Breaking Down Jaquelin Roy

With the 141st pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Vikings selected Jaquelin Roy, DT, LSU. Roy was the 116th ranked player on the industry consensus board and the sixth-ranked defensive tackle 3-technique.

The Vikings traded up to the 141st pick from the 158th pick in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts, sending the Colts pick #211 in the process.

Traits

Roy is a good sized, but not very athletic, defensive tackle. He is 22 years old.

College Stats

Roy didn’t receive any accolades in term of all-conference honors, etc., but his production was solid. He had 2 sacks, 5 QB hits, 20 hurries, and 11 other pass-rush wins according to PFF, in addition to 21 run stops. Roy was one of the fewer defensive tackles with a higher workload, chalking up 676 snaps this past season and over 1100 over the past two seasons.

PFF Profile & Stats

Scouting Reports

Below are a few of the leading media scouting reports on Jaquelin Roy.

Dane Brugler, The Athletic

BACKGROUND: Jaquelin (juh-qway-lin) Roy grew up in Baton Rouge where he started playing football in grade school and often played up a level because of his size. He attended the University Laboratory School (on the LSU campus) and was a four-year letterman on varsity. Roy was primarily a defensive tackle (also played on the offensive line and in the backfield in goal line situations) and helped the program to back-to-back Division II Louisiana state championships his sophomore and junior seasons. As a senior, he posted 96 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and nine sacks, adding a rushing touchdown on offense. University Lab posted a 36-5 record over his final three varsity seasons.

A four-star recruit out of high school, Roy was the No. 6 defensive tackle in the 2020 recruiting class and the No. 2 recruit in Louisiana (behind Kayshon Boutte). He was the No. 41 overall recruit nationally. Playing his high school football in LSU’s backyard, he was on the Tigers’ radar as early as his freshman season. Roy committed to LSU early in his junior year, but backed off his pledge a few months later and reopened his recruitment. He collected offers from Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and several other top programs and took several visits. Roy narrowed his final choice to Alabama, LSU and Texas A&M and recommitted to his hometown Tigers. His aunt (C. Denise Marcelle) was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 2015. Roy opted out of the 2022 bowl game and skipped his senior season to enter the 2023 NFL Draft.

STRENGTHS: Big, stout and powerful to control gaps … uses a wide stance to cement his anchor versus single blocks … has the upper-body strength to latch and shed the point … throws iron around in the weight room and likes to show off his strength … plays with functional body flexibility and lateral skills to work down and escape blocks … breaks out a swim/club and physical swipe to find his way to the football … anticipates well for quick reads to sniff out screens or misdirection … was asked to stay on the field for long stretches in 2022 (averaged 51.9 defensive snaps per game) … his effort was generally consistent on film … posted quality tackle production in 2022 for an interior player.

WEAKNESSES: Very average quickness … plays upright and can be knocked back by low blockers who get underneath him … his base strength is average at contact and he will lose ground against double teams … must develop more effective counters to combat rushers who get on him before he gets going … not a natural bender with clear stiffness in his tight turns … his lethargic change of direction shows on tackle attempts and he left too much production on his 2022 tape … doesn’t create his own rush lanes and his straight-linish pursuit puts a cap on his sack opportunities (his sack totals dropped each season in college) … has only one season of starting experience and NFL scouts question if his maturity is ready for NFL life.

SUMMARY: A one-year starter at LSU, Roy played multiple alignments in defensive coordinator Matt House’s four-man front. A Baton Rouge native, he stayed home for his college ball and showed incremental improvements each season, including a strong junior campaign. Roy shows quality awareness to track and react to the football, relying on his hand usage and initial quickness to lead him to the football. He grew up and went to high school down the street from LSU’s campus and a change of scenery might yield unpredictable results. Roy is a complicated evaluation – he flashes promise because of his power, but his movement skills are average, and it will take time for him to adjust to pro blockers. He is a draft-and-develop tackle who can work his way into an NFL rotation as a rookie.

GRADE: 5th Round

Lance Zierlein, nfl.com

Overview

The more you watch, the more you like the way Roy plays the game. He’s a little tight in his lower body, which prevents consistent gap leverage as a run defender, but he has outstanding upper body power and plays with unbridled energy. Roy has one-gapping snap quickness and two-gapping potential if he can become more consistent with taking on blocks. Despite limited starting experience at LSU, he already displays signs of a rush plan and the athletic talent to execute it. Roy is an ascending talent with the potential to become a quality starter.

Strengths

• Can play unusually high snap total for interior defensive lineman.
• First step and first hands are quick.
• Gains instant arm extension with powerful punch.
• Keeps eyes peeled into backfield for football.
• Slide quickness to slap and slip around block.
• Lateral agility bolsters tackle range.
• Relentless effort.
• Charges outside edge to set up inside rush counter.
• Clubs aside single blockers as power rusher.

