There’s a reason Deatrich Wise fell to the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He started just 10 games during his college career and lost his starting role late in the 2016 season as he dealt with injuries.
But if New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and defensive line coach Brendan Daly can mold Wise and coach him up to reach his potential, then 31 other teams won’t feel so … smart (bet you thought I was going to say wise) for having passed on him multiple times.
Wise can be frustrating to watch, and it’s unclear if his injuries affected his play in 2016. He’s 6-foot-5, 274 pounds with insanely long 35 5/8-inch arms but didn’t always use his length to his advantage. He’d bull rush by pressing his forearm into the offensive tackle’s chest or simply try to bowl him over with his shoulder. Wise is strong enough that it worked sometimes, as you can see below, but it won’t against NFL offensive linemen.
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Wise is at his best when he extends his arms, gets low and plants his hands inside the offensive lineman’s chest. That’s when he can use his leverage to push into the backfield with ease.
Here in the East-West Shrine Game, Wise — lined up on the defensive left — extends his arms and splits a double team for a tackle for loss.
Here he is using his bullrush for a sack against LSU in 2015.
That was his best game readily available to watch when he had 2.5 sacks and frequently was in LSU’s backfield.
Wise’s upper body strength is one of his best attributes. He can toss away an offensive lineman like it’s nothing when he gets into the backfield.
Here he is doing just that in that LSU game.
And again.
Lower body strength can be an issue, however. He gets stood up too easily at the line of scrimmage and can be pushed downfield. He eventually might be able to kick inside and play either defensive tackle or five-technique defensive end, but he was swallowed up in that role in college. He also likely won’t be asked to defend the run early in his career. He needs work setting the edge.
Wise also can play out of control at times, getting too far upfield and allowing the play to get away from him.
Wise has flashed the potential to dip around the edge. He’s not as natural turning the corner as fellow Patriots draft pick Derek Rivers, but he has good agility and possesses that skill as shown here in the Shrine game.
He also uses his length to his advantage by getting his arms up and into passing lanes as he’s rushing the passer. He got his hands on six passes over his last two seasons and can disrupt the quarterback’s timing using this approach.
It will be interesting if NFL coaching can make Wise a more consistent performer at the NFL level. Watch this full video of Wise in 2015 against LSU, and you’d think you’re looking at a first-round draft pick.
But quite frankly, he wasn’t always that good. Certain tweaks, however, could make that performance against LSU the norm.
Thumbnail photo via Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports Images
