NFL Draft Profile: Jordan Strachan, EDGE, South Carolina Gamecocks
Jordan Strachan
South Carolina Gamecocks
#7
Pos: EDGE
Ht: 6040
Wt: 245
Hand: 928
Arm: 3168
Wing: 7828
40: 4.70
DOB: 11/26/1998
Hometown: Kingsland, GA
High School: Camden County
Eligibility: 2023
Evaluation:
A feisty rush outside linebacker who shows astute hand usage and has the athletic traits to warrant a high ceiling. Strachan has very good situational get-off, understanding patience and playing the run on 1st and 2nd down, then exploding out of a cannon on 3rd down. His first three steps off the snap cover an insane amount of ground and put pressure on tackles to turn and run as they are often beaten to their landmark. Strachan’s go-to move is the push-pull, where he gains good inside hand placement and has powerful grip strength to pull cloth and slingshot himself forward as he gets past the blocker. He has very loose hips to change direction and most importantly, bend around the corner to finish sacks. In the run game, Strachan makes his presence felt by gaining outside leverage and using a long arm-chop move to win the edge, then showing an explosive closing burst to track down the ball. He displays sound discipline when defending option runs and has the sideline speed to track down pitches to running backs. Strachan’s motor is a calculated one, where he understands which plays he can feasibly chase down and which he cannot, thus saving his energy. Lastly, Georgia State occasionally asked Strachan to drop in coverage, and he flashed good instincts to understand where offenses want to go with the ball. The biggest question mark surrounding Strachan will be how he deals with the increase in competition level, transferring to South Carolina. With Georgia State, he was often able to dominate offensive linemen and looked unblockable at times as he took advantage of lesser athletes with poor technique. In addition, Strachan lacks some pop in his hands as he has not found much success with a power rush or creating displacement at the point of attack in the run game - he’d rather go around you than through you, and tackles started to use that against him by letting him get upfield on runs. In addition, Strachan rarely needed to use a counter move as he got what he wanted in the passing game, so that part of his game is currently a question mark. Finally, Strachan could have finished even more sacks if he was able to stay on balance when cornering. Instead, he often lost footing and ended up past the pocket. Strachan transferred from Georgia State to South Carolina and will be on a bigger stage to hopefully gain more recognition and boost his draft stock. He’s an athletic edge defender who should remain in a 3-4 scheme at the next level and offers three down value defending the run, rushing the passer, and occasionally spot-dropping in coverage. He can be a strong rotational piece early on if his production translates to the Gamecocks and he has the potential to be a solid starter in the right situation.
Background:
Jordan Strachan attended Camden County High School in Kingsland, Georgia and was First-team All-Region 1-AAAAAAA in Georgia’s largest classification as a senior. He was originally recruited to play safety but found a home at outside linebacker. After high school, 247Sports ranked him as a 2-Star recruit, the 2907th-best recruit nationally, the 210th-ranked athlete recruit in the country and the 330th recruit in the state of Georgia. Strachan walked on to Georgia State and redshirted his freshman year in 2017. In 2018, he played in all games, starting four and tallying 36 tackles. Unfortunately, he had a season-ending knee injury in the 2019 season opener. He bounced back and made a name for himself in 2020, starting ten games and tallying 41 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and forcing three fumbles while recovering two. Strachan was nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy and named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in the spring. Strachan’s work ethic and determination is littered all throughout his story. From walking on as a safety and moving to outside linebacker, a move that Strachan wasn’t expecting but has embraced passionately, “I was big as a safety, and they wanted to see me rush. I had a really good get-off, and he said, ‘That’s your new position.’ It was a change, but I’ve adjusted to it.” Furthermore, Strachan was ready for a bigger role after a year of learning his new position and was determined to work through his ACL injury and return to form, coach Shawn Elliot says, “Had he not torn his ACL, he was going to have an extremely successful year for us. He made so many plays in fall camp it wasn’t a secret that he had the ability to create explosive defensive plays. He’s worked extremely hard to get back, and now he’s reaping the benefits.” Strachan understands that every second counts in his journey to make the NFL, and thanks to his mother’s wise words, is determined to outwork everyone, “She told me not to wait until it was time to start putting in the time. That’s what I’ve done. I just have to execute. There’s a lot more coming.”
