Welcome Our 1st Round Pick: Jerry Tillery, DT, Notre Dame

[Steve]

He is not going to be another Aaron Donald, who beats OG with his quickness. But Tillery has power and leverage, and once he gets better at his hand placement, he is going to be a monster. He has to land his blow closer to the middle of the chest, instead of clubbing guys in the shoulder.

He also needs a bit of work on staying low and firing out low. At 6'7" he has great natural leverage. In college, he can get away with giving some of it up, but he needs to stay lower and drive into the OG/C and power through them.

He is the kind of player who can be more physical, 2 gap style player who can drive the pocket back into the QB and flush them out to the DE. He needs to be better and more consistent with his run fits and hand use, especially against the run. But so many rookie DL have that same issue.

[Craig440]

Sounds to me like he has great potential, but his attitude may be in question. Once he gets his first round money we well see. I trust Tom as his last few first rounders work for me. So welcome big dude. Now become a star.

[Xenos]

Here's Brugler's ranking (Dexter was 33rd):

https://theathletic.com/934310/2019/04/22/top-100-draft-board-dane-brugler-2019-prospect-grades/

32. Jerry Tillery, DT, Notre Dame

HT	WT	HAND	ARM	WING	40	20	10	VJ	BJ	SS	3C	BEN
6064	295	10 5/8	34 1/4	81	4.93	2.88	1.69	32	09'07"	4.33	7.45	23

Tillery is a loose mover with a powerful punch, using his length to stack, shed and bully. He is an extremely talented player, but teams must be comfortable with his accountability -- NFL teams have strong concerns about his "all in?" commitment to football. Overall, Tillery has a vast playmaking radius with length and athleticism, flashing NFL starter potential, but questions about inconsistent on-field play and dedication to his craft are why he wears a "buyer beware" tag.

[Xenos]

Precombine analysis:

https://theathletic.com/820261/2019/02/15/pre-combine-nfl-draft-rankings-quinnen-williams-leads-top-heavy-defensive-tackle-class/

7. Jerry Tillery, Notre Dame (6-6, 310, 5.21)

Shreveport, La. (Evangel Christian), Senior, 10/8/1996 (age 22.56)

Strengths: Long, athletic frame ... moves well for a big man with lateral quickness, hip snap and flexibility to redirect in a blink ... active on stunts and quick to close, eating up grass with his long strides ... uses his length to detach from blocks ... strong hands to swat, slap and pry his way through gaps ... creates immediate movement with his initial surge and forward lean into blockers ... wide base to move between gaps ... huge wingspan to corral inside runners ... flashes impressive effort to chase down ball carriers 30 yards downfield ... two blocked kicks in 2018 ... graduated with a degree in economics (May 2018).

Weaknesses: Tall center of gravity, allowing shifty runners to shake him in the hole ... upright rusher and strikes too high with his arm moves ... aimless pass rusher and finds himself upfield behind the quarterback ... balance issues when his base narrows ... large target and easily moved on down blocks ... attracted the "dirty player" label as an underclassman (see 2016 USC tape) ... NFL scouts question where football shows up on his priority list ... suspended for the 2015 bowl game for a violation of team rules ... missed time during 2018 spring practice with a concussion; suffered a left elbow sprain (October 2015).

Summary: A three-year starter at Notre Dame, Tillery spent most of his time over the B-gap and outside the tackle as an edge defender, lining up across the Irish's hybrid front. He had his best season as a senior and finished tied for the team lead in sacks (8.0) and forced fumbles (3.0). Tillery is a loose mover with a powerful punch, using his length to stack, shed and bully. He is an extremely talented player, but teams must be comfortable with his accountability - he is an academic with worldly, sophisticated life goals, drawing the "all in?" questions from NFL teams regarding his commitment to football. Overall, Tillery has a vast playmaking radius with length and athleticism, flashing NFL starter potential, but questions about inconsistent onfield play and dedication to his craft are why he wears a "buyer beware" tag.

[Bolt-O]

TT said in the press conference that he has no issues with players with outside interests, but it seems to be something that concerned some teams.

[Guest]

He is not going to be another Aaron Donald, who beats OG with his quickness. But Tillery has power and leverage, and once he gets better at his hand placement, he is going to be a monster. He has to land his blow closer to the middle of the chest, instead of clubbing guys in the shoulder.

He also needs a bit of work on staying low and firing out low. At 6'7" he has great natural leverage. In college, he can get away with giving some of it up, but he needs to stay lower and drive into the OG/C and power through them.

He is the kind of player who can be more physical, 2 gap style player who can drive the pocket back into the QB and flush them out to the DE. He needs to be better and more consistent with his run fits and hand use, especially against the run. But so many rookie DL have that same issue.

I was just about to ask what you thought about the pick when o saw this. Thanks Steve!! So, what do you think about the pick?

[Bolt-O]

SOUTH BEND - It wasn't unusual to walk into the Evangel Christian Academy locker room in Shreveport, La., and see high schooler Jerry Tillery reading the Nasdaq report.

He still does that at Notre Dame. Sometimes he'll peruse stocks, which he says is important to do as an economics major. Other times he'll read newspaper or magazines -- he has subscriptions to The Economist and The New Yorker -- in the locker room before heading out to practice. He likes to be in the know about everything.

"You name it, he does it all," Notre Dame defensive tackle Jay Hayes said of his friend. "He's so worldly. I can't even keep up with all the things he does. That's Jerry for you."

