Weekly Wardaddies: Isaiah Green

It really is a pity that Isaiah Green isn't more of a household name at the moment. The rising senior has some of the best tape among Minnesota prep players in the class of 2020. He's fast, he's strong, he's dominant and he plays <em>very</em> hard. I understand that size-related traits are popular, but, you can't teach speed either and this dude definitely has it. There are times that he <em>explodes </em>off the ball in the most literal sense of the word. We do have a recent example in Hercules Mata'afa who played defensive tackle for WSU at <em>250</em>. In the Pac-12 no less. Undersized players like Mata'afa and Aaron Donald having success while playing under 290? I'm just saying there's precedent... Isaiah Green can play at the Power 5 level and I won't hear any arguments to the contrary. Take a look at his <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="color: #ff0000;text-decoration: underline">hudl tape</span></span> <span style="color: #000000">and tell me you don't see dominance. His <em>mid-season</em> highlight tape is longer than his final highlight tape. I'm dying on this hill in 2019. Read on to see why</span> <h2></h2> <h2>Isaiah Green - DL - St. Cloud Tech</h2> &nbsp; <h3>Size/Body Type</h3> Stocky, yet fit, gym rat who looks like a smaller Robert Nkemdiche. Stout and muscular with okay length at 6'2" and 250 pounds. Thick all over and carries his weight very well. Could step in right now as an FBS H-Back and not turn many heads. <h3>Athleticism</h3> Unbecoming. Unfair. Choose your own adjective. He's a quick and explosive athlete who clearly benefits from the weight room gene. Green is explosive from whatever stance he's in and has the wind to build speed down a long runway. Easily moves side-to-side and doesn't lose much velocity doing so. Good hands and overall coordination. Quick feet, hands and eyes for an interior defensive lineman. Seems like cheating to line him up over the center. I mean I get he pushed off here, but that's your <em>defensive tackle</em>. <h3>Pass Rush</h3> Excellent burst and coordination for an interior defensive lineman. He doesn't lose balance breaking into the backfield and is consistently in position to finish. A clearly intelligent football player who varies his approach based on his alignment. As a 0-tech nose he mauls centers with quickness, hand placement and leverage. From a 3-tech defensive tackle position he wins with timing and toughness to expand and hold gaps. As a defensive end he shows some interesting cornering ability with flashes of very good hip mobility. A genuinely intriguing set of pass rush traits. <h3>Run Game</h3> Overwhelmingly explosive at times. The closest descriptor is a mauling. Jumps on cats with a suddenness and level of aggression that stands out immediately. Consistently seems to have a plan of attack for whichever alignment he's in. Wins with quickness most often but may need some more sand in the pants before he can take on D1 offensive guards. Great feet to keep up on zone runs and not get lost in the trash. <h3>Power</h3> Pretty darn good. Green's biggest asset is his quickness and explosiveness. At a young age he understands fairly well how to transfer speed to power at the point of attack and as I stated earlier, he <em>mauls </em>people. He's got the weight room numbers to back it up. Generates a lot of power when aligned inside and does so with a lot of effort. <div style="width: 100%;height: 0;padding-bottom: 52%"></div> <h3>Flexibility</h3> Fairly decent for a player of his build. His athletic profile is reminiscent (to me at least) of Khalid Hill or Dimitri Flowers who were both athletic H-backs at their respective schools. Moves well side to side and looks better than most when he has to change direction. <h3>Hand Technique</h3> Diverse and technically advanced. Green shows a solid core of pass rush moves: single &amp; double hand swipes, standard rips and a deadly swim move. Is well versed in their execution and explosive enough to be deadly. <h3>Effort</h3> Unquestioned. Of all the parts of his game that warrant praise, Green's snap-to-snap effort and desire are noteworthy. &nbsp; <h2>Summary</h2> Overall, Isaiah Green is one of the more polished and high-potential players I've seen still moving under the radar. The only offers I've seen reported for him are UNI and South Dakota, which should change in the next few months. His explosiveness, power at the point of contact and technical proficiency is simply head and shoulders above any interior DL in the state of Minnesota. It's hard to say sometimes exactly what may be holding a player's recruitment back without talking to them. It could be grades, size, oddities in relationships with their respective recruiter, etc. Or it could be that they've been in contact and maybe have already been offered but just haven't announced it, i.e. Yahya Black. The fact is that Green offers traits in the class of 2020 that no one else has shown up until now. While I believe he could make a healthy transition to H-Back should the DT thing not work out, I don't see why it wouldn't. Little by little the NFL's ascendance towards a spread offense standard is creating a need for smaller, faster defenders. Freaks like Quinnen Williams, who even at 295 is considered small, are becoming the new norm. If more IDL under 300 pounds start making a positive impact defensively, then it should not take long before we see more guys in the 260-270 range just wreaking havoc inside. Green could be one of those guys and I look forward to seeing what the next 8 months has for him. &nbsp; &nbsp;