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The Green Bay Packers' selection of Barryn Sorrell in round four created an all-time NFL draft moment, as the former Texas pass rusher, who decided to attend the draft to hear his name called, emerged from the green room to greet his new fanbase.
Beyond just a heartwarming story, Sorrell is a talented football player who could be a steal in the fourth round.
At 6-3 ⅕” and 256 pounds, he is not the biggest EDGE on paper, but he is extremely well put together, has a muscular build and good length with 32 ½” arms.
Sorrell tested very well at the NFL Scouting Combine, earning a 9.31 Relative Athletic Score (RAS) out of a possible 10, including "great" scores for speed – he ran a 4.68 in the 40 – explosion and agility.
He was productive at Texas, accumulating 20 career sacks and 124 pressures per PFF, with nine of those sacks and 49 pressures coming in his final season.
An uncomplicated pass rusher, his game is based mostly on power – both in his body and his hands – and effort. Brian Gutekunst described his style as: “A lot of power, length and hands.”
Sorrell had a good amount of success with a slow burn pass rush, getting into an opponent's chest and working them back towards the quarterback, before pulling his arms away to shed and attack the ball.
There is real power in his hands to shock offensive linemen and keep them from getting hold of him. He can grab opponents’ wrists and forklift them up to put them in a compromised position.
There is also skill to his pass rush though, specifically with his hand usage. Sorrell can win by swiping linemen’s hands away or pulling them down to throw them off balance, helping him get to the outside corner.
By getting one hand into an opponent’s chest first, he can then simply slap them aside with the other. Sorrell keeps working his hands throughout the rep, not giving the offensive lineman any time to rest.
He has the juice to close to the ball and is useful on stunts as a result. He has enough size to rush inside as well as against tackles on the edge.
In the run game, Sorrell takes his responsibility seriously in terms of setting the edge. He takes on blocks well, at times working through multiple obstacles to get to the ball. The power he has in his body and arms help him to hold the point of attack and shed blocks. He will not be easily blocked by tight ends.
Sorrell has intelligence to his game. After reading a jet sweep against Georgia, he shot into the backfield and tackled the ball carrier before he could get going. He can sniff out screens and when engaged with linemen, is aware of the QB trying to escape and is also ready to get his arms up to bat passes.
He plays with great effort, showing persistence to beat the man across for him eventually, or chasing the ball to the whistle Sorrell has the athleticism to reach for tackles in the open field.
Having not missed a game in three years and played 651 snaps in 2024, Sorrell is a durable player, and by all accounts, was an exceptional teammate and a leader of the Longhorns defense.
Packers director of football operations Milt Hendrickson gushed about the type of person Sorrell is.
He said Green Bay is always looking for: “Big, fast, smart, tough, good people who need football," before adding that with Sorrell: “You can check all those boxes."
Hendrickson continued: “If that guy stays healthy, he’s going to play as long as he wants to.”
While there is a lot to like about Sorrell as a player, there is maybe not anything to love, or a high-end trait.
Despite the production, his PFF grades of 71.8 as a pass rusher and 72.4 as a run defender over the last two seasons are more solid than exceptional. There are stretches on tape when he can disappear and have very little impact, it is not for a lack of trying though.
He looks a little tall and leggy, and in spite of his impressive agility testing, his ability to really bend the edge and dip back towards the quarterback is inconsistent at best. Sorrell is more of a "through your face" type of pass rusher.
The lack of change of direction also shows up when he tries to turn and make tackles at times.
The effort and intent is there in run defense, but he could do a better job of anticipating what the offense is going to do. Teams had to commit to taking him out of the play either with a puller or a double team, but were able to because he often did not see it coming.
Double teams move him off his spot quite easily in the run game, and if he is to line up inside at times, that problem could be exacerbated due to the bigger bodies he will come up against in there.
He can be too eager to shed a block and end up shedding the wrong way, taking himself out of the play and opening up a running lane.
Overall, Sorrell being available in the fourth round is an absolute mystery. An athletic, productive, durable, great person at a high profile college program in the premier conference, at a premium position, should be a top-100 pick every single time.
He will provide legitimate competition for the EDGE group in Green Bay, will at worst be a good number three rusher, and potentially a solid-good NFL starter for a long time. The Packers should be thrilled they managed to pick up Sorrell on day three.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers draft pick profiles: Barryn Sorrell one of steals of the draft
Continue reading...
