From the film room: J'Bril Glaze

Virginia Tech needed some beef up front on the defensive line in this class, and one player who will provide it is Tampa (Fla.) Jefferson tackle J'Bril Glaze.

The 6-3, 252-pounder played on the interior and exterior of the defensive line in high school, but will bulk up and play primarily inside at the next level. Just a two-star, the film shows a player whose potential may result in a higher level of performance than some expect in Blacksburg.

Glaze plays most on the end in high school, and his strength for that position is above-average. He can bull-rush opposing offensive tackles, and also has the pure power in his upper body to discard them to get into the backfield. That helps him during his occasional appearances on the interior of the DL, where he disengages using his hands to work his way to the ball-carrier.

Complementing that strength, Glaze shows a good motor to continue fighting when his first pass-rush move doesn't work, or when a play goes away from him. He hustles to stay in the play, and shows the desire to chase things down from the backside. That also displays itself on the offensive side of the ball, where he relishes the opportunity to finish his blocks in devastating fashion.

While he doesn't have outstanding natural quickness as an edge player, Glaze does a good job harnessing what he does have against misdirection or quick plays to the edge. He can adjust on the fly between pass-rush mode and pursuit mode to the outside.

Glaze is on the smaller side for a future defensive tackle, though his physical appearance already gives the impression that he's more built for the interior. With a "chopped-off" look that will make it tough for him to add a ton of weight, he's going to have to redistribute what he already has into a more athletic package, rather than merely bulky, before he can build back up into a more stout shape. At only 255 pounds now, his frame can probably only carry around 285 - not minuscule for an interior lineman, but never going to be a space-eater, either.

Glaze shows a decent bit of burst off the edge, but it's far from elite. With a move to the interior, that quickness will go from a potential drawback to a potential asset, but he's unlikely to be the quickest-penetrating player as an interior lineman. With a bit of conditioning and less bad weight, he can continue to work that quickness.

Perhaps the easiest thing for Glaze to improve - and the most encouraging sign for a long-term future - is his overall athletic technique. While he has a solid understanding of how to use his hands, strength, and quickness from a lineman's perspective, he doesn't show an athletic stance when running in pursuit, and he often stands straight up off the snap. Those are quick fixes once he gets into a college weight training program and learns a bit from the Hokies' talented coaching staff.

Even though he's a two-star, that's not because Glaze has low potential: rather, it's because he's a boom-or-bust type as a college player. If he takes well to coaching (both from a strength perspective and positionally), he could end up being a Woody Baron-like presence for the Hokies on the middle. That means never a big space-plugger on the interior, but above-average quickness and the smarts and technique to be a difference-maker.

With the boom, there's always the bust risk, though. Glaze already has the build of a 300-pounder, and at barely more than 250, if he can't redistribute the weight he already has in order to add more, he'll struggle to find both the quickness and the mass necessary to contribute at a high level.

Glaze should take a year or two in the strength program to see how his body develops before he'll be expected to make major contributions, and by that time, it should become clear just how he'll develop. Even if he's not going to get above 280 pounds, if he adds quickness after shedding some of his bad weight, he could end up as an anchor-type strongside end who slides inside on pass-rush downs, too.