Getting To Know Kendall Langford

To get you ready for the draft, here's a look at some of the prospects who may end up as Steelers. The scouting reports an bio information are pulled from sources around the Web. Today we look at a defensive end who fits the Steelers 3-4 defense extremely well: Kendall Langford.


Langford is a small-school product, but if a player is going to come from a smaller school, what you want to see is that he dominated the competition. Langford definitely lives up to that expectation. He recorded 24 sacks in four seasons at Hampton and was the team's leading tackler as a senior--something that's extremely rare for a defensive lineman. He led the team's defensive linemen in tackles in each of his final three years. In his best games, he was able to dominate. Against Morgan State as a junior he had seven tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, two sacks and a safety.


Langford appears to have a knack for blocking kicks. He blocked four during his career at Hampton.

40-yard dash	4.95	20-yard shuttle	4.69
20-yard dash	2.84	3-cone	7.72
Bench Press	24 reps	Vertical Jump	27

Pros: Langford has the size/strength combo that teams look for in a 3-4 defensive end. He has enough speed to generate an occasional pass rush, but Langford's big strength is as a pocket pusher who excels as stuffing the run. For a 3-4 team, Langford's ability to play in a two-gap scheme, where he tries to control both his inside and outside gap, will make him a very valuable end. While run defense is his biggest strength, Langford has developed some pass rushing moves including a spin move that should give offensive linemen something to worry about.

Cons: As with any small school product, Langford will have to prove he can make the adjustment to facing the much tougher competition of the NFL. Because he lacks an explosive first step, he cannot be a 4-3 defensive end, and he needs to gain weight to be a 4-3 defensive tackle. He's best in a 3-4 defense, which will limit the number of teams interested in him. His small hands make it difficult for him to lock up and control offensive linemen. He also sometimes plays too high and needs to stay low as he fires out.

Analysis: Langford has been projected to go somewhere between the third and fourth round. As a third-round pick, Langford would give the Steelers a potential long-term starter at defensive end to help their aging front three. He won't be ready to start for a while, but with Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel on the roster, that's not a problem for Pittsburgh.

Sources for the scouting report: NFL.com, Draft Countdown.
Source for the combine results: Sports XChange