Romello Height
Romello Height  DE  Texas Tech | NFL Draft 2026 Souting Report - Portrait Image
Romello Height
Height
6-3
Weight
239
College
Texas Tech
Position
DE/EDGE
Class
Senior
Home town
Dublin, GA
84.9
Player Rating
17
PositionRank (DL)
4.64
FortyYD Time
Sacks
10
Fumbles Forced
2
Tackles
38
Sol tackles
21

Romello Height DE/EDGE Texas Tech |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Jersey: #9 SUB-POSITION: EDGE RUSHER
Last Updated: 03/25/2026
Draft Year: 2026
FORTY time: 4.64 seconds (89%*)
Age: 25.4 DOB: 04/13/2001
Bowl Invite: Senior Bowl
Measurables:
Height: 6-3 (32%*) Weight: 239 (2%*)
Hands: 9 1/2 (32%*) Arm: 32 1/4 (24%*) Span: 79 (26%*)
Forty: 4.64 (C) (89%*) Ten YD: 1.63 (C) (65%*)
Vert: 39 (C) (96%*) Broad: 125 (C) (94%*)
0% 100%
(C) - NFL Combine (P) - Pro Day (O) - Other (HS) -Estimated from High School Combine
For an explanation of how the (HS) data is calculated see this article
Jersey: #9
SUB-POSITION: EDGE RUSHER
Last Updated: 03/25/2026
Draft Year: 2026
Forty time: 4.64 seconds (89%*)
Age: 25.4 DOB: 04/13/2001
Bowl Invite: Senior Bowl
Measurables:
0% 100%
Height: 6-3 (32%*) Weight: 239 (2%*)
Hands: 9 1/2 (32%*) Arm: 32 1/4 (24%*)
Span: 79 (26%*)
Forty: 4.64 (C) (89%*)
10Yd: 1.63 (C) (65%*)
Vert: 39 (C) (96%*) Broad: 125 (C) (94%*)
(C) - NFL Combine (P) - Pro Day (O) - Other
(HS) -Estimated from High School Combine
For an explanation of how the (HS) data is calculated see this article
Overall Rating: 84.9 / 100
Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced
Offense Rating:
73%
Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects.
Tackling:
66%
Pass Rush:
93%
Run Defense:
70%
DRAFT PROJECTION: 2nd - Late
Overall Rank: #61 Position rank: #17 (DL)
College Games: 50 College Snaps: 1645
Grade: 4 ESPN  Stars 4 ESPN  Stars ESPN RATING: 80/100
College Combine Results
Grade: 247 Sports 4  Stars 247 Sports 90 Stars 247 RATING: 90/100
Grade: 3 Stars 3 Stars RIVALS RATING: 5.7 (93%)
Player Comparison* (Similarity level)
Will McDonald IV - Iowa State
96%
Jonah Elliss - Utah
84%
Jalyx Hunt - Houston Christian
82%
San Francisco 49ers Drafted: ROUND: 3 - Pick Number: 70 (SF)
Draft Profile: Bio
Twenty-seven tackles for loss, 16 sacks, a pick-six, and a Class 2A state championship as a senior at Dublin High School in Georgia put Romello Height on every major program's radar. ESPN and 247Sports stamped him a four-star prospect and the No. 24 outside linebacker nationally, though Rivals came in a bit lower at three stars. Auburn beat out Florida, Tennessee, Miami, and a dozen other programs for his signature.

What followed was one of the more wandering college careers you'll find in this draft class. Height enrolled at Auburn in spring 2020, barely saw the field as a true freshman during the COVID year, then contributed sparingly as a redshirt freshman with 19 tackles and three for loss across nine games. He transferred to USC in 2022, won the starting job out of camp, and promptly tore up his shoulder in week two against Stanford. Season over. He bounced back in 2023 with 20 tackles, six tackles for loss, and four sacks as a rotational piece, then moved again to Georgia Tech for 2024. That year in Atlanta produced his first real sustained success: 34 tackles, a team-high 6.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, and an interception while starting all 12 games. Pro Football Focus credited him with 32 pressures and the second-best coverage grade among FBS edge rushers at 92.5.

