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GEORGE SELVIE
6-5/247
South Florida Senior

PROS: Has a nice first step and will flash edge speed. Will show some potential as a bull rusher because of his first step. Has a good motor and can make plays in pursuit. Wraps up and does a decent job making the stop in the open field.
CONS: Lacks strength and needs to work on getting off blocks. Doesn't show many pass rush moves, relying on inconsistent burst. Doesn't always show the explosive first step to turn the corner. Doesn't have good hips or body control to project well to linebacker. Lacks recognition and can get caught out of position in space vs. the run. Gets chipped by backs too easily and gets engulfed by blockers at the point of attack.
OVERVIEW: Selvie is a player that may have gotten less attractive as a prospect each time I saw him. Has the size you like in a potential linebacker, but probably a more natural fit at end. He had a monster sophomore year, with 14.5 sacks and 31.5 tackles for loss. But production dropped to 5.5 sacks and 13.5 TFLs as a junior, but he was hampered with injuries all year long. Then only had 3.5 sacks and 9.5 TFLs as a senior, without the injury excuse.
NFL FORECAST: You like Selvie because he works hard, gives good effort, and doesn't quit. He should be able to stick on an NFL roster, even if it's just on special teams. But a year ago I thought he had Freeney-like potential, but not so sure this year. Didn't see much of anything to make me think he'd be an impact pass rusher from this past season. He's a tweener in terms of his size. But I think he's an undersized end that would do well to bulk up some more to try and be a situational guy. But he'd be limited in that role because he'll never be a good run stopper at the point of attack. He may have greater upside as a linebacker, but doesn't possess the natural skills to make me believe he'll develop there. He could play in a 3-4 scheme, but I think he'll be a career backup in that scheme as well. Isn't an instinctual run defender and will struggle in coverage because of his poor hips. At this point, while his potential might be better at linebacker, I think his ability to impact at some point in his first three seasons will only come as a situational pass rusher at end. The potential and ability he showed as a sophomore and flashed as a junior makes me believe that with good coaching, that ability could re-emerge. But I wouldn't bet on it because it evaporated by the time his senior year rolled around.
ATL FORECAST: Selvie is best off competing as a situational pass rusher for the Falcons. But unless he can rediscover his sophomore ability, quickness, and explosiveness, then he won't add much to the Falcons rotation. He probably wouldn't be a better an option than Sidbury and would be buried on the depth chart to the point that he could only impact for the team in his first few years if he can stick on special teams. He has the motor and resume for the coaches to like him, but he'd be hard-pressed to jump either Sidbury or Biermann on the depth chart.
VALUE: Last year, he seemed like a solid Top 20 prospect. But now, I don't think I'd take him before the fourth round and even then he's a project. In truth, his NFL career may more closely mirror a fifth or sixth rounder.

Pros: Has good size and has great quickness off the ball and closes well on quarterbacks as a pass rusher. Has a good burst to close on ball-carriers and will make plays in pursuit for this reason. Does a good job of recognizing a scrambling QB and will peel off his blocker and tackle the QB from behind. Does a good job of working down the line in the trenches despite his lack of strength. Flashes some flexibility to dip under a block to get the edge. Has a good motor and will fight off blocks even after he has been engaged for a while and chase the play from the back side or go after a scrambling quarterback.

Cons: Is skinny, especially considering how tall he is (6’5”). He needs to add some weight to get stronger at the point of attack. He flashes some good hand usage, but once he gets engaged he usually stays blocked for a few seconds. He can be taken out of the play as a speed rusher when the blocker gets his hands on him and is able to neutralize his speed rush. His great quickness is inconsistent also, and he often seems to be trying to guess the snap count, which would explain his great get-off on some plays and his slow get-off on others, as well as all the times I have seen him jump and get back in position before the ball is snapped. He has no other pass rush moves, and rarely attacks the offensive lineman’s inside shoulder even if he is looking for the speed rush. He needs to get stronger to help him bull-rush more effectively, but does not even flash a swim or rip move, much less a spin move. I have never seen him drop into coverage, but he seems to have some tightness in his hips which makes me wonder how well he will transition to linebacker in a 3-4 defense. In addition, his recognition skills are not very good and he will overp-pursue and miss tackles because of it. Doesn’t keep contain well and will fly off the line and will lose control of his gap responsibility and will give up cut-back lanes. Can be engulfed by better offensive linemen when the play is run right at him.

Overall: Selvie has intriguing potential because he can fly off the ball and has good edge speed, but he isn’t close to a complete pass rusher and isn’t effective versus the run either. Right now he is nothing more than a situational pass-rusher who can only threaten offensive tackles with a speed rush and hustle. That isn’t to say that he can’t develop better hand usage and pass rush moves to complement his edge speed, but even for a situational pass-rusher he is under-developed in that department. He could be drafted as a straight pass-rusher in a 4-3 but his value will be limited there because he has such raw technique. In a 3-4 he is even more of a project because he has such limited experience dropping into coverage and still has to develop pass rush moves. His ceiling is probably a #3 DE who developed into a more well-rounded pass rusher since I don’t think he will ever be better than average versus the run, but he could develop into a serviceable role player. His floor is probably a pass rusher who never really developed any pass rush moves to complement his speed rush, and may end up a journeyman or may end up out of the league after a few years. That really hurts his value.

Projection: 5th-6th round: He offers some potential impact early as a situational pass rusher, but his technique is raw and he will need a year or two of development before he will be able to make a sizeable impact even as a situational pass rusher. I don’t think transitioning to the 3-4 is the best move for him, and he would probably only be worth a 7th round pick for a 3-4 team. A 4-3 team could get some value out of him in the 5th round because of his edge speed and his learning curve is shorter until he will be productive. But his ceiling isn’t very high and his floor is unappealing to say the least, so teams likely won’t consider him before the later portion of the draft.

SKILLS
1-poor, 2-weak, 3-above average, 4-very good, 5-elite

STRENGTH: 2.0
QUICKNESS: 4.0
PASS RUSH: 3.0
POINT OF ATTACK: 2.0
RECOGNITION: 2.0
MOTOR: 4.0