2019 Gators Player Profile: BUCK pass rusher Jonathan Greenard

With Jachai Polite's early departure to the NFL and CeCe Jefferson's eligibility drying up in 2018, the Florida Gators have been left in a bit of a hole in terms of their pass rush.

Polite, who broke out in 2018 with 11 sacks, was selected by the New York Jets in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft. Jefferson, often viewed as a leader on the defensive line, received an invite to tryout for the Seattle Seahawks at their rookie mini-camp, following 10.5 sacks and 34.5 tackles for loss in his career at UF.

Players will be expected to step up into key roles on the edge to match that production for Todd Grantham's aggressive, hybrid 3-4 defense. Former Louisville Cardinals hybrid pass rusher and Florida Gators grad transfer Jonathan Greenard is at the top of that list, who's projected to start at the BUCK rushing end.

Greenard - 6-4, 263 lbs. - suffered a season-ending wrist injury on his first drive of the 2018 season at Louisville, and transferred to Florida in January. He has familiarity with Grantham, who was Louisville's defensive coordinator from 2014-2016.

He spent time at BUCK under Grantham, but was in a rotation both outside at DE/OLB and inside as a sub-package defensive tackle in 2017 following Grantham's departure to Mississippi State.

That season, Greenard led the team in tackles for loss with 15.5, and tied for the most sacks with seven. However, when watching his tape, it's apparent that the majority of his production came when playing outside. Below, we will take a look at where he's most effective, from a mix of his 2017 film and some clips from the 2019 Orange and Blue game.

Greenard is disciplined against the option and keeps his eyes to the QB. On 3/4 option plays from Kentucky in 2017, three were given off to the RB based on Greenard setting a legitimate edge, and on the one above Greenard doesn't bite down and blows the quarterback up in the backfield.

Greenard plays with solid burst off the line and quick hands to slap away the reaching tackle and both enclosing running backs to pick up a sack. As a bit of a raw pass rusher at that point, consistent glimpses of burst and quick hand usage were really positive returns on Greenard.

Above, Greenard plays inside but stunts out with a swim move across the locked-out arms of the right guard. He syncs this move with the defensive end moving inside on a spin mov to flush the quarterback out of the pocket, and from there Greenard cleans things up for a big loss.

However, unless he's stunting outside and isolated off the snap, Greenard isn't an interior player. He's way too undersized and actually has put on 40 lbs since he enrolled at Louisville at 225, therefore most likely maxed out weight wise. He can't create the leverage to penetrate through the interior consistently and becomes a liability against the run, getting washed out and the running back shooting through the gap he was tasked with closing.

There's no reason to have Greenard taking snaps anywhere inside the offensive tackle, as his skill-set, athleticism, and size best profile him out on the edge. Florida appears to agree: He spent all 23 snaps in the Orange and Blue Game at BUCK defensive end, with a mix of snaps as a standing rusher and with his hand in the dirt.

Greenard put on a bit of a show during the O&B game, showing off his long-arm ability to get push against offensive tackles and force pressure into the backfield on multiple plays. Later on, he showed off a clean spin move to after pushing wide to create an inside rushing lane to get to the quarterback. Emory Jones flushes out, but that's a solid pressure in a game situation.

Another look at Greenard's swim move but working inside, where he gets held up by the tackles inside arm drastically trying to recover from a beating. Regardless, the pass goes incomplete thanks to the pressure from Greenard and company blitzing off the opposite edge, but without the hold Greenard likely puts the quarterback in the grass in a contact situation with the polished swim move.

All in all, Greenard has some flashy tape and solid production coming from a rotation in Louisville that should translate to Todd Grantham's hybrid BUCK pass rusher position. He doesn't have the profile to play inside, rather out in space with straight-line speed for his build and a growing arsenal of pass rush moves developed with quick hand technique.

It's pretty difficult to replace 11 sacks by one player like Florida is tasked with at the BUCK pass rusher position from Jachai Polite, but Jonathan Greenard is a veteran of Todd Grantham's system and has the profile to translate to playing BUCK full-time. As of now, Greenard is Florida's best bet for a stop-gap player as the Gators primary edge rusher.