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Jonah Elliss, EDGE, Utah (Junior)

Picture of Rayane M

Rayane M

Back for the 2024 NFL Draft edition, The Trick Play team is once again offering to immerse you in the heart of the event through the scouting reports of Rayane and Valentin. Who will become the next gem of the pro world and who, on the contrary, risks a spectacular flop?
The 2024 NFL Draft starts right now on TTP!

 

Strengths :

  • Age
  • Possesses a nice technical repertoire
  • Leverage
  • Active hands
  • Zone coverage ability
  • Athleticism
  • Pursuit angles
  • Very disciplined player
  • Disrupts passing lanes effectively

 

Weaknesses :

  • Size
  • Can sometimes be naive in his approach
  • Reading ability
  • Delays in executing techniques
  • May struggle against the run
  • Really average bend
  • Doesn't give 100% for each reps
 

TTProfil

 
Jonah Elliss is a player who experienced a bit of hype during the season but suffered from a lack of significant media attention towards the end of the year, which is unfortunate because he still has compelling attributes.
 
Starting with his age, of course. Jonah will be 21 years old just before the draft, which, for some coaches and scouts, already represents a player who can at least be considered a project. This is something I often repeat for 21-year-old players, but do a simple calculation: in 2 years, he will only be 23 and will still be younger than some players who will present themselves at that time, all while having been coached for 2 years by NFL coaches. Never underestimate the significance of a player's age during evaluation; it's very important and thus a major point for Jonah.
 
If Jonah's age is an important point, there's another one that's just as crucial for a player in the EDGE position: Jonah seems to possess a nice technical repertoire. Particularly evident on his tapes is his ability to execute a good bull rush, an effective push-pull technique, a qualitatively sound rip move, and notably, a very explosive spin move, although he tends to rely on it a bit too much, in my opinion. He would benefit from incorporating more variety into his moves to become less predictable.

When we see Jonah's build, questions may arise when I mention his quality bull rush, but that's where we'll address Jonah's next strength, namely his leverage ability. Indeed, thanks to his small stature, he often has an advantage in leverage, allowing him to play with more power than one might expect from his appearance. While this leverage enables him to execute a strong bull rush, it also prevents Jonah from being too ineffective in certain run situations.

Another interesting point about Jonah is his active hands. Whether it's on pass rushes where he's constantly trying to swat away the offensive lineman's hands or in run situations where he's attempting to punch the OL and create separation, Jonah strives to remain active with his hands, and that's a positive aspect.

Elliss also has a very good ability to drop into zone coverage, which naturally fits him into a defensive scheme with a 3-4 front where he would be positioned as an EDGE but also as an Outside LB. In these situations, he moves fluidly, slides well according to threats, and possesses nice athletic abilities to assist him.
Since we're discussing his athletic abilities in zone coverage situations, let's take advantage of this opportunity to talk about it more broadly, and the least we can say is that it's rather impressive. Jonah can indeed be very explosive on his takeoff, generally has good speed, is quite powerful for his size, and possesses a nice vertical leap, which we often see in action when he tries to disrupt short passing lanes by raising his arms, which happens regularly. From what we can see in the footage, it looks quite promising.

Jonah very rarely takes poor angles in pursuit; in fact, he often takes quite quality angles. Unfortunately, he doesn't always pursue at full speed, which is a shame because there are many plays where, thanks to his athletic abilities, he could quickly put an end to the play rather than allowing the opposing offense any chance of developing their action.
 
In general, Jonah is a very disciplined player who will follow the game plan laid out by the coach to the letter. It's very rare to see him improvise. 
Despite these many promising aspects of his game, you can imagine there are also areas that will require work from Jonah if he hopes for a long and prosperous future in the NFL. Firstly, unlike his age, a point that could cost Jonah dearly in his evaluation by some scouts who prioritize physical attributes is his height. Jonah stands at just 6'2", which is quite small for an edge rusher. While he compensates with a reasonable weight, some coaches, GMs, or scouts may not be able to overlook his height, which could diminish his value.

