Austin Romaine LB Texas Tech |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Scouting Report: Weaknesses

• A real tackling problem, with twenty misses on the year
• Below-average timed speed limits the range to the perimeter
• Hand surgery ended his season early, a durability note
• Functional rather than fluid when dropping into space
• Slow change of direction shows up in pursuit

Scouting Report: Summary

Romaine is a downhill thumper whose stout against the run, a productive two-time all-conference linebacker who piled up forty-one stops and forty-nine tackles in just nine games and stoned Texas Tech for eight stops with an interception. He reads the run fast and fills with physicality, and the stop production against the run is the clear strength of the tape. He plays the position with a downhill, attacking mentality.

The athletic and finishing flaws are significant. His real tackling problem with twenty misses, an unusual number for a productive run defender, his below-average timed speed limits the range to the perimeter, and a hand surgery ended his season early. His coverage is functional rather than fluid, and his slow change of direction shows up in pursuit. He is a downhill run-stopper whose finishing and range are real limitations at the next level.

The fit is a run-down, downhill linebacker and special-teams contributor whose value is between the tackles, with the missed tackles and the range as clear caps on the role. He has to clean up the finishing to hold a job, because the speed and coverage will not carry him. He grades as a priority-free-agent or late-round thumper, a two-down run defender on his final eligibility at a new program.