NCAA Scouting - Player Profile:
Chris Long, DE
by James Izzard
28/2/2008
 
Chris Long comes from a pure football family and to his credit has already done enough in his career to emerge from his father's shadow – not easy considering he calls Hall of Fame and Raiders legend Howie Long 'Dad'.
 
Long attended St. Annes Belfield College, Virginia, and had an outstanding high school career with an immense 43 sacks and 66 tackles for loss. As the stats might suggest, he was then heavily recruited by many powerhouse colleges. After choosing to sign a scholarship with Virginia, he then moved on to achieve the rare accomplishment of having his jersey retired at both St. Annes Belfield and Virginia before he'd left either!
 
He's the kind of prospect that won't make you faint with excitement at his measurables, but witness his game film and work ethic and it's a different story. The football cliché 'the kid just makes plays' is very true in Long's case. He's one of those players with great determination and vision, consistently hounding quarterbacks and chasing down running backs. Moreover, Long could play as a 4-3 end, 3-4 end or as a defensive tackle in a 4-3 alignment, and will even be worked out at linebacker by some teams. Whichever position he ends up at, the Diner can't wait to see this prospect in the NFL.
 
What we like about Long
 
Long has a very athletic physique with long rangy arms and good upper body thickness which equates to awesome strength. He comes off the snap with speed and power and has shown fantastic agility and flexibility. What will really impress the scouts is his work ethic: he practices as he plays, with 110% effort on every down and every minute in practice. Long will be a three-down defensive lineman, and is equally as good against the run as he is on passing downs. His overall strength from lower body to upper body is extremely impressive.
 
Question marks over Long
 
We could have quite easily written a dissertation on Longs strengths because his question marks are minor. The first being he's not a speed machine, so lacks the sudden burst some offensive tackles are petrified by. Secondly, he doesn't pull off the spin move well, which is perhaps something he could add to his pass rushing repertoire in training camp.
 
Highlight of his College Career
 
In his senior year Long was named as a consensus first-team All-American and to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team.
 
Other Snippets of Info

• Long has been atop many mock drafts and there is a chance the Dolphins could be tempted to take him #1 overall.

• Long typifies the All-American High School athlete, participating in basketball, lacrosse and baseball – rumour has it he was a star in all of them and was the winner of the 2003 YMCA Slam Dunk Contest for Virginia High School Students.

• Long performed particularly well at the Scouting Combine, being amongst the leaders in a number of positional categories.

• NFL players you could compare him to would be Aaron Kampman or Adam Carricker.

• Potential good fits – Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders or the New England Patriots.

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