From now until the 2022 NFL Draft takes place, we hope to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Iowa defensive lineman Logan Lee.
#85 LOGAN LEE, DL, IOWA (SR) — 6053, 281 lbs.
Combine
Measurements
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Logan Lee | 6053/281 | 10 1/4″ | 32 1/4″ | 78 7/8″ |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| 5.05 | 1.77 | 4.37 | 7.16 | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| 9’6″ | 31.5″ | 25 |
The Good
— High motor/effort to the whistle
— Strong hands and play strength to yank blockers
— Solid lateral agility and quickness
— Put enough pressure on blocker to force them to hold him often
— Solid at shedding blocks
— Swim move to get over lineman
— Chases the ball everywhere
— Lots of starting experience on a good defense
The Bad
— Every snap was on the right side of the formation in games watched
— Gets over his toes causing him to lose power in his rush
— Pass rush plan was very inconsistent
— Aggressiveness needs to be turned up
— Lacks explosiveness into the blocker
— Doesn’t handle double team blocks well
— Ducks head into blocker losing sight of the play
— Sheds too slowly
— Gets turned away from play too easily/doesn’t stay square to the line
Bio
— Career: 158 tackles, 58 solo, 18.5 TFL, 9 sacks, 7 PBU
— 2023: 55 tackles, 19 sol, 5.5 TFL, 3 sacks, 3 PBU
— Honorable mention All-Big ten (2022, 2023)
— Hayden Fry “Extra Heartbeat” Award, defense for exemplary leadership and dedication throughout the year as well as the offseason
— 43 games, 41 starts
— Academic All-Big Ten 2022, 2023
— 2021 Team Hustle Award, defense
— Met with Steelers DL coach Karl Dunbar at the NFL Combine
Tape Breakdown
Logan Lee was a three-year starter for the Hawkeyes defense. He was primarily lined up from the 1-tech to the 3-tech on the right side of the formation. He is good height and adequate weight with solid arm length and very good hand size. His motor is very good, and he will chase all over the field to the whistle.
As a pass rusher, he has snap quickness and good pad level. He has solid lateral agility to cross the face of blocker and can surprise with his quickness. He has good hands and upper body strength to yank lineman out of his way. Overall, his hand usage and placement are solid using a chop/rip of long arm/stab. He did seem to get held often but didn’t get a lot of calls, showing he did put pressure on the blocker despite low sack totals. Consistently, he will get his hands up in throwing lanes.
A few samples of his better pass rushes.
Against the run, he was more often asked to play the 2-gap scheme. One-on-one, he has solid balance and good strength and is good at shedding the blocker. Using a swim move, he is able to get over the interior lineman. Against combo blocks, he displays good effort to fight through to the ball. He didn’t play a lot of 1-gap schemes but was solid with his quickness to disrupt plays. As a tackler, he does well wrapping the runner and getting him down. On runs to the outside, he displays good lateral agility to mirror the blocker.
Lee making plays against the run game.
When rushing the passer, he takes short steps and doesn’t keep his legs under his pads limiting his power rush capability. His pass rush plan was very inconsistent and lacked effective counters. Some games, it seemed he was comfortable just trying to get his hands in the passing lane rather than beating his man. On stunts and twists, he was marginal to create a gap or explode into a gap.
He lacks the play strength to manage double team blocks against the run consistently. He has propensity to drop his head into the blocker and lose sight of the play. The timing to shed blocks was too slow limiting his ability to get free before the ball got to him. There weren’t a lot of thumps in his tackles. He needs to stay square to the line of scrimmage to not get turned away from the play.
Lee is in an acceptable position here, but he gets pushed back about three yards before he can shed the block.
Here, he gets turned by the blockers and loses sight of the play.
Head turned away from the play and he doesn’t remain square getting him run out of the play.
Conclusion
Overall, Lee has very good starting experience and a very good motor. He plays with solid snap quickness and good pad level. Good hands and play strength allow him to yank blockers out of the way, and he displays flashes to rush the passer. He played a lot of 2-gap defense with the ability to shed blockers. He has quickness to get in gaps, high effort and good chase get him around the ball often.
Areas to improve include staying under his pads on power rushes, being more consistently aggressive to get after the quarterback and developing his pass rush plan. Adding play strength, keeping his eyes up when taking on blocks and shedding more quickly will allow him to make more plays.
The reported meeting with defensive line coach Dunbar led me to take a look at Lee. He has the requisite height to play defensive end in the Steelers scheme, but would need to add about 20 pounds of muscle. His arm length isn’t ideal, but if he can turn the aggression up, he could be a solid rotational defender. The sack totals are not that high, but he was held often in the games I watched, so there is some potential to see improvement.
Without the addition of weight, I would see him more as a strong side defensive end in an even front. He hasn’t shown the ability to consistently handle double-team blocks, so a 1-gap scheme may fit him best.
For a player comp, I will give you Isaac Rochell. A similar high-motor player with limited sack production who is a rotational tackle/end in the NFL.
Projection: Late Day Three
Depot Draft Grade: 6.2 End of Roster/ Practice Squad (Sixth Round)
Games Watched: 2023 – At Iowa State, Vs Purdue, Vs Minnesota, Vs Illinois, Vs Michigan
