Willie Gay - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Okay, so we’re to the point in the NFL Draft process that I don’t know who I want to dig deep on. I could go deeper on quarterbacks, I could do more Big Ten players, or I could look at players that might make sense for the Chicago Bears. Willie Gay has been getting a lot of buzz lately, so he may not fall to the Bears in the second round, but middle linebackers are devalued in this league so he just might be an ideal fit. I took a look at his game against Louisville to figure out what all the hype was about. 

Oh, the hype? Yeah, let's just show this thing.

That is about as explosive as any one man can be. The change-of-direction skills were just average, but I thought he looked better than those numbers indicate when he was on the field.

Here, Gay does an excellent job of avoiding the guard to get after the running back.

Well, he would have gotten after the running back, but his teammates beat him to it in the backfield. 

No, seriously, he isn’t going to be blocked by half effort from a guy that outweighs him by 70 pounds.

He not only easily avoids the block, but he puts on those turbo boosters and takes the running back’s soul. Then he flexes on it, and it is a totally earned flex by Gay.

He’s also not going to be taken down by a lousy chop block by a running back.

He easily leaps over the running back and disrupts this play to cause an incompletion.

Here is Gay doing nothing as he appears to be responsible for the running back who stays in to block. Instead, the pass is to the wide receiver 12 yards down the field.

Oh, and despite catching it 12 yards down the field, Gay catches up to him by the time he is 17 yards down the field and knocks the ball loose, because that linebacker shouldn’t have been anywhere near the wide receiver by that point. That’s the type of play that teams will fall in love with, because he not only shows his incredible burst of speed, but he also shows incredible hustle to even attempt to make a play down the field.

The only real weakness I saw on film is occasionally he would either overestimate his own speed or underestimate his opponent’s speed and take a poor angle to the ball. 

As for coverage, there wasn’t a lot on film in this game. He primarily spied Louisville’s mobile quarterback so there wasn’t a lot to go off of in coverage outside of him dropping into occasional zones. Still, with his athletic profile, I would feel confident about his abilities to stick with both running backs and tight ends.
Overall, I'm smitten with Gay. The Bears have a great need at inside linebacker as they are going to have to be as strong as possible on defense to have any shot at carrying the team to the playoffs. I think that Gay is undervalued due to some off-field issues where he was suspended, but from everything I have heard, those are all based on academics which, as long as the Bears don't institute algebra tests to play in games, I think he'll be fine at the pro level. This guy has top notch potential, and I think he'd be a steal if he does fall to pick 40; I just hope the Bears are smart enough to not let this Willie slip away.

Previous Scouting Reports
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon
5. Nate Stanley - Iowa
6. Tristan Wirfs - Iowa
7. AJ Epenesa - Iowa
8. Geno Stone - Iowa
9. Michael Ojemudia - Iowa
10. Willie Gay - Mississippi State