The final stop came in Lubbock, where Height joined Texas Tech's loaded defensive front for his sixth collegiate season in 2025. Flanking David Bailey on the opposite edge, Height finally put together the production his athleticism always promised. He finished with 38 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks while earning First Team All-Big 12 honors, a spot on the Sports Illustrated Midseason All-America Team, and an invitation to the Senior Bowl. By the end of his college career, Height had accumulated 69 total pressures across 1,645 defensive snaps and 50 games played at four different programs.
Scouting Report: Strengths
  • First step absolutely explodes off the snap, immediately threatening the outside shoulder of tackles before they can establish any sort of kick-slide rhythm or base.
  • Hand repertoire goes well beyond what you typically see from college edge rushers, deploying cross-chops, rip moves, and spin counters that keep linemen guessing throughout games.
  • His ghost move is legitimate, dipping his shoulder and flattening around the corner while protecting himself from getting knocked off his rush lane by grabby tackles.
  • Pursuit motor stays hot from whistle to whistle, showing the kind of backside effort that turns what should be modest gains into no gains or losses.
  • Coverage ability stands out as a genuine weapon, dropping into zones with comfort and even carrying tight ends vertically without looking like a fish out of water.
  • Change-of-direction skills allow him to glide across the formation, beating tackles across their faces with lateral agility that bigger edge players simply cannot replicate.
  • Sets up his pass rush moves intelligently by stemming inside or outside before winning in the opposite direction, creating two-way-go situations that stress offensive tackles.
  • The 96.1% pass rush grade from PFF reflects the consistency here: 69 career pressures including 16.5 sacks across 1,645 snaps represents sustained production, not just splash plays.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
  • At 234 pounds measured at the Senior Bowl, he's giving away 30-40 pounds to most NFL tackles, and when they get hands on him cleanly, he gets stonewalled at the point of attack.
  • Run defense remains a concern that shows up on tape consistently, getting washed down the line or caught inside when he tries to knife gaps too aggressively.
  • Tackling technique breaks down in the open field where he arrives too high and misses opportunities that should be routine conversions against shifty backs.
  • Lacks the functional length and anchor strength to hold the point against double teams, getting displaced off his spot when offenses scheme extra bodies his direction.
  • Pass rush plan can become predictable when speed around the edge fails, lacking the power conversion moves that would keep tackles honest and provide counter options.
Scouting Report: Summary
Height profiles as a situational pass rusher who can contribute immediately on third downs while developing the strength and technique to handle a larger workload. His 2025 breakout at Texas Tech produced 62 total pressures in a single season, nearly matching his output from the previous five years combined. That 96.1% pass rush grade is elite by any measure, and his hand timing, bend, and first-step explosiveness all translate to the professional level. Defensive coordinators will appreciate the coverage versatility since dropping an edge into zone isn't usually this clean. He's the kind of sub-package weapon who can give offensive coordinators headaches when designing protections for obvious passing situations.

The questions are real though, and they center on whether he can ever be more than a 400-500 snap player as a rookie. The 234-pound frame is going to struggle when NFL tackles get locked on and start driving their feet. His run defense grades in the low 70s for a reason, and until he adds functional mass without sacrificing that get-off, he's going to be a liability on early downs. The tackling inconsistencies compound this concern since he's posted missed tackle rates above 21% in consecutive seasons. There's also the matter of context: playing opposite David Bailey, a consensus first-round pick, meant Height rarely saw double teams and often faced one-on-one matchups against tackles who had bigger problems to worry about. How much of that production was his own merit versus being the beneficiary of Texas Tech's loaded front? That's a fair question teams will need to answer.

The age factor matters too. Height will turn 25 during his rookie season, which limits the developmental runway considerably. Add in the injury history (shoulder surgery cost him essentially all of 2022) and the journeyman path through four programs, and you've got legitimate reasons to temper expectations. Still, the pass rush production against SEC and ACC competition proves he belongs at this level. A team running a four-down front that values rush-coverage versatility gets a contributor from day one. The ceiling depends entirely on whether he can add 10-15 pounds of good weight and improve as a run defender, but the floor is a productive rotational piece who makes quarterbacks uncomfortable on passing downs.

Romello Height percentiles vs other Defensive Ends (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)

How other scouting services rate Romello Height (Overall Rank)

All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
72.9
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
21.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance. For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.

*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.