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Elite pass-rushers like Purdue’s Karlaftis are ‘rare,’ as Huskers have learned in recent years | Football



Only Winovich of that group was drafted outside the top 21 picks in the NFL Draft.

First-round types have been less common at other schools, but Karlaftis and Mafe are showing it can be done.

Nebraska? The school hasn’t had an edge rusher drafted in the top 100 picks since Randy Gregory (No. 50 overall in 2015). If you’re looking for a first-rounder, you’ve got to go back to defensive end Adam Carriker in 2007.

In the six drafts since Gregory was selected, beginning with 2016, four Big Ten schools have had a total of eight first-round pass-rushers selected (OSU and Michigan have three apiece and Penn State and Wisconsin one each). Purdue and Minnesota could potentially push that number up next spring.

In the same six-draft span, 23 Big Ten pass-rushers (loosely defined as defensive ends and outside linebackers) have been taken in the top 100 picks. They hail from nine different schools, though OSU and Michigan account for 11 of them.

“I mean, if everybody had one, those guys wouldn’t be so special,” NU head coach Scott Frost said this week. “Those guys can be game-wreckers, so you’ve got to make sure to know where they are and sometimes devote more than one guy to them.”



Parker Gabriel highlights the four most interesting things from Scott Frost’s post-practice presser on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021.







Some of the lack of Nebraska production is about position, of course. Defensive tackles Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine were top-100 picks in 2016.



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