Elijah Roberts – DE/DT
School: SMU
Hometown: Miami, FL
Class: Senior
Height: 6'4
Weight: 285
40 Time: 4.78
Overview:
Elijah Roberts is 5th year senior DE who began his career at the University of Miami before transferring to SMU. His production and tape at SMU was noticeably better than his time at Miami where he almost tripled his production from 2022 to 2023. In his five seasons, Roberts has totaled 93 tackles, 49 solo, 26 tackles for loss and 18 sacks.
The vast majority of which came from his time at SMU. Stylistically, Roberts might translate more into a 3 technique in the NFL if he can add weight to his frame, more so than your typical wide DE. Roberts is far from a balanced and polished edge rusher. He plays with more strength than speed or quickness. The bulk of his production comes from his ability to out muscle the blocker. Roberts is much more likely to collapse the pocket or push his way to pressure than he is to beat his man or out bend his man.
At times, he will rely too much on his hands. Will need to develop or polish moves as he will not be able to strong arm most offensive tackles at the NFL level. Will need to improve how and the speed in which he diagnoses the play as it happens. A decent player against cutback lanes and second effort penetration. Strong at the point of attack but lacks athleticism to be a typical edge rusher at the next level. The jump in production and ability to hold his own in traffic should be enough to get a serious look from NFL teams. Roberts will need to develop as a pass rusher if he hopes to be more than a rotational and/or situational player in the NFL.
Strengths:
• Significantly more productive at SMU
• Relies on strength to push tackles into the pocket
• Has a solid base
• Has multiple attacks, does not always start the same way
• Has the ability to stack the moves he has, but not at an elite level
• Has considerable leverage and can hold the edge
• Hands are good enough to disrupt run blocking
• Very difficult to slow down after penetrating the backfield
Weaknesses:
• Must improve diagnosing the play to anticipate and get off blocks
• Great hands and upper body, but foot speed and foot work need work
• Defers to arm tackling too often
• Needs to learn to stay low, loses the benefit of his strength the higher he goes
• Struggles against more elite OT play, more successful against IOL
• Needs to add weight to compete at DT more so than develop as a prototypical DE
NFL Comp:
DT Osa Odighizuwa
Draft Projection: Based on his measurables on paper, he looks like a 3-4 DE, but lacks high level traits for that position (ie speed, quickness, bend). A candidate to put on weight and move inside to better maximize his strengths. In 2025 he likely projects as a developmental rotational player with upside to be more if he moves inside. As a typical 4-3 DE, he will likely struggle to beat starting OTs. At present, a likely Day 3 pick with upside.
Copyright 2025 Athlon Sports. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 7:41 PM.
Sports Pass is your ticket to Kansas City sports
#ReadLocal