Kayvon Thibodeaux EDGE Oregon: Scouting Report

Height: 6’5’’

Weight: 258

Overall

Kayvon Thibodeaux is an extremely athletic edge rusher in Oregon’s 4-3 defense. In his 3 college seasons, he played in 31 games, starting 22 of them. He suffered some minor injuries while at Oregon which forced him to miss a few games but that should not be a problem in the future. He is a phenomenal athlete and has excellent size, strength, and speed.

Pass Game

Thibodeaux has an inconsistent first stop off the line. At times he shows only a decent first step and reads the play too long rather than reacting while other times he shows excellent explosion whiling blowing up the play in seconds. When rushing the passer, he showed very good strength on bull rushes and showed excellent balance and leverage to get around his man on the outside. He shows flashes of strong pass rush moves and bend but needs to be more consistent. His motor is his biggest weakness in both the run and pass game. At times when he is shut down early on the play he will just give up rather than continuing to drive his feet and fight to the football. He was versatile on where he lined up. He rushed off the edge, as a 3-technique and even as a blitzing linebacker. He also was used fairly often in coverage, but he does not project as a coverage player at the next level.

Run Game

In the run game, Thibodeaux has great tackling ability but needs to improve his skills in filling gaps and pursuing the play. He will often overrun on the edge allowing running plays to easily be used behind him. His motor is again a weakness in his game. He does not show great effort in chasing down the ball carrier down the field which is not what you want from a franchise player on defense.

Last Word

Thibodeaux projects best as a 7-technique edge rusher in a 4-3 scheme but he has the versatility to also be used as a 3-technique or as an off-ball blitzing linebacker. He was used far too often in coverage while at Oregon and will be best suited in the box, primarily on the edge in the NFL. He will be an excellent third down player where he can rush the passer off the edge and create big mismatches. He has phenomenal athleticism and shows flashes of complete dominance when rushing the passer, but he needs to be more consistent, keep improving his technique, and show more effort before he can reach his full potential in the pros.

One-Liner: Kayvon Thibodeaux has the potential to be one of the best edge rushers in the NFL early into his career, but he needs to keep improving his technique and motor before he can reach that ceiling.

Grade: 7.1 (High End 3 Down Starter)

Games Watched: 2021 – Washington, Washington State, California, UCLA

Team Fits: Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans