Brandon Dorlus scouting report: Exploring the Oregon interior defensive lineman's strengths and weaknesses

A top-1000 overall recruit in 2019,Brandon Dorlus was a rotational player for the Ducks for his first two seasons, Then he became a first-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2021 and then second-team in ’22, with a combined 64 tackles, 16.5 of those for loss, five sacks and four passes batted down at the line.

As a fifth-year senior, he put up a career-best five sacks and nine passes batted down at the line, along with 6.5 TFLs, improving to first-team all-conference.

Profile: 6-foot-3, 285 pounds; RS SR.

Breaking down Brandon Dorlus' scouting report

Run defense:

• Packs the length and strength to kind of bench-press blockers and knock them back a little bit in the run game
• You can have him set the edge, play gap-control inside or attack up the field
• Was asked to slant a lot, where he could attack the play-side shoulder of blockers on zone concepts to stand up and bump off contact to create negative plays
• Has some impressive run stuff where he just swipes by blockers, side-steps them and places himself in the gap as a wall for the ball-carrier
• Capable of rip through the reach of blockers, dipping underneath and getting around them to get his hands on the ball-carrier around the line of scrimmage
• As an edge defender, he quickly erases the space to the tackle blocking away from him by shuffling inside
• Puts some H-backs or tight-ends on their backside when trying to sift-block or trap him
• Was used as a quasi-spy from the nose-tackle spot a few times against mobile QBs, which didn’t help his pass-rush productivity, but made him a valuable asset thanks to his lateral movement skills and long arms to ultimately affect passing lanes

Pass-rush:

• Regularly is able to free himself from blockers as he IDs play-action by pulling them forward
• Packs the power to ride guys back into the quarterback’s lap and put them on the turf if they got off balance
• Showcases an impressive ability to link his arms and hips together, in order to cross-face blockers for occasional early wins
• Explosive lateral mover, to come free on stunts, as he dips underneath the reach of guys trying to pick him up
• Packs some really nice power-to-speed moves off the edge, where he aims at the center of the tackle and then jumps outside paired with the club-swim
• With his length and force in his hands, he’s frequently able to swipe by blockers after control-rushing or stalling initially
• Just keeps working hard as a pass-rusher and rarely allows scrambling quarterbacks to get outside of him rushing the B-gap or edge
• His 88 pressures between 2021 and ‘22 led all returning Power Five edge defenders coming into 2023 and then he had the highest total (46) last season among all interior defenders

Weaknesses:

• Has room to improve his ability to defend the run with extension and counter the first step(s) of the guy across from him
• Doesn’t consistently keep the outside free and stay ready to quickly disengage when the ball is coming his way, which leads to busted contain assignments
• Seems oblivious to cut-blocks and regularly ended up with his chest planted into the turf on those
• There’s not much of a refined pass-rush plan and Dorlus rarely gets clean wins with his hands, to some degree since he doesn’t simultaneously step through
• Spends too much time trying to peak at the quarterback and dancing with the guy across from him, rather than getting to that guy’s hip

Brandon Dorlus' 2024 NFL Draft prospect

Brandon Dorlus is a classic case if a player without a defined position, who may either not be looked at as a clean fit for defensive schemes or get pushed up because some decision-makers see the potential to turn him into a problem with his combination of length, quickness and raw force.

I struggle with his evaluation, because I definitely don’t see him as an EDGE but if you ask him to play gap-control in an even front, I don’t love he’ll translate there either. He has a long way to go when it comes to identifying run concepts and finding ways to gain the upper hand in matchups against pass-protectors, because he doesn't work off and string together moves in a comprehensive fashion.

Ultimately, I like Brandon Dorlus best in an odd front as a base, where he’s asked to two-gap but also can stress blockers up the field from shade alignments.

On passing downs, he may be most valuable over lined up over the center and creating chaos as he slants across the formation, providing opportunities for his fellow front-seven to clean up, along with controlling and reaching out for scrambling quarterbacks at times, when the defense potentially bails players out, and he’s asked to deal with extra hands.

Grade: Late third round