Jason Worilds the Steelers pick with round two

Friday night the Steelers were back at it in the NFL Draft, taking DE Jason Worilds with their 2nd round pick. Here’s what the National Football Post says about him:

Worilds might have the most explosive first step of any pass rusher in the nation. He will be an ideal quick-stwitch 3-4 OLB for the Steelers who has the ability to consistently reach the edge.

Here’s more about him from the Steelers web site:

Jason Worilds is the latest in the Hokies’ long tradition of pass rushers at Virginia Tech, but he may be one of the most athletic. In 41 games, he had 15.5 sacks, 75 pressures, 34.5 tackles for loss and caused five fumbles. In 2009, he joined Darryl Tapp (35 in 2005) and Chris Ellis (38 in 2007) as the only Hokies to register more than 30 QB pressures in a season during the coach Frank Beamer era. There is much more to Worilds’ game than just attacking the quarterback. He has proven to be a very capable run stuffer. In 117 run plays, he limited the opposition to just 44 yards, an average of 0.38 yards per attempt. No running back has ever scored against him since he joined the varsity for two games as a freshman. On those 117 plays, he stopped those runners for a loss 43 times, took down ball carriers at the line of scrimmage for no gain 14 times, made 25 third-down hits and three more on fourth-down snaps. Worilds has made 84 plays vs. the aerial attack, as the opposition completed just 10 of those attempts (11.90 pass completion percentage) for 62 yards, which translates to 6.2 yards per completion and 0.74 yards per attempt, the lowest figure for any major college down lineman. He delivered 30 third-down stops and three more on fourth down.

And his scouting report from FF Toolbox:

Jason Worilds opted to leave Virginia Tech a year early, so far that seems to have been a good decision. Worilds is a great athlete who is quicker than most defensive ends. However, he lacks the size to play on the end at the next level in most schemes. That means he will likely have to move to linebacker.

But with the Hokies, Worilds was a dominating defensive end. After missing all but two games as a true freshman in 2006 due to a shoulder injury, Worilds started to make an impact in 2007. By the 2008 campaign Worilds was a big time contributor and tallied 62 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks. As a junior in 2009, the 6-1, 254 pound Carteret, New Jersey native was often double teamed. Yet, he still managed to total 49 tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

Worilds is still a project and it remains to be seen if he should play as an end in a 4-3 defense or a linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. The other issue with Worilds is his nagging shoulder injury. He has a ton of talent and athleticism, but some teams may shy away from him because of the injury concerns. Either way Worilds’ athleticism will get him drafted in the first two or three rounds and he seems to keep moving up draft boards.