SI All-American Candidate David Abiara Highlights and Evaluation

David Abiara is a defensive end prospect from Mansfield Legacy High School in Mansfield, Texas. Abiara is an SI All-American candidate.

Prospect: David Abiara
Status: SI All-American candidate
Vitals: 6-foot-4, 240 pounds
School: Mansfield (Texas) Legacy 
Position: Defensive End
Committed to: Notre Dame
Projected Position: Edge

Frame: Broad shoulders with long arms. Big torso with room to add chisel throughout frame. Has a noticeable bubble and big thighs to go along with athletic calves. 

Athleticism: Power player with decent snap quickness to reduce ground in his vertical track at the snap. Excellent strength and toughness at the point. Has shock value in his mitts. Can set edge and anchor with inside stab. Uses fair surf technique to squeeze laterally down line versus run. Capable of walking blockers back in pocket as a rusher and is solid run arc. 

Instincts: Good mesh-point vision. Uses a 2-hand punch to set edges and converts to a longarm to get clean while keeping outside arm free. Can peak in backfield while maintaining point control versus base blocks. Forces through at entry-points when pass-rushing with hand-placement and impressive power. Recognizes point leverage with longarm when using as pass-rush weapon. 

Polish: Plays left and right DE in 4-point stance and occasionally in 2-point. Aligns at 5-tech and 4i in 3-down/4-0-4 tite fronts. Has experience at 6-technique and 7-technique. Very good mitt package that consists of a rip, long arm, speed-to-power and outside rush sell to convert to inside insertion. Lacks elite twitch. Is tight in the hips and has limited sharp cornering ability. Needs to keep outside contain versus run consistently. 

Bottom Line: Abiara has college size and strength right now. He is a power player who plays big at the point of attack and can be a bully versus blockers. He lacks elite twitch, though his power compensates and he plays well with his hands. Abiara projects well as a strongside Edge in either a 4-man front or as a stand-up player in a base 3-4 alignment. It also would not be if he grew into a 5-technique DE in a 3-man front later in his collegiate career.