I watched three 2024 games of Gabe Jacas — Michigan, Oregon, and South Carolina. The Michigan game was a clinic. Oregon was more underwhelming from a production standpoint, but the low pad level, physicality, and motor were still evident. South Carolina was very solid — not dominant like Michigan, but productive and disruptive. Of the roughly 20 prospects I’ve watched so far, this is my first true “my guy” — someone I like more than consensus and whose style of play (physical, leverage-based) really resonates with me.
As a pass rusher, Jacas plays with leverage and builds everything off speed to power through the chest, then works counters off that foundation. I saw him use the hump move successfully around four times across the three games, mix in club-rips, and hit swim moves both inside and outside. On most of the inside swims he kept his pad level low, though there were a couple reps where he popped up and exposed his chest. His speed to power is much better than Faulk’s in my opinion. Against Michigan he put the tackles on roller skates multiple times. Against Oregon he didn’t forklift anyone, but he did push the pocket on Josh Conerly a few times. His hands are violent, his pad level consistently low, and he has strong core and upper-body strength to convert force. His counters are well-timed and purposeful. The limitation is athleticism — he’s not bendy and he’s not fast. If he had better explosion he’d look like Rueben Bain with longer arms in the sense that the way they win with power and coutners is similar, but he’s nowhere near that level of explosiveness. But like Bain his upper body strength and core strength allow him to forklift defenders and he is good at hump moves and club rips. The types of moves he uses is very similar to Reuben bAIN. The physical foundation is real and he has a solid speed to power foundation to build off of.
As a run defender, he’s outstanding. His edge setting against Michigan was textbook — stacking with full arm extension and completely controlling the tackle. He ragdolled Colston Loveland once or twice (and Loveland is nowhere near the blocker Kenyon Sadiq is — Sadiq actually impressed me in that Oregon game, holding up like a pitbull even when eventually overwhelmed). Jacas’ pad level, stack-and-shed ability, and play strength stand out. The physicality he meets pullers with is a pleasure to watch. Michigan in particularly hit him with pullers and split zone, but he had some nasty collisons with Oregon pullers including one with a pulling Josh Conerly. He played a lot of 5- and 7-technique — probably about 60% of his reps across the three games — but I actually thought his best work came from condensed alignments in the 4i. I’ve heard he played in the 270s during the season, which fits his game better than the 260 he weighed at the combine (he was reportedly 277 in summer verified measurements). To me, his best projection is as a 3-4 defensive end around 280 pounds. I’m not sure he’s quite as good against the run as Faulk, but if he’s not, he’s very close — and I think he brings more pass rush juice. His motor runs red hot. He chased down 8 or 9 plays backside. Another time on a QB sneak (or maybe it was a draw) against Michigan he gets knocked off balance by the Guard only to chase down the play and cause a fumble. His motor is second to none.
Athleticism is the limiting factor. His core and upper-body strength are fantastic, and his knee bend to generate leverage is outstanding — there’s subtle athleticism in how he coils and uncoils with power. But his ankles are stiff, and he doesn’t turn tight corners. There’s some hip stiffness as well. His first step is solid but not overwhelming, and he doesn’t have real top-end speed, in fact he is a bit lumbering. He’ll never be an elite edge rusher because he lacks the high-end tools, but as a 4i in an odd front, that may not matter. He wins with leverage, violence, and consistency.
I really want this player at 71 for the Commanders. I suspect he probably goes top 50, but if there’s a trade down where Washington picks up a second-rounder, he’d be my choice for a 3-4 DE who can live in the 4i. The Michigan 2024 tape is must-watch — it’s a clinic in leverage and physical edge play. This is my guy. I don't understand why he lost weight. He supposedly played his junior year at 275 and it looked just right to me.