Draft Review: Terrell Suggs

GOSSELIN DRAFT ANALYSIS: There was no doubting Suggs’ athletic ability coming out of high school. Although born in Minneapolis, he played his high-school football in suburban Phoenix where he earned Parade All-America honors as a running back. He led the state with 2,274 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns as a senior. Suggs also set a state record with 367 rushing yards in a single game. He chose to remain home and attend college at Arizona State, where he became a three-year starter and a two-time All-Pac 10 selection as a defensive end. He led the Sun Devils in sacks and tackles-for-loss all three of his seasons. Suggs also led the NCAA with 24 sacks in 2002 and set the Pac-10 record with 31 ½ tackles-for-loss. He won the Lombardi Trophy as college football’s best lineman, the Nagurski Trophy as the best defensive player and the Hendricks Award as the best defensive end. Suggs decided to skip his senior season to turn pro. He measured 6-3 ½, 262 pounds at the NFL scouting combine but turned in a disappointing 4.84 40-yard dash time. Gosselin rated him the best defensive end in the 2003 draft and placed him No. 8 on his Top 100 board. The Baltimore Ravens drafted him with the 10^th overall pick of that draft.

Here are the pre-draft comments from six NFL talent evaluators on Suggs:

Scout: One-trick pony. Pass rusher only. Not a good worker.

Scout II: He’s only 20 years old and has only been in the weight room for a year. It’s all ahead of him. ASU feels strongly about his maturity level. Very coachable. Always an edge guy early in the year, never attacked or played physical against his man. But later in the year he became a different player. They told him he had to turn into people and squeeze them back inside. They demanded it of him, didn’t give him an out. His confidence skyrocketed and he became a complete player. He’s 255 (pounds) and will put on another 20 with no sweat. There are no negatives except his age. But he’s not (Dwight) Freeney. Freeney was more powerful in his lower body. Two different players.

Scout: If he doesn’t stand up and play linebacker, the NFL will be disappointed. The big offensive tackles will stab him. Also, there is no run-stop in him at all. If he plays at 265, he won’t get to the quarterback. He needs to play at 245.

Personnel director: Forget what he runs. Watch how he plays.

General Manager: Not thick across the butt and thighs like Hugh Douglas and Dwight Freeney. He’s an OLB in a 3-4.

General Manager II: Special.

HALL OF FAME RESUME: Despite starting only one game in his debut season, Suggs was voted the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year with his 12 sacks. He played 16 more seasons, all as a starting outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. He spent his first 16 seasons with the Ravens and split is final year between the Cardinals and Chiefs. Suggs hit double figures in sacks in seven of his 16 seasons and finished his career 12^th on the all-time sack list with 139 – a half sack behind Hall-of-Famer Jason Taylor and a half sack more than Hall-of-Famer DeMarcus Ware. In fact, Suggs is the only player in the Top 15 in sacks not in the Hall of Fame. He was voted NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 when he collected a career-high 14 sacks and led the league with seven forced fumbles. Suggs was elected to seven Pro Bowls and also won Super Bowls with the Ravens in 2012 and the Chiefs in 2019. This is his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Rick Gosselin spent 20 years as the NFL columnist for the Dallas Morning News, including 20 offseasons studying and researching prospects for the NFL draft. He didn’t watch any tape – he was a writer, not a scout – but he talked to the men who did watch tape. He built a network of NFL general managers, head coaches, personnel directors, scouts and assistant coaches from all 32 teams who would share with him their analyses of players. Gosselin used their insights to build his own draft board, Top 100 board and mock drafts. For 10 consecutive years he had the best Top 100 board in the country (2001-10), according to the Huddle Report, and three times he produced the best mock draft. Gosselin resurrects his college scouting reports here to see how NFL talent evaluators viewed the top draft prospects coming out of college.