Tillery, a 6-6, 306-pound starting nose guard, is without a doubt No. 16 Notre Dame's most interesting player. He follows the Barefoot Contessa, Mario Testino, Chanel, the New York Times and the Guggenheim Museum on Instagram. He's competed in triathlons and plans to train for one again after football. He spent part of the summer interning for the hedge fund Abbey Capital in Dublin, Ireland. And he cooks -- his specialty is Bolognese.

Tillery wants to see the world. Traveling is one of his favorite hobbies and he's been around. The coolest place he's been is Cape Town, South Africa; the most interesting is Venice, Italy; and the most harrowing is Auschwitz, Poland. He wants to visit South Korea next.

But right now, Tillery is working toward his goal of playing in the NFL.

That dream seemed dimmer heading into this season. Tillery hadn't exactly met expectations the past two years. He was impressive as a freshman in 2015, posting 12 tackles and a sack, but was suspended for the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State for a violation of team rules. In 2016, he didn't improve as quickly as Brian Kelly hoped, making 18 tackles, three for loss, and no sacks.

Then his emotions took over in Notre Dame's season finale loss to USC. He stepped on the leg of one player and kicked another in the head. Those close to him say it was completely out of character, as if he had an out-of-body experience. What he had was a season full of frustration culminating in a bad moment and a 4-8 record. He'll get another chance to play the No. 10 Trojans on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

"Things happen and you can make one decision that can destroy a lifetime of character building," Evangel Christian Academy football coach Byron Dawson said. "In Jerry's case, he was able to bounce back from it and hopefully he won't make that mistake again. That was something that was a shock to me for sure."

Tillery didn't speak to the media for a long time after the incidents. The unsportsmanlike plays were replayed on ESPN for a while. It was a difficult situation to get through and he worked hard to move on. He confronted his actions for the first time during fall camp.
Notre Dame is expecting improvement from Jerry Tillery (99) in 2017. (Photo: Bob Rosato, RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports)
"I've gotten a lot better since that moment," Tillery said. "In my maturity and how I play the game, so it's something that I've learned from and I hope my teammates have seen me make that mistake and learn from it."

Now, Tillery is the heart of Mike Elko's defense. He leads the Irish in sacks (three), is tied for most tackles for loss (4.5) and has the sixth-most tackles overall (27) through six games. He's also made physical, athletic plays in big moments: There was the strip-sack of Miami (Ohio) quarterback Gus Ragland a few weeks ago that led to a Notre Dame touchdown on the ensuing drive. A week later, he combined with Hayes for a safety against North Carolina to give the Irish a more comfortable lead before halftime.

"I think the biggest difference in Jerry is his strength and his ability to come off the ball," Kelly said. "Now you add that quickness and ability to move, and now we've added that strength component and he can get that tip and physically makes it a difficult match for a center."

Tillery also needed to work on his accountability and maturity on and off the field, and recommit himself to football amid his growing interests. He's done that, too.

"We felt that was his challenge," Elko said. "Learning how to balance all of his interests and also his burning desire to be a great football player and how much of his time and energy needed to go into football and get that goal situated for himself."

This season, Elko says, Tillery's priorities are in alignment with his coaches'.

"We've been very happy with his balance of making sure he stays committed to football as No. 1 and not taking away from that."

Follow IndyStar Notre Dame Insider Laken Litman on Twitter and Instagram: @lakenlitman.

[G-Money]

Former Notre Dame Teammate, Isaac Rochelle happy with the pick:

View this post on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwtDbb2A...on_share_sheet

[Bolt-O]

He already has a bud on the team with Isaac Rochell, but maybe not as astute on fast food.

[beachcomber]

from my perspective, and this is coming from a guy that was/is wary of Bosa.... is that he could well outperform his predraft perception.

PFF was the lone wolf in predicting Chris Jones' success in the NFL, having him rated as a top ten talent, and whereas most other draftniks had Jones as a day two guy.

and not overly familiar with, nor recall so much of Seymour's game other than he was an outlier in some sort of metrics comparison, and was a darn fine player, and....

was bearish on both Buckner and Tuitt during the draft, and both exceeded mine and many other's expectations.

and lest we not omit the fact that PFF's ranking him behind only Quinnen, puts him ahead of both Ed and Jeffery.

did team Tommy John have some Golden Dome insider info ??

is Tillery a potential "contract year" kind of player, re: why was it the Combine that he was in the best shape of his career ??

Tom mentioned his inside pass rush.... someone said we "stole" him.... was it a "home run," or did we just steal home ??

do like his forced fumbles and blocked kicks, and wonder as well if as a young man he might well find distraction in Tinsel Town ??

Josh Jacobs.... meet Jerry Tillery,

[Steve]

I was just about to ask what you thought about the pick when o saw this. Thanks Steve!! So, what do you think about the pick?

I really like the guy. He is a different kind of player than a lot of the DL we have had. He really does a better job of staying square to the line than most of the DT we have had. A very powerful guy who has great natural leverage. I see him as another Justin Jones type of player, who may get some playing time early, but then gets more and more time as the season progresses.

He needs to improve some things, but he was not a super high pick, so that has to be expected. If he had better technique and hand use (the big knocks against him) he would have been a top 10 pick. If he stayed low and had a better hand punch he would be a dominant inside player. Those are things I think he can get better at and do those fairly quickly.

The only thing I was a little disappointed in was Jawaan Taylor is still available, and I really like him. IF we could manage to trade up and land Taylor in addition to TIllery, that would be a very successful draft right there.

[Bolt-O]

CBS reaction;

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/video/our-experts-break-down-the-raiders-pick-of-jerry-tillery-no-28-overall-in-the-2019-nfl-draft/