Bryan Bresee 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the Clemson IDL

Bryan Bresee, Clemson: 6’5”, 300 pounds; RS SO.

The number one overall recruit in the 2020 class, Bryan Bresee broke onto the scene with an impressive freshman campaign. He recorded four sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss and two passes batted down.

Unfortunately, he only played 152 snaps in 2021, before tearing his ACL, and wasn’t overly productive. However, in 2022 (a season in which he entered the national spotlight because of stories about his sister dying and how he wanted to play for her), he finally lived up to his potential over the second half of the season, with 5.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks and two passes batted down across ten games.

Bryan Bresee made much more of an impact on a down-to-down basis, making him a second-team All-ACC selection.

Bryan Bresee scout report: Strengths

Quarterback Jordan Yates #13 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is pressured by defensive lineman Bryan Bresee #11 of the Clemson Tigers

+ Built like a bear and was asked to play all over the defensive line by the Tigers.

+ Quick to land his hands and set the tone when asked to play control, with the ability to press off and create an angle on the ball-carrier as he works down the line.

+ Was asked to slant on the majority of snaps and and can reduce his height well in that regard (whether it was crossing the center’s face or even as a looper on interior twists on early downs).

+ His ability to reduce the near-shoulder to the blocker and rip underneath them is very impressive for a guy just under 6’6”.

+ Brings the natural force to crash through the play-side shoulder of blockers who work away from him on zone schemes. Has those moments of just exploding through a crease as guys have to get their body across, and can’t slow him down.

+ Not afraid to do the dirty work inside against the run, even if he may not have the anchor to hold up double-teams, where he does a nice job of dropping the knee and angling into contact.

+ When he recognizes the guy across from him pulling, he shows the quicks to bubble over the top of down-blocks and then chase down the ball-carrier.

+ At 298 pounds, he ran a 4.86 in the 40 (93rd percentile), while his 1.71 ten-yard split was tied for second among the IDL. He was also top-eight in the two other disciplines he participated in (vertical jump & bench press) and had an excellent on-field workout, where he looked very light on his feet and tightly navigated around the bags.

+ When he sells out for the bull-rush, Bryan Bresee can ride guards back into the quarterback’s lap.

+ I thought in 2022, his ability to swipe away the hands of guards and corner around them was so much better.

+ He was able to get a lot more instant wins with the high swim as he worked on his flexibility to torque his upper half and step through the hip of the blocker simultaneously.

+ Quickly IDs slide-protections and swat down the reach of blockers who haven’t been able to slide in front of him to penetrate up the field.

+ Flashed a pretty nasty spin move, particularly when rushing off the edge, which he started to unleash in the latter part of this past season.

+ When he’s locked up with a blocker and sees the quarterback move, he has that suddenness to disengage and track things down.

+ On play-action, Breese has that quickness to go from having guards stood up, to arm-overing them and flattening towards the quarterback.

+ Received a 81.2 pass-rushing grade as a true freshman and 82.0 as a junior from PFF, with a 14.5% pass-rush win rate last season, despite lining up at the nose quite regularly (in three-man fronts).

+ Brings the force to crash through one shoulder of blockers and create lanes for his teammates on games up front.

+ In 2022, the Tigers coaches put him on the edge to give him a run-way against tackles to build up power at times, as well as make him the secondary looper on E-T twists.

Bryan Bresee scout report: Weaknesses

– Bryan Bresee didn’t really take over any stretches of play until this past season, and even then it was somewhat limited.

– Has to play with his eyes up more consistently and work off blocks accordingly, instead of just trying to create chaos.

– Misses chances to work over the top of down-blocks when he sees somebody pull away from him, and allows himself to get pinned on the backside.

– Way too reactionary as a pass-rusher and overall, it doesn’t feel like he's playing the game at an advanced level mentally yet.

– Overall, his 32 and ½-inch arms make it a little more difficult to clear himself of the blocker’s reach and he doesn’t reduce his surface area in the pass game the way he does in run defense.

Bryan Bresee scout report: Grade

On the opposite spectrum of fellow Clemson D-lineman Myles Murphy in my edge rankings, I didn’t get why people were hyping up Bryan Bresee coming into this past season (other than bringing up the fact he was the top overall recruit in the nation). I thought he had an enormous way to go technically and did not like what I saw from him trying to make an impact on an every-down basis.

With that being said, his urgency, plan off the snap and the motor he plays with all went to a different level once he returned from a very difficult personal situation last year. I still believe in terms of play-recognition and dictating reps in passing situations, he has a way to go. But with how much better he got at winning his gap and being able to beat guys cleanly, I’m so much more on board with him now.

Bryan Bresee arguably had the best game of his career against North Carolina in the ACC Championship game (even though all the stat sheet showed was one tackle) and he really impressed me with his movement skills at the combine.

Grade: Late first round

You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Tyree Wilson (EDGE), Texas Tech; Will Anderson Jr. (EDGE), Alabama; Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR), Ohio; Zay Flowers (WR), Boston; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Quentin Johnston (WR), TCU; Zach Charbonnet (RB), UCLA; Bijan Robinson (RB), Texas.

Feel free to head over to halilsrealfootballtalk.com for all my draft breakdowns and check out my YouTube channel for even more NFL content!