Jordan Domineck, EDGE, Colorado (Senior)

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Strengths :

    • Extensive experience
    • Nice punch
    • Decent pursuit
    • Explosive takeoff
    • Diverse technical repertoire
    • Adequate bend
    • Nice reading abilities
    • Promising in coverage

     

    Weaknesses :

    • Age
    • Occasionally gives-up too quickly
    • Plays too high
    • Often off-balance 
    • Gets stuck to offensive linemen at times
    • Works too much directly against opponent
    • Ineffective against double teams
    • Tackling needs improvement
     

    TTProfil

     
    Jordan Domineck is a name that might ring a bell for some of you who have been following college football for a few seasons, as the Colorado player has somewhat traveled during his collegiate career and once enjoyed a good reputation.

    As I mentioned earlier, Jordan is a player who has been on a few teams throughout his career, and because he was seen as a high-potential player, he has played on each team he's been on. As a result, he has gained a lot of experience over the years, including four seasons as a starter (three at Georgia Tech and one at Arkansas), plus another season with Colorado this year. One interesting point about Jordan is that he has shown a consistent statistical progression. If he's not improving in terms of sacks, he's making strides in tackles. Jordan is a player who produces when he's on the field. Sacks, tackles for loss, turnovers – all these points have been checked off by Jordan during his lengthy career.

    Beyond the statistical aspect, it's Domineck's gameplay that interests us, and to start discussing it, I've decided to highlight his impressive punch. Moreover, Jordan also has good arm length, which he sometimes uses effectively to create separation between himself and the offensive lineman (OL). However, I would like to see him do this more often because, in my opinion, he doesn't use it nearly enough. He possesses a nice Long Arm move that he could really develop in the NFL with some work.

    On the pass rush side, Jordan has a nice repertoire that, in my opinion, he doesn't use nearly enough, which is a shame. As we mentioned, he already has a nice Long Arm move, but he also possesses a spin move and counter moves, although they sometimes come a bit late, they are at least present in his arsenal. Additionally, this season with Colorado, we've seen him occasionally use a quick and explosive Swim Move, which allows him to surprise his blocker. Unfortunately, once again, he tends to delay its execution a bit too much.

    Continuing on his ability to rush the opposing QB, Domineck has a bending ability that is actually quite decent and sometimes even rather surprising.
    I've also noted that he has an explosive takeoff, especially when starting from a three-point stance, although it's a bit less pronounced when starting from a two-point stance.

    Jordan also has a good read of the game, and transitioning to outside linebacker in Colorado's system this season has allowed him to showcase it even more. With more repetitions as an outside linebacker in the future, he could surprise many. Moreover, it goes hand in hand with the previous point, but Jordan has sometimes shown promise when deployed in coverage, whether it's zone or man coverage. His movements are rather intelligent, although there's still room for improvement. This aspect becomes particularly interesting if a team that utilizes EDGE players at the OLB position decides to select him in April.

    Finally, Jordan almost always pursues the play, but unlike last season where he chased like a hungry lion at Arkansas, I found him less engaged in this aspect this season, often with pursuit in small strides. It's a shame to see this, especially considering that his pursuit speed is rather decent.
     
    Now, while Jordan's strengths may quickly entice, we shouldn't go overboard with them either. 
    To start, age could be a very important factor in Jordan's draft stock decline. Despite my efforts to find his exact age on the internet, I couldn't find it, but with 6 seasons spent in college football, he must be in the older range of prospects, which could directly lead to a drop in his value. 

    In addition to his age, I noticed that Jordan often played too high when starting from a 2-point stance, as was often the case this year in Colorado's system where he played OLB EDGE. It's a shame because when he starts in a 3-point stance (the classic DE stance), he often manages to stay low. This was actually one of his strengths that I noted last year when he played at Arkansas.

    Domineck sometimes struggles to stay under control, especially when he's in a Power Rush situation. Indeed, he tends to dive too much in order to physically beat his opponent. The problem that arises is that Jordan ends up completely off balance, so all it takes for the blocker is to pivot his shoulders and transfer force to make Jordan collapse to the ground. The same happens when Jordan has to attack a gap; again, he has a strong tendency to dive straight into the gap without considering what will happen next.

