Prospect Profile: Andrew Billings

When BJ Raji decided to take a hiatus from football, the Packers’ draft situation changed. With the four game suspension of Mike Pennel, the Packers may very well look to bolster the defensive front in a draft that is strong in interior defensive linemen. Here’s one prospect to keep an eye on.

Andrew Billins, NT/DL out of Baylor just turned 21 on the sixth of this month, so he is very young. This, combined with the fact that pound for pound he is as powerful a player as there is in this year’s draft and the combination could be an asset on a team like Green Bay. Billings ran a sub 5.0 40 at his pro day and a 4.77 short shuttle so while he won’t be dragging down NFL running backs from behind like he did in college, he has the athleticism to make tackles if he is smart about his angles. And in our system, guys that are 6’1″ and 300 pounds, who get 31 reps on the bench press (at 225 lbs.), are mostly asked to take up blockers. Billings fits the bill.

I love Billings power, and his initial motor, but he at times finds it difficult to “meaningfully close” a play. He is a young guy so it is no surprise he has the tendency to over-pursue and lack the ability to recover and change direction when he guesses wrong. It is also no surprise, as a young player, that he guesses. But in the pros there will be less margin for such error as we saw BJ Raji at times in his career have to reset himself, play within the scheme, and remain gap sound even when that meant pressing the point for the linebacker to make a follow up hit.




With presumably no more signings to come other than perhaps a few of our own (see here…Starks is back!), the Packers have to give some serious thought to the DL early and often in the draft.

Here is some video footage from Draft Breakdown. Be sure to give them a sub! This is the Baylor Oklahoma game, not a highlights reel, which gives a lot more accurate portrayal of Andrew Billings over the course of a game. You see the raw talent and power, you see that Billings can take on double teams, and when he is singled up, you see him walking offensive lineman straight back into the quarterback. But you also clearly see that there are times when Billings doesn’t meaningfully close, ending up with a bad angle or in over-pursuit.

But there is a lot of raw talent there and for my money, a guy like Billings could leap-frog Nkemdiche because he may be young but he seems to have his act together. Here’s the tape, be sure to comment below or back on the Facebook Fanpage. Go Pack!