Measurables
UNIVERSITY- Utah AGE- CLASS- RSSR
HEIGHT-6’3” WEIGHT- 235 ARM LENGTH-
40 Time- 3 CONE- VERTICAL- BROAD JUMP- BENCH PRESS-
Overview
Devin played his high school ball at Otay Ranch High School in California. In High School he played safety, wide receiver and even punter. Devin also played basketball in highschool. Devin’s father was in the military for 26 years. He redshirted as a freshman in 2017 but played in all 14 games in 2018 as a core special teams player. He finished 2018 with 6 tackles. Lloyd burst on the scene in 2019, starting all 14 games. He finished the season with 91 tackles, 11 TFL, 6.5 sacks and 1 int in which he returned for a 64 yard TD. In 2020 Devin started all 5 games, tallying 48 tackles, 10 TFL, 2 sacks and 1 FF. His effort in 2020 earned him First-Team All-Pac 12 honors as well as being mentioned as a finalist for the Butkus Award. During 14 games in 2021 he allotted 110 tackles, 22 TFL, 8 Sacks, 6 PBUs, 4 ints (returning 2 for a TD). He was named a finalist for nearly every major LB and defensive player award, 1st team All America honors among many various publications.
Strengths
Without a doubt Lloyd is a 3 down linebacker in the NFL. There’s really no reason to ever take him off the field. He shows quick agile feet, flexible hips to be someone who can develop into a really nice cover LB. You can see the S/WR background because he has some spectacular interceptions on his resume. His ability to snag the ball out of the air from the LB position is pretty special. I could see him potentially being able to cover TEs and receiving RBs with some development. Lloyd shows an explosive short area burst to pursue and attack ball carriers. Devin tackles with a good amount of force and never gets driven back on a tackle attempt. Downhill LB that aims to punish ball carriers when given an opportunity. He actually shows an outstanding understanding of what the offense is trying to do, very good play recognition. This led to his incredible back field production. However, he was far too hesitant at times. When a play is ran to the outside Devin is able to use his athletic ability to avoid blockers. He flashes quick hands and is able to maneuver around blockers and chase the play down. Utah played him a lot on the edge with some decent success. I was actually surprised by how well he was able to set an edge to prevent outside run plays. Devin shows decent flexibility to get around offensive tackles, and good length to out-leverage them at times. I felt he was a good blitzer, not great or elite. If you are able to keep him clean from taking on blocks inside the tackles, you could have yourself a big-time play-maker. He’s a very easy and fluid athlete, especially for his size. His play recognition and big play ability are both spectacular. If you watch the Stanford game you would assume he can also walk on water.
Weaknesses/Room for Improvement
I mentioned this in the strengths section but hesitancy for no reason was one of my bigger issues with him. He sees the play developing in front of him, why does he just wait instead of attacking the play? I don’t understand it. If he trusted what he was seeing and attacked, he’d probably be someone being talked about as a top 10-15 lock. In coverage, he kinda floats and drifts into his drops. I’d like to see a little more assertiveness dropping into the zone. Get to your spot, read the QB and attack the ball based on his eyes. He made an interception that he returned for a touchdown in the Oregon game doing this and I feel he should have had more interceptions based on his talent level. He has all the ability in the world to be a good cover LB, he just has to put it all together. Overall, I didn’t really see all that explosive of an athlete. He showed some good, very short window bursts. Not someone I see with elite sideline to sideline or long speed. With that being said, I think he could struggle covering the Uber athletic TEs you see in today’s NFL. If played out on the edge, I don’t think he’s someone who could win consistently with off the line explosive speed. Struggles mightily getting off blocks and fighting through traffic on the inside. He needs to be kept clean to have the most success. Also something that bothered me quite a bit was the amount of loafs I saw when watching him, he showed some terrible effort at times. It honestly made me wonder if he was playing hurt or injured. When you draft a LB early in the draft you’re expecting him to become the leader of the defense so that would be something I’d watch out for.
Scheme fit
4-3 OLB. A creative 3-4 team could use him as a OLB in spurts as well. I just worry about him getting off blocks as a 3-4 ILB
Round Grade
Late First/Early Second Round