Josh Paschal DE Scouting Report

[Jets Global]

Josh Paschal NFL Draft Profile Position: Defensive End School: Kentucky Current Year: RS Senior Height: 6'3" Weight: 278 pounds
Josh Paschal Scouting Report Paschal isn’t your typical edge rusher. The Kentucky DE stands at 6’3″, 278 pounds, with a long, thickly-built frame. As you might imagine, he’s incredibly versatile with his alignments. He can play standing up or from two- and three-point stances at 5-technique. He can slide inside to 3-technique and even shade above the center. Paschal has great initial get-off. He carries imposing violence off the snap and leverages it into power. His explosiveness and length combine to form elite natural power capacity. Paschal uses that explosiveness and power to knife through gaps and destroy run plays. He also clubs linemen aside and clears open lanes, as well as bulldoze opponents with bull rushes and long-arm moves. Paschal consistently collapses the edge, compressing the pocket and making quarterbacks uncomfortable. He’s an incredibly powerful player who can rip down anchors with sudden, devastating force. But he’s also able to gain displacement with his strong straight-line acceleration upfield. Paschal shows great promise. The Kentucky DE lowers his pads and shoots his hands into his opponent’s torso, generating ample point-of-contact force. He can also flash fast and violent hands to set up linemen, then explode forward and capitalize on exposed surface area. Paschal has nice throttle control, in that he can gear up at precise moments to channel his power. It also helps that his motor runs hot constantly. He has angry energy as a rusher, and every rep features constant motion and urgency. Paschal has the quickness and play strength to set a half-man relationship, sealing the edge. He can keep a strong base and absorb power while standing his ground and clogging up space. Beyond his ability to set the edge, Paschal can also pry free and explode into contact when runners come his way. He can use lateral twitch and targeted physicality to splice his way around blocks. Paschal is a strong tackler, who at least has enough lateral mobility to surge into contact and adjust angles in short spaces. He also displays enough patience to read option plays and identify the ball carrier.
Areas for Improvement Paschal can still refine his game, especially as a pass rusher. The Kentucky DE doesn’t always have a complete attack plan, and he sometimes relies heavily on his traits. He can be more consistent stacking counters in rapid succession, and his hands can also be more precise and coordinated. If his initial rush fails, he can fade out at times. There’s still room for Paschal to add more pass-rushing moves and counters to his arsenal. There are also modest physical limitations to discuss in Paschal’s pass-rushing profile. While he has great explosiveness and power, he lacks elite bend. He can’t accelerate around the edge consistently or pinch the corner. Additionally, he doesn’t have great hip flexibility or ankle flexion, nor is he an especially fluid lateral athlete. Paschal can’t carry momentum through direction changes very well, and he can get locked up at the apex on rushes. Furthermore, he sometimes goes upright after making contact, which further stalls momentum. Paschal sometimes opens up his torso to opposing extensions and can get knocked back as a result. He also struggles to disengage in run defense at times. His hands can be placed too high, which allows blockers greater leverage. Paschal also sometimes loses track of the ball in congestion and runs himself out of plays in pursuit. There are times when he’s overly aggressive and plays himself out of tackling angles. Paschal doesn’t have elite pursuit speed or elite length. His range derives instead from his initial burst and effort. While he’s not a liability in space, Paschal can be a bit of a lumbering mover. He’s not always quick to change directions.
Josh Paschal Career at School Paschal was expected to have an immediate impact for the Wildcats. And at first, he did. The Kentucky DE played in all 13 games with one start in his true freshman season, amassing 16 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. Expectations were high heading into 2018, but a medical development in July halted his momentum. Paschal was diagnosed with malignant melanoma on his foot. Paschal attempted to play in 2018, but immunotherapy treatments would dominate most of his time. He ended up appearing in only two games while working to beat his cancer. He underwent three surgeries, and eventually, in August 2019, he completed his treatment plan and was cleared. To the delight of his teammates and coaches, Paschal returned to the fold as a starter in 2019. He also earned captain status for the first of three times in his career. Through 2019 and 2020, Paschal accumulated 66 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, an interception, a pass deflection, and 2 forced fumbles. He could have declared but instead decided to come back in 2021 and close out his career with his brothers. Paschal had a career year in 2021, putting up 52 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, and a forced fumble. Shockingly, he surpassed his totals from the past two campaigns combined and earned second-team All-SEC honors as a result.
Josh Paschal NFL Draft Player Profile Paschal’s combination of raw power and explosiveness grants him great upside in the right scheme. At 6’3″, 278 pounds, he’s almost built like a pure 3-technique. But Paschal can line up just about anywhere. He has high-end explosiveness, which he uses to gain displacement at 5-technique and outward. Meanwhile, at 3-technique, his athleticism and power can be a devastating mismatch for guards. Paschal doesn’t have elite bend or lateral agility, so he’s always going to be more of a power rusher on the outside. But with his elite power, he can make a living out-muscling tackles and driving them back at the point of attack. He needs to expand his pass-rushing arsenal, but the physical tools are there for him to be an impactful, versatile rusher. And as a run defender, he translates well with his natural leverage, initial burst, and strength. Paschal can play several different roles. Thus, it’s best not to pigeonhole him into one alignment. Preferably in a scheme that employs hybrid fronts, Paschal can be a force at 5-technique. But he can also shade inside to 3-technique and shadow several other spots beyond that.