Beyond just a heartwarming story, Sorrell is a talented football player who could be a steal in the fourth round.
At 6-3 ⅕” and 256 pounds, he is not the biggest EDGE on paper, but he is extremely well put together, has a muscular build and good length with 32 ½” arms.
Sorrell tested very well at the NFL Scouting Combine, earning a 9.31 Relative Athletic Score (RAS) out of a possible 10, including "great" scores for speed – he ran a 4.68 in the 40 – explosion and agility.
He was productive at Texas, accumulating 20 career sacks and 124 pressures per PFF, with nine of those sacks and 49 pressures coming in his final season.
An uncomplicated pass rusher, his game is based mostly on power – both in his body and his hands – and effort. Brian Gutekunst described his style as: “A lot of power, length and hands.”
Sorrell had a good amount of success with a slow burn pass rush, getting into an opponent's chest and working them back towards the quarterback, before pulling his arms away to shed and attack the ball.
There is real power in his hands to shock offensive linemen and keep them from getting hold of him. He can grab opponents’ wrists and forklift them up to put them in a compromised position.
There is also skill to his pass rush though, specifically with his hand usage. Sorrell can win by swiping linemen’s hands away or pulling them down to throw them off balance, helping him get to the outside corner.
By getting one hand into an opponent’s chest first, he can then simply slap them aside with the other. Sorrell keeps working his hands throughout the rep, not giving the offensive lineman any time to rest.
He has the juice to close to the ball and is useful on stunts as a result. He has enough size to rush inside as well as against tackles on the edge.
In the run game, Sorrell takes his responsibility seriously in terms of setting the edge. He takes on blocks well, at times working through multiple obstacles to get to the ball. The power he has in his body and arms help him to hold the point of attack and shed blocks. He will not be easily blocked by tight ends.
Sorrell has intelligence to his game. After reading a jet sweep against Georgia, he shot into the backfield and tackled the ball carrier before he could get going. He can sniff out screens and when engaged with linemen, is aware of the QB trying to escape and is also ready to get his arms up to bat passes.
He plays with great effort, showing persistence to beat the man across for him eventually, or chasing the ball to the whistle Sorrell has the athleticism to reach for tackles in the open field.
Having not missed a game in three years and played 651 snaps in 2024, Sorrell is a durable player, and by all accounts, was an exceptional teammate and a leader of the Longhorns defense.
Packers director of football operations Milt Hendrickson gushed about the type of person Sorrell is.
He said Green Bay is always looking for: “Big, fast, smart, tough, good people who need football," before adding that with Sorrell: “You can check all those boxes."
Hendrickson continued: “If that guy stays healthy, he’s going to play as long as he wants to.”
While there is a lot to like about Sorrell as a player, there is maybe not anything to love, or a high-end trait.
Despite the production, his PFF grades of 71.8 as a pass rusher and 72.4 as a run defender over the last two seasons are more solid than exceptional. There are stretches on tape when he can disappear and have very little impact, it is not for a lack of trying though.
He looks a little tall and leggy, and in spite of his impressive agility testing, his ability to really bend the edge and dip back towards the quarterback is inconsistent at best. Sorrell is more of a "through your face" type of pass rusher.
The lack of change of direction also shows up when he tries to turn and make tackles at times.
The effort and intent is there in run defense, but he could do a better job of anticipating what the offense is going to do. Teams had to commit to taking him out of the play either with a puller or a double team, but were able to because he often did not see it coming.
Double teams move him off his spot quite easily in the run game, and if he is to line up inside at times, that problem could be exacerbated due to the bigger bodies he will come up against in there.
He can be too eager to shed a block and end up shedding the wrong way, taking himself out of the play and opening up a running lane.
Overall, Sorrell being available in the fourth round is an absolute mystery. An athletic, productive, durable, great person at a high profile college program in the premier conference, at a premium position, should be a top-100 pick every single time.
He will provide legitimate competition for the EDGE group in Green Bay, will at worst be a good number three rusher, and potentially a solid-good NFL starter for a long time. The Packers should be thrilled they managed to pick up Sorrell on day three.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers draft pick profiles: Barryn Sorrell one of steals of the draft
Continue reading...
