He was used at different positions across the defensive front but he rarely stunted.

A creative and aggressive NFL defensive coordinator will free up Garrett even more by calling more stunts for the fleet-footed giant.

Where he struggles

Garrett does not have too many flaws. His issues are not uncommon and have been seen in poor as well as elite-level college pass rushing prospects. Garrett’s most notable issue is that if an offensive lineman does get his hands on Garrett’s chest he can be stood up.

This nullifies most of the advantage that Garrett gains by using speed, angles, side steps, swim moves and rips. The other flaw is that he could improve his move set and add a move or two. Some have critiqued Garrett for not employing the more traditional, longer swim and rip moves.

Finally, his spin move can be a bit of a hit-or-miss action. Often, his own speed works against him when he attempts to use the spin move resulting in him spinning in place rather than getting around the blocker.

Sep 19, 2015; College Station, TX, USA; Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Strengths: Unearthly size and speed combo, In-explainable burst, remarkable bend, exceptional at setting the edge, reads and sheds blockers extremely well, ghostly lateral agility, and possesses a wide variety of pass rushing moves.

Weaknesses: When he fails to keep hips low and does not take a good angle he can be stood up by opposing lineman, could add more pass rushing moves.

Yes, he plays as a defensive end within the Aggies defensive scheme but every skill and physical ability translates well to a 3-4 EDGE rusher just as well.

Niner Noise Projected Round:  First overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

I want to give special thanks to Matt Waldman from the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for providing the film analysis below. I also want to thank John Owning from Football Outsiders’ who joins Matt in breaking down Garrett’s game. They provide an excellent break down of Garrett’s film in a way that I could not:

Next: Deeper Dive

Oct 8, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Deeper Dive

By this point, readers should know Niner Noise has a high grade on Myles Garrett, and we are not alone. You can search just about any mock board or draft big board and see for yourself. It does not matter, the overall consensus is that if Garrett does not go No. 1 overall, he will more than likely be selected No. 2.

The San Francisco 49ers are the holders of the No. 2 overall pick. Draft analysts and sports writers are not just connecting the dots here either. Drafting Garrett makes a ton of sense especially for  first-time general manager John Lynch.

GMs cannot afford to miss in the draft, especially not when they are drafting in the top five of the draft. This situation is compounded with the rebuilding 49ers. Lynch needs to ensure that he brings in elite-level talent, and Garrett more than meets that demand.

In addition, having Garrett would allow the 49ers to become much more competitive in the NFC West. The Seahawks would have a very hard time blocking him and the Rams and Cardinals have statues for QBs. Bringing in Garrett solves a lot of problems for a talent-less 49ers squad.

High School Days

Garrett has been a freakish athlete and incredible pass rusher since early on. Coming out of James Martin High School (Arlington, TX), Garrett was a five-star recruit. He was a highly recruited player but Garrett stayed close to home and signed on to play with Texas A&M.

Check out this highlight video from Garrett’s high school years:

Video provided courtesy of Rivals.com.

Earlier Childhood

Garrett is a genetic freak. Seriously, as is often the case with superior athletes, Garrett comes from a family of athletes. In a story run by Sports Illustrated,  his entire family from his mother to his older siblings, are all renowned athletes in their own right.

His mother, Audrey Garrett (formerly Johnson), was an All-American at Hampton in the 60-meter hurdles. His older sister, won the 2014 NCAA indoor championships for the Aggies in the weight throw. Finally, Garrett’s older brother Sean Williams, played college and pro basketball. In his pro career, Sean played for the Nets and the Mavericks.

Sean’s pro career was derailed due to smoking weed. Due to this distraction, Garrett’s older brother never reached his full potential as a professional athlete. Garrett stated in that same article that his brother’s failures showed him how important it is to remain disciplined:

Off the Field

Garrett is so normal off the field that he is almost abnormal in today’s world. He doesn’t drink or smoke. He has a keen interest in dinosaurs. In fact, his interest is so high that he is often discussing how much it would cost to fund a dig. Not a mansion, or a luxury sedan but a paleontology dig.

Garrett spends his time off the field playing video games, watching Jurassic Park movies and talking on the phone with his hometown best friends, Jesus Martinez and Ryan Box. That is what makes up his “posse.”

Garrett is the exact opposite of a diva, high-maintenance player. He is a high-character, ultra-hustle, super-athlete that brings a ton of leadership potential which is desperately needed for a rebuilding 49ers team. Pairing him with DeForest Buckner who is of a similar ilk just makes too much sense too pass it up.

Come draft day, the 49ers must do the right by their fans and bring us all the “The Raptor.”

You can read more about Myles Garrett by checking out ESPN’s article here or Sports Illustrated’s article here.

You can also check out our sister site, With The First Pick, scouting report on Garrett below:

For more 49ers commentary, follow me on Twitter at @EricGamboa01 or on Facebook at @EricGamboaNinerNoise.

We love to hear from fans, so please drop us a line in the comments section below.

And, of course, GO NINERS!!!

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