2025 Pass Rusher Zion Grady Is One Of Nation's Top Recruits

Alabama commitment is earning his offers and ranking

Brian Smith | Jan 15, 2024

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Auburn Tigers

Continuing the 2025 Alabama prep football prospect profiles, up next is Zion Grady. The talented edge defender from Enterprise (Ala.) High School has a tremendous amount of ability. That talent is not going unnoticed.

Alabama is the school he is committed to, with Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Texas, Penn State, and several other schools also offering Grady a scholarship. It will be interesting to see if Bama can hold onto the talented 6-foot-4 and 220-pound defensive recruit. He's too talented for Power 4 programs to give up on, especially with the transition from Nick Saban to Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa.

The most noticeable reason for why Grady is an elite recruit would be his change of direction skills. Even when rushing up the field, he's able to break down, shift his weight, and quickly change directions to track down an outside run or follow a quarterback moving outside the pocket.

Grady's long arms help him to bring down ball carriers as well. His length is quite obvious from the time someone turns on his film. Those long levers also allow Grady to keep offensive tackles from getting their hands on his chest and midsection; that's a big reason he wins pass-rushing battles.

He takes the battle to the offensive tackle with variations of long-arm-pass-rush moves. After engaging an offensive tackle, Grady keeps his head up and tracks the football well. Grady is also able to hold up against power runs going right at him as well.

Power football is the part of his game that will likely take the biggest step forward after being in a college weight program but Grady does not give up much at the point of attack as it is now. After Grady adds weight, look for him to be even better against the run.

Grady has the unique athleticism to play in space. Not many players at 6-foot-4 can cover the flat. Grady will be able to do that and that comes with his incredible length.

All of that combined makes him a tremendous prospect and it's not surprising he's one of the nation's most coveted defensive recruits. Look for the battle to land Grady to continue regardless of whether he's committed to Alabama or not.