2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Texas Tech DL Myles Cole

From now until the 2024 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 Texas Tech defensive lineman Myles Cole.

#6 MYLES COLE, DL, TEXAS TECH (SR) — 6060, 278 lbs.

Combine/Senior Bowl

Measurements

The Good

— Good size and elite length
— Experience playing on the edge and at defensive tackle
— Good athleticism overall
— Eats up space quickly with long strides
— Has a solid long arm/stab pass rush
— Can set the edge and pursues well from the backside
— Good motor chases all over the field
— Solid quickness to get into gaps to disrupt the run game

The Bad

— Hand usage is poor and leaves his chest open
— Snap quickness varies
— Base is narrow, making his balance marginal
— Doesn’t use length to his advantage and leads with shoulder
— Pass rush plan is limited
— Slow to get hands in passing lanes
— Adequate play strength/needs more sand in the pants
— Doesn’t finish plays that he gets near consistently
— Slow to disengage from blocks/gets caught in traffic

Bio

— Career: 85 tackles, 43 solo, 12.5 TFL, five sacks, 1 PBU
— 2023: 32 tackles, 21 solo, 6.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 1 PBU
— All-Big 12 honorable mention (2023)
— East West Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl invitee
— At Texas Tech, 25 games, 13 starts
— Began career at Louisiana-Monroe
— Led team with 27 total pressures per Pro Football Focus
— Earned degree in kinesiology, pursuing Master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies
— In high school, competed in soccer, basketball, and track and field
— Has nine siblings – Raeghan, Rachel, Makynzie, Sariayah, Jordan, Brianna, Garrett, Trinity, and Isaia
— Birthday April 29, 2000 (23)

Tape Breakdown

Myles Cole is a defensive lineman with very good height, good weight, and elite arm length. He began his career at Louisiana-Monroe before transferring to Texas Tech. For the Red Raiders, he played on both sides of the defense in two and three-point stances, aligning from the 4i-tech out to the 7-tech.

Against the pass, when rushing from a three-point stance, he has solid snap quickness and engages the blockers quickly. On the edge, he uses long strides to eat up ground quickly. He will use a variety of moves and was most successful with the long arm/stab and the rip. He additionally tries chops and a spin move. As a looper, he had some success using his long stride to close on the quarterback. Additionally, he was used to spot drops in the curl area quite a bit, and he displayed good pursuit outside on screens.

Power pass rushes worked best for him.

His motor allows him to chase down plays outside.

Against the run, he has solid snap quickness and solid hand placement. On the edge, he was solid, setting the edge to force runs back inside. From the backside, he showed mental processing and good pursuit to chase down the line to the ball. His motor is good, and he will chase the ball all over the field. Inside and on the edge, he has the ability to stack and shed blockers. He showed solid quickness to split the B and C gaps to disrupt the blocking scheme.

He can get off blocks when his hand placement is good.

From the backside, here he is chasing down the ball carrier.

As a pass rusher, his hand usage is poor, and his base is too narrow. He doesn’t connect with the blocker’s hands and leaves his chest open. Once engaged, he was marginal getting off of those blocks. Often, he will lead with his shoulder, putting him off balance and allowing the blocker to easily put him on the ground. He does not use his length to his advantage and has marginal play strength. His pass-rush plan was unrefined, often using the same move repeatedly without success. When the pass rush wasn’t getting home, he was slow to get his hands up in passing lanes.

His pass-rush plan needs work. Using his length and hands more will lead to few rushes like these.

Against the run, because of his narrow base, his balance is marginal, and he spends too much time on the ground. He was slow to shed blockers to make plays in his gap at the line of scrimmage and gets hung up in traffic. From the waist down, he is thin and could use more sand in the pants. He struggled versus double-team blocks and getting over down blocks on runs outside. There are lots of runs he gets near the ball but doesn’t finish due to bad angles or lunging for the runner.

Here are two plays where he slipped off the tackle.

He spends too much time on the ground.

Conclusion

Overall, Cole has good size and elite length. He has experience playing in a two and three-point stance inside and on the edge. With long strides, he can eat up ground quickly when rushing the passer and is best with the long arm/stab rush. Against the run, he can set the edge, plays well from the backside, and has a good motor to chase all over the field.

Areas to improve include improving his hand placement and usage, widening his stance to help his balance, and working on a pass rush plan. Adding play strength, shedding blockers more efficiently, and taking better angles to the ball will help him in the run game. Turning up the intensity could also help overall.

Cole is another player who could possibly fit the Cam Heyward role. He’s tall enough and has ridiculous arm length but is underweight for the position. The good news is he has room to add weight. In fact, in his last year at Louisiana-Monroe, he was listed as ten pounds heavier at 288 pounds and looked like he could add more.

There are many areas for him to improve, and he may need a year to work on his game. At his current weight, he would be a better fit for an edge role in an even-man front. I think his best opportunity, however, would be to add weight and play inside in either an even-man or odd-man front.

For a player comp, I’ll give you Charles Omenihu. They have similar builds and the potential to be better, but their game needs development and consistency.

Projection: Mid-Day Three
Depot Draft Grade: 6.5 – End of Roster/Practice Squad (6th Round)
Games Watched: 2023 – Vs Oregon, At West Virginia, At Kansas, Vs Central Florida, At Texas