Adisa Isaac scouting report: Exploring the Penn State edge defender's strengths and weaknesses

A four-star recruit in 2018, Adisa Isaac was a rotational player through his first two years with the Nittany Lions (27 tackles, 4.5 for loss and three sacks), before missing all of 2021 with an injury. As a redshirt junior, he broke out as a full-time starter, with 28 total stops, 11 for loss and four sacks.

He actually improved on those (37 total stops, 16 TFLs, 7.5 sacks, one fumble forced and recovered each) and was a second- and first-team All-Big selection respectively by the coaches and the media.

Details: 6-foot-4, 255 pounds; RS SR.

Breaking down Adisa Isaac's scouting report

Adisa Isaac #20 of the Penn State Nittany Lions sacks Taulia Tagovailoa #3 of the Maryland Terrapin

Strengths

Run defense

• Adisa Isaac plays with good leverage in the run game and has some pop in those hands to stand up tackles.
• Shows the ability to contort his body and turn his shoulders away from angular blockers, in order to position himself in the C-/D-gap as tight ends try to seal him.
• Pummels tight-ends trying to seal him away from the action usually.
• Recognizes when tackles just try to wall him off on the backside and he dips around in order to flatten down the line.
• Shuffles inside and delivers a solid thump with the near-shoulder as he actively meets pulling guards and can blow plays like that up single-handedly, where he forces the back to bounce when then jumps outside and makes him redirect yet again into the arms of his teammates.
• Brings great effort to bounce off tight ends sifting across on split zone and chasing down the back from behind and his closing burst flattening down the line when unblocked away from the action is a major plus.
• Relentless in the way he continues to chase after the ball, whether he has to work through or around contact, getting involved in way more tackles than he should in theory.
• Quickly gets his cleats in the ground after attacking up the field for the quarterback and pursues screen passes.

Pass-rush

• Adisa Isaac packs an effective dip-and-rip maneuver to shorten the corner for himself.
• Yet if he knows he has someone to clean up for him, he’ll sell out and blow through the inside shoulder of tackles to bump them into the quarterback as well.
• Can stick his foot in the ground on an extended first step and shoot up the A-gap from edge alignments, ripping through the guard’s inside shoulder.
• Rushes the passer with tremendous effort, constantly working the hands and regularly runs down scramblers from behind.
• Has the closing burst to cut off the angle for the quarterback trying to get around him as he takes a more direct path with power originally.
• Regularly is able to swat down the wrist of the blocker’s outside arm to be able to create an angle late and then reaches out that long arm to hawk at the ball from behind.
• Puts some massive shots on opposing quarterbacks when he has a bit of a runway.
• Finished seventh among Power-5 edge defenders in the 2024 draft class with a pass-rush productivity of 10.5 – 33 pressures across 208 pass-rush snaps.
• Peeled off the edge and covered ground in a hurry out to the flats, along with carrying tight-ends out to the sideline a few times.

Weaknesses

• Adisa Isaac is generally more of an average athlete without one special trait that stands out as you watch him (other than effort, if you want to count it as such).
• Could work on playing with better extension setting the edge against drive-blocks and lacks mass in the lower half.
• Doesn’t yet incorporate any counter moves when he doesn’t hit the first one as a pass-rusher or has the quick twitch to project that he’ll be particularly effective outside of getting home thanks to his motor.
• Just runs straight into guards too much when stunting inside or getting involved on twists.
• Loses his balance and ends up on turf way too often as he’s trying to corner his rushes or gets banged around on the inside.

Adisa Isaac's 2024 NFL Draft projection

Adisa Isaac #20 of the Penn State Nittany Lions makes the hit on Luke Altmyer #9 of the Illinois Fighting Illini

The Penn State defense was loaded with talent across the entire unit. That includes a likely first-round pick off the opposite edge in Chop Robinson and what might be considered a parallel to Micah Parsons in Abdul Carter making the transition from off-ball linebacker next season.

However, I don’t think there’s another player who continued to show up play after play and showed the kind of hustle Adisa Isaac did for them. He constantly played above his weight class in the run game and was fighting his butt off the get involved on tackles.

The same can be said rushing off the edge, where he’d be looking to get a tight turn combined with relentless hands to free himself from the reach of blockers.

Unfortunately, he ended up on the ground frequently because he lacked the suddenness to threaten the B-gap and create advantageous angles for himself or showed the flexibility to flatten at the top of his rush, too often overshooting the target.

So I have a tough time seeing Adisa Isaac becoming a true difference-maker in obvious passing situations, but he could start in the league for the next eight years plus.

Adisa Isaac grade: Early third round.

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