Rookie Profile: George Selvie

Up next on the rookie profiles is South Florida defensive end George Selvie. This selection was, in my humble opinion, the pick of the draft for the Rams. For those of you who follow college football, you know the story of Selvie. He was pretty much the cream of the crop of defensive tackles in the 2007 season, but his production significantly dropped off over his last two seasons in South Florida. I will detail his career numbers later, but suffice it to say that this guy was considered a sure-fire top five NFL prospect after his huge year in ’07. There are plenty concerns about this guy, but the upside on this 7th round pick is astronomical.

Scouting Report: Selvie’s strength is his ability to rush the passer. He is excellent off the snap, and he has an explosive first step. He is decent in rush defense, but his job, at least early on in his career, will be to pressure the quarterback. He is a good athlete, and his tackling ability is solid for a rush end. Personality-wise, Selvie was known as a hard worker and a fiery leader while in college. He won’t take plays off, and he will work harder knowing he has something to prove in the NFL. His biggest weakness is probably his lack of strength for a DE, which is probably another reason he slid down draft boards. He is a speed guy, but has trouble if he can’t get around the linemen off the snap.

Career: Selvie’s career started out with a bang in 2006, as he was named the South Florida Defensive Rookie of the Year after posting 84 tackles and 5.5 sacks to go along with 15 tackles for loss. In 2007, Selvie transformed into on of the elite defensive players in the country. He was a consensus All-American and the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. He also won the Bill Willis Award, given to the top defensive lineman of the year. He led the nation with 31.5 tackles for loss, and he was one TFL away from setting the NCAA record for a single season. He ranked second in the country with 14.5 sacks, and he finished with 59 total tackles, 46 solo, three forced fumbles, 13 quarterback hurries and one blocked kick. In his third season, Selvie suffered through injuries and saw his numbers take a significant hit. Despite his drop in production, he still managed to make the First Team All-America list as selected by the American Football Coaches Association and First Team All-Big East. He faced double-teams on well over half of the snaps he played in the season, and he still managed to record 43 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He played in 11 games, but he missed nearly all of three of those games due to the injury. In his final college season, he posted 42 tackles, 9.5 TFL, and 3.5 sacks. He was overshadowed in 2009 by teammate Jason Pierre-Paul, who was a first round pick.

My Analysis: By this point, I think we all know my analysis of George Selvie. There are holes in his game, but the potential to one day become a solid or even elite pass-rusher in the NFL is there. The drop off in production is a concern, but he was injured for most of his junior season and still put up solid numbers while playing against double-teams on a vast majority of the snaps. He needs to improve, but with our lack of speed on the end, there is a real possibility that he could impact this defense immediately, although probably only in a third down pass rush situation at best. I’m not going to sit here and say that he is a sure thing by any means, but Rams fans should certainly keep an eye on Selvie throughout his rookieyear and hopefully beyond.