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NFL Draft 2019: Jerry Tillery is an elite prospect the Chiefs can’t ignore

By Travis Steffen

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 15: Jerry Tillery #99 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rushes against Devin Cochran #77 of the Vanderbilt Commodores at Notre Dame Stadium on September 15, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Vanderbilt 22-17. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 15: Jerry Tillery #99 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rushes against Devin Cochran #77 of the Vanderbilt Commodores at Notre Dame Stadium on September 15, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Vanderbilt 22-17. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 15: Jerry Tillery #99 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rushes against Devin Cochran #77 of the Vanderbilt Commodores at Notre Dame Stadium on September 15, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 15: Jerry Tillery #99 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rushes against Devin Cochran #77 of the Vanderbilt Commodores at Notre Dame Stadium on September 15, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

WEAKNESSES

Tillery doesn’t necessarily have weaknesses so much as he has areas that need continued improvement. When attacking the run, Tillery does have a problem keeping his eyes in the backfield and will sometimes get pushed off of his gap assignment. While he has a decent anchor, it’s nothing compared to a nose tackle type lineman like Nnadi.

Tillery could also use more flexibility. He tends to get pushed back in double teams when not getting his hands under the chest of a lineman. He could use further improvement here to plug in the running game and penetrate against double teams at a higher rate in passing situations.

Tillery can also be inconsistent in his pad level when attacking. We saw some great flashes in 2018 of him getting his hands under the pads of offensive linemen, which allowed him to have full control. Once again, this is similar to what was said of Jones coming out of college. Both tended to get too high with their hand placement, allowing guards to get to their chest. The good thing is Tillery has decent length and this isn’t a consistent issue even when he fails to get under the pads of their assignment.

Last but not least, Tillery was moved all over the defensive line in college, but his true calling card was in the 3-tech position. While he had time at 0 and 5 tech positions, he could use some improvement in those areas.

As we know, new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo hopes to bring a more aggressive and unpredictable defensive front to Kansas City in 2019. I do feel confident that Tillery can improve at other positions along the line as they will likely move him outside of defensive ends to throw off opposing quarterbacks. He will have to generate better angles and paths to the quarterback on the outside, but I don’t see that being a problem once an NFL coach gets his hands on him for a year or two.

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