Film Breakdown of Courtney Upshaw.

Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw is one of the more intriguing prospects in the up coming draft. CBSSports.com ranks him as the 23rd best player in the draft, Scouts Inc at ESPN.com have him as the 22nd and Mocking The Draft list him as high as 11. He's a versatile player that is scheme diverse. In Alabama's defense, you'll see him line up as a 3-4 OLB, a 3-4 jack LB and a 4-3 DE with his hand in the dirt.

Upshaw is listed as 6'2", 265 pounds. CBSsports.com has him running a 4.76 40 yard dash. This could be a problem for him. 3-4 teams that project him as an pass-rushing OLB will see his speed as a potential liability in coverage. But many see him as a Lamarr Woodley type, a 3-4 OLB with strength on his side.

Here he's rushing from a two point stance as a OLB. What you can see here is his ability with his hands and his power. He gets an amazing punch on the tackle that knocks him back.

The tackle then reaches to re-engage Upshaw, who uses that to his advantage. With the tackle using poor technique, Upshaw can purely overpower him to get past.

Which is exactly what he does, leaving the tackle off-balance behind him. He then sets his eyes on the QB and the football.

He chases down the QB despite his efforts to scramble. He gets one arm high and attacks the throwing arm of the QB, nearly knocking the ball loose. This is a big plus for Upshaw, when he gets to the QB, he'll often attack the ball if at all possible.

On this play, he rushes from the other side. Upshaw demonstrates yet more versatility being able to rush from either side.

Again the power that he hits the tackle with forces the tackle back and off-balance.

Again he uses his hands well to push off the tackle's attempts to recover and break towards the QB.

He then chases the QB down and sacks him near his own goal line. Two big plays one after another.

However, from what I've see on film, I personally don't think he'll translate to the NFL as a 3-4 OLB. He doesn't have the athleticism to fly past a tackle or drop into coverage. I see him best as a 4-3 DE with his hand in the dirt. He has incredible lower body strength, and if you can add 5-10 pounds of good weight he could be a terrific bull-rushing DE and a great run stuffer.

This pass-rush comes from a 3 point stance as a 4-3 DE. He takes a slightly high angle (notice the pad level is above that of the tackle) but gets his arms and hands in a great position.

He uses his hands and strength to push the tackle one way, creating a gap between the tackle and the guard.

Upshaw shows his swim move to get past the inside of the tackle. The swim move is far from his best (with his power, the club and rip is bar far his most effective move).

The tackle has to resort to what could have been called holding. The QB gets the throw off, but this play shows the different moves in Upshaw's arsenal.

Later in the same game, he sticks his hand in the dirt and goes up against the same tackle.

Once again Upshaw takes a slightly high angle, but once again his strength and punch overpowers the blocker.

This time he forces the tackle inside, in order to rip past him on the outside.

Once again Upshaw attacks the throwing arm and knocks the ball loose.

So we've seen that Upshaw can rush the passer just as well from a 3 point stance as he can from a 2 point stance. He has also shown the ability to set and edge and stuff the run. Here's one really good example of this:

From a 3 point stance, Upshaw gets low on the tackle, using his lower body strength to pus him back.

While engaged with the tackle, he identifies that the RB has the ball. He has control over the tackle and pushes him back inside to set the edge.

The RB continues outside anyway. Upshaw makes a diving effort, tripping up the back as he gets back to the line of scrimmage.

I think this is what Upshaw will do best at the next level. Throughout his career at Alabama he only has 16 sacks. He undoubtedly has pass-rushing ability and potential, but I think his lower body strength will allow him to man-handle blocks on the edge and force runners back inside or into his arms for years to come. His ability against the run also makes me believe that if a 3-4 team were to draft him, they could plug him in at the Jack LB spot (ILB next to the Mike). We've already seen that he has the strength required to take on the bigger guards. But he also has the awareness and football IQ to identify plays early and get in a position to stop them, something ILB's require.

On this occasion Upshaw is in a 2 point stance. He quickly gets to the edge of the tackle.

But he realizes that he got past the tackle much to easily and recognizes the screen play to the RB. This screen was designed to go to the left, but because of Upshaw's presence, the RB has to go to the right.

Upshaw gets shoulder checked by a blocker and taken out of the play. But he forced the RB to go the other way to where his blockers were and he doesn't gain much on the play.

Just to prove it wasn't a one off, here's one last play as another example.

He gets off the line nicely.

But rather than just blindly rushing, he reads the play before the tackle touches him. He keeps his eye on the RB and waits for the ball to be thrown.

He finishes the play showing his motor and pursuit skills. He pushes the RB out of bounds at around the line of scrimmage on a 3rd down and 9, getting his team the ball back.

So overall, I think Courtney Upshaw fits best as a 4-3 DE that could play either side. He'd need to add about 5-10 pounds of good weight to help him, but his lower body strength and his use of hands are amazing. I also think you could potentially fit him in as a 3-4 ILB. He has all the tools to do so and having played as a LB in Alabama the transition should be a smooth one if he was asked to do so. Ultimately I believe his versatility and physical tools will see him drafted pretty high, but I don't really expect him to be the next great pass rusher. I'll leave you with some thoughts from our own, Dan Kadar.

I'm probably a little higher on his athleticism. If he goes to a 3-4 team strictly as an outside linebacker, I think teams have to realize they're not getting Demarcus Ware or Clay Matthews. To that end, I think he's more of a Jarrett Johnson or Ryan Kerrigan type of player. His rip move is as good as any pass rusher in this year's draft and gets through the line really well with that move. I could see him play a number of positions – the left outside linebacker in a 3-4 or the strong side inside in a 3-4 (which he's done in some formations for Alabama). He can play well at times with his hand down (which he's also done in certain formations), but I think he'd get overmatched playing there every down.

His versatility is why I really like him and Hightower. Alabama gets a lot out of both guys because they're getting lined up in different places from play to play and it confuses the offense.