On the heels of an especially disruptive 2023 campaign, Oregon’s Brandon Dorlus is rising up the 2024 NFL Draft board with his unique scouting report. How does Dorlus’ brand of versatility translate to the NFL, and what role might suit him best at the next level?
Brandon Dorlus’ Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’3″
- Weight: 283 pounds
- Length: 33 1/4″
- Wingspan: 80 7/8″
- Hand: 9 3/8″
- Position: EDGE/DT
- School: Oregon
- Current Year: Redshirt Senior
There’s a reason for the recruiting rankings system, and there’s a reason behind every player’s star label. But as with all human processes, this is also imperfect.
If you need proof, look at Dorlus in the 2019 class.
Dorlus was a mere three-star recruit from Deerfield Beach High School despite accruing 11 sacks and 27 total tackles for loss in his final season. He first committed to the Virginia Tech Hokies in Aug. 2018, but he de-committed later that year when Oregon showed interest.
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Dorlus signed with the Ducks and immediately began to outperform his recruiting ranking. He was a steady rotational member through his first two seasons and broke out as a high-level defensive piece in 2021 with seven total tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks.
In 2022, Dorlus matched and exceeded the previous year’s production with nine tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks. He earned All-Pac-12 honors in both years and effectively established a presence as a future NFL prospect.
Finally, in 2023, Dorlus took a move to the edge in stride and sustained his impact as a formidable weapon on the defensive line. He achieved a career-high sack total with five as part of his 6.5 TFLs, and he annoyed QBs with nine pass breakups at the line of scrimmage.
All Dorlus has done, from high school to the end of his collegiate career, is disrupt. He carried that same effect to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where he made his presence felt in both team drills and 1-on-1s.
.@oregonfootball DT @brandon_dorlus
"At 6'3", 285 pounds, Dorlus has fast, energetic feet, along with stellar lateral agility."
More sleepers here ⤵️https://t.co/tw5CLyeQyXpic.twitter.com/QpUkYnKMCn
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) June 13, 2022
Dorlus is an incredibly intriguing 2024 NFL Draft prospect, but how do his tools translate at the professional level? That’s the biggest question Dorlus still has to answer. At 6’3″, 283 pounds, he’s a bit of a tweener, blurring the lines between EDGE and DT.
Dorlus’ testing at the NFL Combine didn’t help quell these concerns of positional ambiguity. Dorlus logged a 4.85-second 40-yard dash, a 1.68-second 10-yard split, a 9’3″ broad jump, and a 7.43-second three-cone. Those numbers are non-elite at EDGE, but at DT, they’re all at least above the 85th percentile.
Is Dorlus a “master of none,” or is he a defensive chess piece in waiting? That’s the question. Now, let’s find the answer.
Dorlus’ Scouting Report
Strengths
- Sports a dense, compact frame with excellent natural leverage and proportional length.
- Unique physical profile grants him alignment versatility from 2i to stand-up 7-tech.
- Explosiveness and proportional length amount to exceptional raw power capacity.
- Has the lateral agility to off-set blockers and win with a quick swim or arm-over move.
- Can veer across gaps and use his energetic twitch to expose blockers’ frames to power.
- Flashes above-average ankle flexion when pinching the corner and bending around OTs.
- Very naturally loads his base and acquires leverage as a 5-tech against zone blocks.
- Leverage and length enable menacing power to drive on long arms and bull rushes.
- Natural pressure generator with his power and can build off of that power with counters.
- Has the strength to prevent displacement while working across-face against blockers.
- Strong edge-setter who can stack blocks, re-anchor, peek, and shed to make tackles.
- Has shown he can stack euro-steps with chop and club-rip combos outside the tackle.
- Heavy, precise hands and prying strength allow him to deconstruct extensions.
- High-motor rusher who consistently fights through contact and churns his legs.
- Proactively seeks to occlude passing windows and deflect throws with his length.
Weaknesses
- Explosiveness, while solid, falls below the elite mark from wider alignments.
- Relatively high-cut frame detracts from flexibility and bend capacity at times.
- Visibly lacks the hip flexibility to consistently roll his midsection once at the apex.
- Experiences slight delays when changing direction and recovering in open space.
- Doesn’t quite have the bending capacity to pry back inside gaps after off-setting outside.
- Sometimes overcommits inside of gaps and fails to maintain back-side discipline.
- Can be a bit quicker to employ counters out of run-first reads on play-action reps.
- Sometimes drifts too far upright when approaching contact, nullifying power load.
- Can struggle to manage pad level through successive pass-rushing moves at times.
- Visibly lacks elite speed and range in pursuit and can be a lumbering mover in space.
- Speed and flexibility limitations at times prevent the conversion of pressures to sacks.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Dorlus grades out as a top-100 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s worthy of mid-to-late Day 2 capital but could go even higher, depending on how teams value his hybrid profile on the defensive line.
Earlier in his Oregon career, Dorlus played more often on the interior line. But in 2023, the loss of D.J. Johnson led to increased EDGE snaps for Dorlus.
Alongside Jordan Burch, Dorlus proved to be a very competent pressure generator from stand-up alignments while maintaining reps at 5-tech and farther inside.
Dorlus has an incredibly unique frame at around 6’3″, 283 pounds with high-end proportional length, and that profile gives him exciting versatility. He can play 2i and 3-tech and use his burst, leverage, and powerful hands to disrupt. And when isolated 1-on-1, he can stack and shed run blocks and prevent displacement.
At 5-tech, Dorlus’ strength is just as potent. His lateral agility serves as a mechanism for stunts and gap invasions from all across the front. From 7-tech and wide-9, he can truly activate his explosiveness and power, either setting up tackles for counters or bowling straight through them.
Dorlus doesn’t quite have elite attack explosiveness, and while he flashes above-average ankle flexion, the bend isn’t a strong part of his game. Additionally, while he improved his leverage maintenance in 2023, he can still work to cut down instances of drifting too high with his high-cut frame.
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Because of Dorlus’ slight limitations as a pass rusher from outside alignments, he might be best served to function as a strong-side 5-tech DE on early downs and in obvious run situations, then shift inside to 3-tech and 4i in passing scenarios.
Having said all this, Dorlus has a high floor as an alignment-versatile run defender and power-oriented pressure generator, and especially in odd and hybrid front schemes, he can be a valuable rotational add on Day 1, with quality starter potential down the road.
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