Name: YaYa Diaby

School:  Louisville

Year:  RSr

Position: Edge rusher

Measurements: 6’3 3/8th 263

Combine: 40: 4.51 Broad jump: 10’0” Vertical: 37”

STATS:

Courtesy of Sports-reference.com

General Info:

Diaby spend his first few seasons at Georgia Military College, where he had 19 tackles and two sacks as a freshman and 58 tackles, 20 tackles for a loss, and five sacks as a Sophomore. He transferred to Louisville the following season and played in eight games with seven starts. The former Cardinal collected 18 tackles, 14 pressures and 2.5 tackles for a loss. For the 2021 season he finished with 39 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 22 pressures, and 1.5 sacks. Diaby saved his best for his final season in Louisville, the Atlanta native finished with 37 tackles, 14.5 tackles for a loss, 36 pressures, and 9 sacks. He was invited to participate in both the Reese’s Senior Bowl and the NFL scouting combine.

Positional Skills:

Strengths:

The first thing that stands out about Diaby is that he is on the “first off the bus” team, he is big, strong, and athletic. He has strong hands, holds his own in the run game and shows impressive stack and shedding ability, and extends his arms to keep the blocker away from his chest; he rarely gives ground in the run game. Diaby has also shown an ability to get down the line of scrimmage and tackle backs from behind. The former Cardinal has shown a two-hand shuck that he can use. On T-E or E-T stunts he is too quick for most guards. The Georgia native will also use inside/outside fakes to throw the blocker off and get them to commit to one way, then he comes across the other. Diaby is too strong for most tight ends or running backs to block. The Atlanta native will also use a bull rush to get into the backfield. On film he has shown he can convert speed to power to throw offensive linemen off balance. He has shown a developing rip move. His motor is always running, he may not always have a plan, but he continues to work. The former Georgia Military college transfer shows a good general awareness/vision on the field, he rarely gets tunnel vision. Because of his size and strength, he could be used inside on passing downs occasionally. On film Diaby has shown he can get skinny and slip through gaps. Another thing he has shown on film is flashes of being able to play half-man. The Atlanta native does generally show good patience in run defense and holds his gap.

Weaknesses:

He can get overaggressive at times trying to penetrate against the run and he ends up opening a gap for the running back. Diaby played the vast majority of his snaps in a 4-point or 3-point stance as essentially a 3-4 defensive end, so it will be a bit of a projection putting him in a 2-point stance that is used in Green Bay’s 3-4. He still can get a little high out of his stance sometimes causing him to lose leverage and the blocker pushing him out of the play. He is a big over-aged, turning 24 in May; there might be questions as to how much upside he has left. Diaby, like a lot of college edge rusher, seems to lack counters and the ability to stack moves. His bend is very average, he’s not the type of rusher that will bend the corner on the offensive tackle. Diaby will also still get stuck to blockers occasionally. Stunts aren’t coordinated yet; he runs into his teammate a lot. Although Diaby has shown flashes of half-man, he hasn’t shown it a lot and could really work on it. One thing he has little to no experience in is dropping in coverage, that will also be a projection.

Fit with the Packers:

If they were the sketch up what the typical Packers edge rusher looks like, Diaby would be it. He is over 260, has 34” arms, can play the run and the pass equally well, is a power rusher, still has upside, is explosive, and a high level athlete. One of his few draw backs as stated above is that he will be 24 years old next month, the Packers like their draft picks to be between 21-23. He could sit for a year as the #3 or #4 edge rusher while he develops his pass rush plans and moves. The former Cardinal is already a good run defender, so he could see snaps there early on while he develops, he would probably be one of the better run defenders of the Packers edge rushers as a rookie. Diaby would be a great fit with the Packers and a player they could get on day two.