Another point I noticed about Jonah is that he can sometimes be very naive in his approach to rushing the QB and attempting techniques. He often makes his moves easy to read because he provides too many clues to the OL about the move he intends to make in the first two steps. Furthermore, since he has a certain ease with certain techniques (specifically, I'm referring here mostly to his high-quality spin move), he tends to overuse them, making him even more predictable. He sometimes gets punished quite harshly by the OL when he uses the same move too often. Fortunately, this is a point that can be corrected with time, experience, and by diversifying his technique repertoire, using the different moves he has learned.
On his area coverages, which are yet very promising, Jonah once again demonstrates a bit of naivety in his movement. Here, it's on his tendency to follow the QB's eyes and move accordingly because it's well known by all now that one of the points veteran NFL QBs like to exploit rookies on is their way of reading the game and giving false cues to players with their gazes, and precisely Jonah is very prone to falling into this trap. Again, this is something that can be worked on and can disappear with experience, but it remains nevertheless another point to work on.

Overall, his game reading is still a bit slow for the pro level, whether it's, as we've just seen, in passing situations or in running situations, Jonah will need to progress on that.

I found that his transition from technique was a bit too slow. Again, we can say it's quite unfortunate; he has the moves but delays in using them (except his spin, which is one of his Go-To moves). We can see that he has a pass rush plan in mind but hesitates to use the appropriate techniques; it's really a shame.

To stay on his pass rush, unfortunately, his ability to bend is rather average, and it's one of the few weaknesses I've observed in Jonah so far that might be difficult to develop or work on. That being said, if his bending ability is at best average, one thing I like is that thanks to his small size and the fact that he can play low, he forces the OL to be low as well and knows how to stay strong on his feet, which allows him to compensate for his lack of bend with a good ability to stay in his rushing lane and therefore make the tackle's job still complicated.
 
On the run block side, however, Jonah can sometimes get really dominated in running situations. This is particularly evident when facing powerful tackles. Jonah can be much more effective when facing teams with a more zone-based running scheme where his explosiveness allows him to quickly dive into the gap. But when facing Power run plays, things can really get complicated for him. 

Finally, a real negative point for me with Jonah is that I've seen him several times take real plays off to rest or out of laziness. One or the other, I don't know, and I couldn't tell you more since I'm not at the practices to judge Jonah's attitude, but in any case, his plays off really disappoint me when you see the potential he can have.
 

In conclusion, Jonah Elliss is clearly a project, but what a project! Son of Luther Elliss, who was a DT for nearly 10 years in the NFL, and brother of Kaden Elliss (currently LB for the Falcons), Noah Elliss (currently DT for the Eagles), and Christian Elliss (currently LB for the Patriots), Jonah is clearly rooted in a football culture, and it shows. Although he has many areas to work on, his age and the fact that many of these areas are ultimately quite coachable make Jonah's potential all the more significant.

Allow me to elaborate further. As I mentioned in the Strengths section, his age is a huge asset because a coaching staff could simply choose him with the aim of developing him for two years, and with his extremely raw nature, Jonah could very well be a sponge. He clearly represents a block of marble that his coaching staff can sculpt to their liking in the desired system and with a custom-tailored role. That's the strength of Jonah Elliss as a prospect. While at the current moment I may not be as hyped about his current level as many others, I am terribly intrigued by his potential and ceiling. Rare are the players I see with such potential, but as always, attention must be paid to where he lands and who will be in charge of his development. The quickest way to ruin his career would be to have him under 2 or 3 different coordinators or position coaches in two seasons, each demanding conflicting things from him.

In short, Jonah represents a big project that will require time, work, and dedication. However, if everything is done correctly, the rewards could be incredible, so he's definitely one to keep an eye on. Personally, while I may not be certain about drafting him in the 2nd round (at least not for any franchise), he would be too tantalizing of a project to pass up in the 3rd round (especially considering a development plan over two seasons), regardless of the franchise. It's up to you to determine his value based on your own desires/needs, but he's definitely a talent that's well-suited for selection on the draft's second day. Beware of falling into the trap of drafting him too high due to a strong combine performance and a successful statistical season. Upon closer inspection, there are both positives and negatives depending on the games selected, and out of his 12.5 sacks, few are truly impressive, with many coming against average offensive lines. So, be cautious of getting carried away, especially since the higher he's drafted, the more unreasonable expectations there will be for him and the less patience there will be for his development, not to mention the pressure from the public and media.

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