Weaknesses

• Below average lower body bend.
• Can’t consistently anchor as deeply as teams might like.
• Will give ground to drive blockers with leverage.
• Needs to play with inside hands to protect his frame.
• Just one season as a starter at LSU.
• Way too upright with his swim counters.

Sources Tell Us

“Tape can be up and down, but I think that will get better in the pros. He just needs to get more snaps under his belt.” — Area scout for AFC team

Draft Projection: Rounds 4-5

NFL Comparable: Dalvin Tomlinson

Greg Cosell, 33rd Team

Background:

Roy came out of University Lab High School on the LSU campus as a 4-star recruit and stayed home despite high interest from many SEC schools. He played three seasons at LSU, with 14 starts in 35 career games.

Roy played almost 700 snaps (the most in his LSU career by a wide margin), aligning in multiple DT positions across LSU’s defensive front including snaps at 3-technique. He played in third-down situations, rushing from 1-technique alignment.

Roy had a dominant game defending the run versus Texas A&M. Throughout the season he was a strong interior force as a run defender.

Positives:

• Plus athlete for an interior DL, showing some suddenness and twitch to his movement. Explosive off the ball.
• Good combination of quickness and strength as a run defender. Consistently beat combo blocks/double teams.
• Showed he can be effective as a 2-gap DT, controlling and displacing OL, and as a 1-gap DT, penetrating into gaps.
• Generated power through hips and core coming off ball low with leverage. Jarred OL with arm extension.
• Played with strong hands to control and displace interior OL. Snaps in which he moved OL early in the down.
• Outstanding lateral quickness and body control. Lower half and upper half tied together; Played with balance.
• Light feet for 305 pounds, with easy and quick change of direction. Played like a smaller man with natural quickness.
• Quick, active hands off the ball. Club and swim moves to beat interior OL right off the snap and locate the ball.
• Outstanding playing personality. Made plays in pursuit far outside the confined space of the box. High effort.

Negatives:

• At times, came off the ball a little high, losing quickness and power. Gave his chest to OL, and you can’t do that.
• On snaps versus combo blocks and double teams, he was driven out of the POA, unable to anchor and stalemate.
• At times got stuck with no counters when speed-to-power did not result in early movement versus interior OL.
• Needs to further develop more pass rush moves and become more refined and nuanced as inside pass rusher.

Bottom Line:

Roy is a strong, interior DT prospect, with a desirable combination of traits as you project and transition him to the next level. Roy is a plus athlete with light feet and excellent quickness off the ball and the confined space strength to control and displace interior OL. That mix of traits allows him to be effective in 1-gap and 2-gap DL schemes, giving him the front and position versatility demanded in the NFL.

While at this point, Roy is at his best as a run defender, playing with short-area quickness, strong hands and powerful arm extension. He showed pass rush traits and that ability to rush the QB was reflected in LSU’s coaching staff playing him on third down as a 0-technique and as 3-technique/4i. Overall, Roy has the traits you want in an interior DL with his size/strength/quickness/burst profile, in addition to his alignment and scheme versatility.

I believe Roy is an ascending prospect with multi-dimensional traits and a pass-rush skill set that is there but still developing. It would not surprise me if three years down the road, Roy is one of the better and more complete three-down DT in the NFL.

College Film

Highlights

LSU Defense (Roy #99, Ward #5) vs. Alabama Offense (2022)

LSU Defense (Roy #99, Ward #5) vs. Georgia Offense (2022)

LSU Defense (Roy #99, Ward #5) vs. Florida State Offense (2022)

LSU Defense (Roy #99, Ward #5) vs. Florida State Offense (2022)

Highly recommend watching the Alabama, Georgia, and Florida State games especially as you can see both Jaquelin Roy and Jay Ward in action, and you can see some of the blitzing concepts LSU runs that are similar to Brian Flores’ scheme. And they were good games- especially the Alabama game.

Jaquelin Roy’s Fit with the Vikings

Roy will compete for reps as a rotational interior defender as a rookie while he continues to develop and could become a starter in time. He’s a big man that can run the twists and stunts Brian Flores’ employs better than some of the other interior defensive linemen on the Vikings’ roster but needs to develop a bit more to get to the next level. The comments in his scouting reports that he’s got all the traits, but needs more reps, or should’ve stayed another year at LSU, the more you watch him the more you like him, or is an ascending talent all make more sense when you watch his game film. And more sense than his numbers, really. He has some reps with good pressure, or good run defense, but there are others where he gets stuck on blocks a bit too long or maybe hesitates a beat too long. He could also use to build up his core and lower body strength to generate more drive and anchor. But he has plenty of good reps to build on.

Success for him as a rookie will be to earn more rotational reps over the course of the season and using them and the off/pre-season to continue his development. He could also contribute on special teams.