    Another weakness of Jordan is his tendency to get too close to his opponent at times. It's not uncommon to see him sticking his chest to the opposing offensive lineman during his takeoff, thus making the task more difficult for himself. From this position, unless you have enormous strength, and spoiler alert, that's not the case for Jordan, it's nearly impossible to create separation. Once again, I find it unfortunate considering he is capable of developing a nice punch.

    One point that really frustrates me about Jordan, because in my opinion it's something that can easily be corrected and should have been addressed long ago, is that when Jordan plays, he works too much head-on against his opponent. He needs to learn to work on just one side or one quarter of the player to make his life easier. What I mean by this is that instead of facing his opponent head-on, it's much easier to work on his outside shoulder, which makes it easier to unbalance the opposing player. If players much stronger than Jordan struggle to beat offensive linemen with power, there's a reason for it; he absolutely must work smarter. The time he sometimes wastes battling with his opponent is significant, and what often results is a missed opportunity.
    Moreover, to stay on the same subject, Jordan often becomes ineffective rather quickly when faced with a double team situation. When I study players' tapes, I expect to see at least some ability to fight back, and that's clearly not the case with Jordan. If he finds himself in a double team situation, he gets taken for a ride, partly due to the previous point. Since Jordan often decides to attack his opponent head-on, inevitably when a second player comes to assist the first, they arrive on one of Jordan's shoulders and can quickly unbalance him. And as you're beginning to understand now, once a player is off balance, it's game over.

    Despite a significant increase in the number of tackles on his stat sheet, it must be acknowledged that Jordan's tackling technique needs improvement. Too often, he arrives too high, and it's not uncommon to see him take poor angles, leading to missed tackles. Another area that needs work.
     
    Finally, mental toughness will be a concern to watch closely, as it's not uncommon to see Jordan quickly lose motivation when he gets stuck in a block. He too easily accepts giving up on the play and allowing himself to be dominated. I definitely don't like to see that kind of attitude.
     

    In conclusion, I find it incomprehensible that Jordan Domineck did not enter the draft last year. In my opinion, he is one of the big losers of the 2024 draft for making that decision. He was coming off a statistically more significant season, was younger, and the impression left by the Arkansas defense was generally better than that of Colorado. Jordan, in my opinion, made a mistake that he may pay dearly for today because although he is full of potential, he arrives with a relatively low rating considering his season, and he arrives with many points to work on for a 24-year-old (perhaps even 25). It would not be surprising to see Jordan have to sit on the bench for a while before getting a taste of the field. 

    But then, what is Domineck really worth? Well, I must admit that I quite like his sleeper profile. While he certainly has a lot of areas to work on, it's promising, and the areas for improvement are very clear. Jordan has that little something that could make me, as a GM, interested despite his age and his average season at Colorado, especially if he's still available late in Day 3.
    Capable of playing both as a traditional DE in a 4-3 front and as an OLB in a 3-4 front, Jordan shows flashes of potential that lead me to believe that, in the hands of a good coaching staff, he could blossom later in his career. His impressive technical skills and bend are particularly noteworthy. I believe Jordan doesn't leverage his bend enough and wastes time engaging in constant battles with offensive linemen. I might (perhaps unfairly) blame his coaches for not instilling this in him.
     
    In any case, if he is unable to tap into his full potential, Jordan will remain a rotational option capable of fitting into any system and being a plug-and-play piece, which is always interesting. For all these reasons, I would say not to be too interested too early, but starting from the 3rd day, and depending on the team that picks him up, he could prove to be a good pick, at least to strengthen their rotation.
    Similarly, I'll be watching closely where he lands to monitor his development because in expert hands and with coaching that knows how to develop him, we might have a player with significant sleeper potential who could quietly explode in a few seasons.
     
    Personally, based on his age (if he's 24), I would be ready to select him in the 4th round for his potential, otherwise later in the 3rd day if he is older or if the team interested in him sees him more as a rotational piece. A real puzzle indeed. Based on his current level of play and the puzzle he represents, personally, I wouldn't take the risk before the 3rd day of the draft. However, as I mentioned, he shows flashes at a young age that can (and will) interest more than a few, so a late 3rd round pick could be worthwhile for him, but above that is a risk I personally wouldn't take.
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