Biggest risers from the 2022 college all-star events:

Western Michigan linebacker Ali Fayad

LB Ali Fayad, Western Michigan

Just outside the top-3000 overall recruits in 2017, Fayad played in all 12 and started three games as a true freshman, before becoming a fixture in the Bronco defense from that point on. Over the last four years (42 games), he racked up 139 tackles, 47.5 of those for loss, 26 sacks and eight fumbles forced, including career-bests this past season (17.5 TFLs and 12 sacks). For his efforts, he was named second- and then first-team All-MAC these past two seasons respectively.

I had no idea who this guy was before East-West Shrine week, but Fayad’s explosion of the snap and effort as a pass-rusher were highly impressive. Whether it was converting into power and going through guys or having to come up with secondary moves on the fly, he made his presence felt. He showcased very loose hips and good ankle mobility, to turn a tighter arc and get low, to go underneath tackles on ghost moves. His go-to, however, is a very well-coordinated spin, where he uses the icepick-arm to clear the blocker’s hips. He won on a sweet iteration of that move and then actually came back with a fake-spin later during Shrine Bowl one-on-ones.

There’s no doubt that Fayad looks a bit on the smaller side at 6’2”, 250 pounds, and his 32-inch arms don’t equalize that, but he played much bigger than his size would indicate in terms of holding his ground in the run game and adding some power as a rusher. On the front-side of run plays, he is highly active with his hands, to pull off blockers off him once the ball-carrier approaches, and he showed good pursuit from the backside. He also had a pick just go off his hands, staying home on the backside of a zone run to take away a throw into the flats and then slightly falling off, to take away the receiver behind him, as the QB tried to play levels on the bootleg.

Fayad put a lot of work into dropping in coverage as a junior, and if that’s the size he will play at, he might have to play off the ball to some degree. I’m not 100 percent sure where the league sees his most logical fit, but in Vegas, he showed that he can play. Having seen some of that awareness in zone coverage, setting a physical edge and then, of course, having that ability to win in multiple ways as a pass-rusher, I think he can turn into a quality 3-4 outside backer, after possibly starting as more of a rotational player or specialist as a rookie.