The Purdue Boilermakers have over the last couple decades produced quite a few outstanding NFL players. A couple of them are potnetial Hall of Famer's even.
In the process of looking for a good NFL caliber player it's common that scouts and coaches look at a player's physical ceiling. Most coaches feel that if they can get a guy who's combination of instinct and measurable's are off the charts, that they can turn them in to a potential Hall of Famer. Sometimes that happens and other times it doesn't due to out laying factors.
In searching for dynamic outside linebacker's sometimes the search moves over to the defensive end position. Often times college defensive ends are too small to play that specific position at the next level.
Ryan Kerrigan was very effective at Purdue. One of the thing that sets him apart from his competition at the converting outside linebackers is that he actually stood up quite a bit while at Purdue. Players that do this have less of a hard time making the transition to oustide linebacker from defensive end typically.
Below the jump, lets take a look at Kerrigan...
Almost immediately in the video here, you see just how explosive Kerrigan's first step is off the snap. He seems to always have an advantage against the offensive tackles he is facing. He has great use of his hands in breaking free to get to the quarterback. The downfall with Kerrigan is that once he is locked up and once a offensive player engages the block, he has trouble getting free off that. If he doesn't get separation right away, he's most often beat. But the good news for him is that there will be a lot of different techniques to help him get better in that regard at the next level.
Here are his career stats:
Stats Overview
Tackles
Misc
Interceptions
YEAR
TOT
SOLO
AST
SACK
STF
STFY
FF
BK
INT
YDS
AVG
LNG
TD
PD
2007
18
12
6
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
2008
56
32
24
7
0
0
1
0
1
8
8.0
8
0
0
2009
66
42
24
12
0
0
2
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
2010
70
50
20
13
0
0
1
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
2010 Regular Season Game Log
Tackles
Misc
Interceptions
DATE
OPP
RESULT
TOT
SOLO
AST
SACK
STF
STFY
FF
BK
INT
YDS
AVG
LNG
TD
PD
9/4
@Notre Dame
L 23-12
7
4
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
9/11
Western Illinois
W 31-21
12
9
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
9/18
Ball State
W 24-13
5
3
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
9/25
Toledo
L 31-20
10
6
4
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
10/9
@Northwestern
W 20-17
4
4
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
10/16
Minnesota
W 28-17
3
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
1
10/23
@Ohio State
L 49-0
4
3
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
10/30
@Illinois
L 44-10
4
3
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
11/6
Wisconsin
L 34-13
3
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
11/13
Michigan
L 27-16
10
10
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
11/20
@Michigan State
L 35-31
4
2
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
11/27
Indiana
L 34-31
4
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
Summary: I think that Kerrigan will have very good success in the NFL and ultimately will be a starter for a lot of years. My gut tells me that he will most likely struggle for his first year and a half or so in the NFL. However, by the middle or near the end of his second year, he should blossom in to a very talented outside linebacker.
PREDICTION: 1st Round - 2nd Round.