Does this human being look like a running back?
We’re talking about No. 11, the guy who just knocked USC running back Justin Davis on his neck. That’s Elijah Qualls, a 6-foot-1, 313-pound University of Washington defensive tackle who’s expected to be drafted somewhere in the middle of the 2017 NFL Draft this week, and the answer is obviously no. He does not look like a running back.
But what about an edge rusher? Does this guy, the one on the left, resemble a stand-up pass rusher?
You probably see where we’re going at this point, humoring us, rolling your eyes going, “No, the 313-pound defensive tackle doesn’t look like a 240-pound edge rusher.”
Well, maybe by now you can guess he played both positions in high school. He was a bruising, battering ram, dancing bear of a 285-pound running back who rushed for 1,847 yards on 272 carries with 23 touchdowns in his final two years as a Casa Grande Gaucho. He transferred to Casa Grande after starting his football career at Cordova High School near Sacramento. But his stepfather moved his family west after three of Qualls’ friends were shot and killed in their rough neighborhood.
Qualls was a better running back than any 285-pounder should be.
He wasn’t just running through defenders but around them. Like LeGarrette Blount with an added 35 pounds of girth.
And as an oversized pass rusher, he was equally as productive, totaling 159 tackles, 36 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in two seasons. He was the No. 5 “athlete” in the country as ranked by MaxPreps.com out of high school.
Qualls wasn’t a great student at Casa Grade, but don’t confuse that with stupidity. Qualls is quick as a whip, and he knew that if he were to make the NFL, his quality of life would improve as a defensive tackle.
“I was more confident in my skills as a running back than I would have been on defense,” Qualls told NESN.com last week. “I did look at the longevity, career of a defensive lineman, the severity of their injuries long-term, short-term, average pay, stuff like that. That was kind of the business decision I had to make. I was glad I did it.”
Plus running back “became too easy” for Qualls. He wanted a challenge.
So Qualls went to Washington where he was a two-year starter at defensive tackle and took the Huskies to the College Football Playoff before declaring for the draft after his junior season.
Here’s a twist: Qualls, all 313 pounds of him, also continued to play as an edge rusher in college. How? Same way he played running back in high school despite being bigger than some of his offensive linemen — by being a freak athlete.
Qualls ran a 5.13-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine with a 31.5-inch vertical leap, 8-foot, 9-inch broad jump, 7.65-second three-cone and 4.66-second short shuttle.
His vertical leap was better than 10 running backs at the combine, including top prospect Leonard Fournette.
His athleticism showed on tape with his pass rush. Despite spending his entire college career in a two-gapping system where his primary responsibility was controlling two lanes and allowing his linebackers to make plays, he still shined as a pass rusher. He recorded 35 total pressures on 308 snaps in 2016, according to Pro Football Focus’ Draft Edge.
Despite his productivity, Qualls still believes there are doubts about his ability in that facet of the game with most teams valuing his run defense.
“A lot of people don’t think I’m that good of a pass rusher, but in all honesty, the scheme we had at Washington wasn’t really for me to go after the quarterback,” Qualls said.
That’s not Qualls making excuses. It’s him believing in himself. And he was all-in on the Huskies’ defensive scheme.
“I understand NFL scouts know what they’re talking about,” Qualls said. “They know what they see. They’re not going to say, OK, well he only got this many tackles and then just ignore the fact that I was eating up space, taking two, three blocks and freeing up my linebackers. That’s what a lot of teams like to do. They like to have their D-linemen eat up blocks and have their linebackers make plays.
“Having a defensive lineman that can do that and make plays is something that they love too. And I can do that. I told them at the beginning of the season, ‘I don’t care if I get stats.’ I truly don’t. And you can ask them. I literally just want to win. I want to win games. Going 7-6 was not going to happen for me again this year.”
And it didn’t. Washington went 12-1, something that eased his decision in declaring, before losing to Alabama in the College Football Playoff.
The Patriots are one of those teams who value two-gapping defensive tackles, and they showed interest in Qualls at the combine and at his pro day. He’s a rare prospect who hasn’t taken any team visits partially because there aren’t many questions surrounding him. He doesn’t have medical or character issues, and teams liked what they saw from him at the combine.
So now Qualls will wait to see where he’s going to have to pack up his life, including his husky, Storm, and move to next. He plans to watch the draft from the house of his defensive line coach, Ikaika Malloe, with family.
Photos via Joe Nicholson, Jennifer Buchanan/USA TODAY Sports Images
Thumbnail photo via Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
