The Senior Bowl catalyzed a late-cycle rise for Penn State EDGE Adisa Isaac, but the truth is, he should’ve been near the top of the board all along with his 2024 NFL Draft scouting report. Where does Isaac rank in the EDGE class, and how high can he rise in the draft?
Adisa Isaac’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’4 5/8″
- Weight: 250 pounds
- Length: 33 7/8″
- Wingspan: 81 3/8″
- Hand: 9 5/8″
- Position: Edge Rusher
- School: Penn State
- Current Year: Redshirt Senior
The tape alone serves as a compelling argument for teams to take Isaac early in the 2024 NFL Draft. But once you hear his story, and what he’s had to work through to get to this point, it’ll only make that feeling stronger.
Isaac was always expected to make it to the NFL one day. Coming out of high school, he was a high four-star and top-100 national recruit. He joined a Penn State program that’s churned out EDGE prospects like Micah Parsons, Odafe Oweh, and Arnold Ebiketie.
Still, the path that Isaac took was not direct, and it required perseverance. He showed promise early in his collegiate career, logging three sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in limited rotational action through 2019 and 2020.
Adisa Isaac is a DE prospect in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 8.99 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 182 out of 1798 DE from 1987 to 2024. https://t.co/tL8dU9IN5n pic.twitter.com/MBwNa5ajsV
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 21, 2024
When 2021 came around, with Yetur Gross-Matos leaving for the NFL, a breakout for Isaac was anticipated. But in April, Isaac tore his Achilles during the team’s Blue and White spring game.
A torn Achilles was a career-ender in the past, but Isaac remembered his “why” — providing for his mother and his three nonverbal siblings — and he worked his way back through months of rehabilitation. Before long, the breakout came.
In 2022, Isaac joined Chop Robinson on a fearsome front, amassing four sacks and 11 tackles for loss. And in 2023, after being anointed a team captain, he emerged as a second-team All-Big Ten defensive lineman, accruing 7.5 sacks and a team-leading 16 tackles for loss.
Now, Isaac is back in the early-round conversation like he never left. More than that, there’s a sense that he’s always belonged, and he’s getting closer and closer to proving that.
At the Senior Bowl, Isaac terrorized opposing offensive linemen with his blistering burst, agility, and unrelenting motor. At the NFL Combine, he verified that on-field athleticism with a 4.74 40-yard dash, 34.5″ vertical, 10’3″ broad jump, 4.33 short-shuttle, and 7.01 three-cone — all good for a combined Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 8.99.
Isaac — who’ll be 22 years old up until October — is a prospect who’s trending up, and his tape, in tandem with his backstory, makes it easy to be excited about his ultimate potential.
Isaac’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Sports an impressive frame with swathing length and hands that shock at contact.
- Brings wiry strength with his frame and can reliably stack and shed on the edge.
- Fluid, twitched-up lateral rusher who can offset tackles or stress angles on stunts.
- Springy vertical mover with an explosive first step and menacing burst into contact.
- With his explosiveness, long frame, and leg churn, can forklift OTs on power rushes.
- Able to sequence his power with push-pull moves and wrench blockers off-balance.
- Flexible rusher who naturally loads his base while extending to exert power.
- Initial shock allows him to reset the line in run defense and prevent displacement.
- Has the requisite ankle flexion to bend and sustain acceleration around the arc.
- Can pinch surprisingly tight angles with his hip flexibility, shortening the corner.
- Has shown he can win with successive moves, stacking double swipes and rips.
- Can attack inside the torso with power while also breaking the outside hand for rips.
- Has the versatility and frame to play from 2-point, 3-point, and 4-point stances.
- Motorized rusher who carries untethered aggression into contact all through reps.
- Relentless, instinctive pursuit presence with the burst and length to swallow runners.
Weaknesses
- Frame is slightly high-cut, which can inhibit change of direction and bend in space.
- Doesn’t quite have elite hip flexibility and sometimes gets locked out at the apex.
- Sometimes loses his balance while attempting to sink and bend below the arc.
- Can improve his lower body strength to sustain balance against flanking blockers.
- Still maximizing upper-lower-body synergy and sequencing on spins and counters.
- Can still be more consistent at stacking hand counters past initial power exertions.
- Sometimes fails to press upfield far enough ahead of spins, negating his counter lane.
- Sometimes drifts too far upright with his pads on stunts, giving up his frame to blockers.
- Can more consistently convert pressures into sacks and finish with his reach.
- At times is too aggressive on run downs, flushing himself upfield and softening the edge.
- Is occasionally late off the snap while resetting his stance.
- Suffered a torn Achilles that caused him to miss the entire 2021 season.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Isaac grades out as a top-50 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft and a fringe first-round candidate at a premium position. He’s worth consideration in the early-to-mid Day 2 range, but could also be a surprise Round 1 pick. He has early-starter utility at the NFL level and could grow into an impact starter across multiple phases.
At almost 6’5″, 250 pounds, with near-34″ arms, Isaac is a prototype with an all-encompassing physical profile. He’s incredibly explosive, energized on the lateral plane, and flexible beneath the arc. Not only that, he also generates shocking power at contact and has the strength to set the edge in run defense.
Isaac tore his Achilles in April 2021 but rebounded in 2022. In 2023, he appeared to be at 100% and didn’t lose any of the dynamic first step that made him such a promising player in 2019 and 2020.
NFL Combine medicals will be the final gateway for Isaac, but there’s no reason to believe he’ll be flagged after watching him move in 2023 and at the Senior Bowl.
Isaac’s profile grants him some schematic versatility. He can rush from 4-point stances at 5-tech and 7-tech or stretch out to wide-9 as a stand-up rusher and stress the apex with his burst and bend. He has an actionable power arsenal as it stands, but he can also build off of that with swats, swipes, rips, and chops, and his motor underpins his game.
KEEP READING: Top EDGEs in the 2024 NFL Draft
Isaac could still be more consistent at stacking counters off of initial exertions, and there are times when his pad-level management can improve on stunts. But overall, he’s a dynamic pass rusher, a sturdy run defender, and an aggressive, high-IQ pursuit player with a penchant for playmaking.
In even-front, odd-front, and hybrid defensive alignments, Isaac has the floor to take valuable reps right out of the gate. At his peak, he can be an impact starter with dual-sided run-defending and pass-rushing utility.
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