Texas A&M Nic Scourton vs. Purdue Nic Scourton

[Icege]

Many Panthers fans are already excited about second-round selection Nic Scourton for a variety of reasons including but not limited to: the Panthers needed to recharge the position group, Scourton had a late first-round grade according to many (including the Panthers), and he fit this season's modus operandi of stopping the run now and forever. However, Scourton was seen early on as one of the top-3 EDGE guys in this class but fell due to not having quite the season at Texas A&M as he did prior at Purdue (his sophomore season).

It's been revealed since then a few different things that speak to that dip in production... Texas A&M, for one, requires each player on their line to be able to hold two gaps. This also explains why we saw low production across the board from the other two TA&M prospects but were still being heavily touted. Scourton was also said to have bulked up to 280lbs in order to fulfill this role and noticeably suffered from it. He's expected to play this season with Carolina at 255 - 260 which is very different from most situations. In most situations, teams are wanting players to gain 15 - 30.

Since Scourton is going to be playing at his Purdue weight, I thought it would make sense to dive more into that tape.

Y'all... we might have gotten something special...

Let's take a quick peek at the stats before we start drooling over some highlights. First, a summary of the last two seasons for Scourton:

Second, the game splits:

The first thing that pops up for me is how Scourton's sack numbers were cut in half his senior year. We've already pointed out issues with scheme that impacted the TA&M linemen from racking up numbers, but seeing the game splits it's clear that Scourton didn't exactly feast on inferior competition while at Purdue. He had two two-sack games (vs. Michigan (2023 - 2024 champs), Indiana) and a 10-tackle game (vs. Nebraska). I also see the 2024 games where he went up against two top-10 tackles (Will Campbell from LSU + Armand Membou from Missouri) that I watched leading up to the draft. 

For those who just want a summary: Scourton looked elite at Purdue and is going to be rotating in often during his rookie campaign. I originally had him penciled in as the second-string, strong-side edge defender behind Clowney but I wouldn't be surprised to see the team have him and Pat Jones II moving around when they rotate in in order to find where Nic looks best. Here's a highlight reel to replace that Cialias you lost in your recliner tonight:

 

For those that want a little more: Below I'll be linking the linking the five games I've mentioned above. If you plan to watch all of them, I highly recommend going in the order listed as that will allow you to see him vs. Campbell and then Membou while dealing with the aforementioned things he dealt with at Texas A&M before seeing him look unstoppable in 2023 when he was allowed to play both at a comfortable weight and in a scheme that didn't require him two cover two gaps nearly every play.

vs. Will Campbell (2024)

vs. Armand Membou (2024)

vs. Nebraska (2023)

vs. Michigan (2023)

 

vs. Indiana (2023)

 

Edited May 1 by Icege

[LinvilleGorge]

TAMU had such a weird draft. Usually you'd be bragging your ass off about three DL drafted in the top two rounds except that the narrative around all three was about how badly they were misused by TAMU. LOL

[Dave Gettleman's Shorts]

besides being closer to home at A&M, was there a reason Scourton left Purdue?

[Sup]

He said something about his weight dropping from eating better, are we sure he intentionally gained or lost weight?

[Pejorative Miscreant]

6 minutes ago, Dave Gettleman's Shorts said:

besides being closer to home at A&M, was there a reason Scourton left Purdue?

Occam’s razor says it has something to do with Purdue being in West Lafayette Indiana whereas A&M isn’t. 

Edited May 1 by Pejorative Miscreant

[TheSpecialJuan]

Terrific post 

[LinvilleGorge]

10 minutes ago, Dave Gettleman's Shorts said:

besides being closer to home at A&M, was there a reason Scourton left Purdue?

Probably 729k reasons

https://www.si.com/fannation/name-image-likeness/nil-news/four-of-the-top-five-nil-athletes-within-the-state-of-texas-are-longhorns

[LinvilleGorge]

4 minutes ago, Pejorative Miscreant said:

Occam’s razor says it has something to do with Purdue being in West Lafayette Indiana whereas A&M isn’t. 

I take it you've never been to College Station, TX? LOL

[Pejorative Miscreant]

3 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I take it you've never been to College Station, TX? LOL

No, so admittedly my comment is not a fully informed one.  But had the misfortune of experiencing West Lafayette in the winter many years ago and I’m not a winter person. 

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, Pejorative Miscreant said:

No, so admittedly my comment is not a fully informed one.  But had the misfortune of experiencing West Lafayette in the winter many years ago and I’m not a winter person. 

College Station is a complete hell hole. Yeah, so is northwest Indiana but it's not like he left to go to Shangri-La. LOL 

He left because TAMU offered him a bag. That's just the reality of college sports now. It's NFL free agency but there's no contracts. It's a complete poo show.

[carpanfan96]

25 minutes ago, Sup said:

He said something about his weight dropping from eating better, are we sure he intentionally gained or lost weight?

Yes he was asked to gain weight to play containment end for TAMU

[TheSpecialJuan]

My boy Nic Squirtin' 

[Shocker]

Great work on the OP.  I saw a workout clip of him after dropping a good bit of weight and he looks fantastic.  Playing him at 280 was stupid but being a team guy he did it.  Looking for big things from this dude

[NAS]

People are sleeping on this pick, this may be the steal of the draft