Bjoern Werner

[Jimmy]

I feel that it's only right that I start this thread about Florida State defensive end (but more notably, Salisbury Crimson Knight) Bjoern Werner.



Bjoern is a legit 6-4 272 pound behemoth of a defensive end who will be eligible for next year's draft - He runs the 40 in the mid 4.7's.

Someone mentioned him in another thread, which is probably the first time Bjoern has been talked about on this site at all.

I'll start by saying that I graduated with Bjoern (and FSU TE Will Tye) in a class of about 80 kids back in May of 2010. How a class of 80 produced 2 FSU football players in 2010 (and an Arizona State CB Jarrid Bryant and NC State DE Forrest West the year before) I will never know.

2 years before our graduation, Bjoern had moved from Germany as a Sophomore in high school and immediately made an impact on the field at Salisbury. He was a manchild who quickly adopted the nickname "Das Boot." At the time, he was known more among the student body for abusing the ball on kickoffs and being German than he was for his very underrated athleticism and potential.

After an extremely successful sophomore year, Bjoern went back to Germany for a year where he further cemented his legacy there as one of the greatest young players they have ever had. After a year in his home country, he returned to Connecticut for his senior year. Suffices to say his play caught the attention of Jimbo Fisher, despite the fact that he played in a boarding school of 400 kids in Northwestern Connecticut.

We were never friends (as evidence by him defriending me on facebook some time ago), but I got to know him pretty well despite all that.

Spent quite a bit of time around him. He was a pretty nice kid if you got to know him. In his last year at Salisbury, he had a bit of a superiority complex, but once you got to know him (to a level I never did) he was a good guy. He had a really good bond with his coaches, and was a great teammate as well.

Don't be fooled by the video of him declaring to FSU on youtube. Bjoern is a nice kid, but he has a killer instinct on the field. Very quick off the ball. Has been that big since he graduated, really hasn't put on much weight outside of muscle. Always been an incredibly strong kid. He'd be a GREAT end in both a 3-4 and a 4-3.

I project him to go in the second or third round next year, although I invision a situation where he jumps to the first round with a great season. His dream is to play in the NFL, so as far as I can guess, there's no way he doesn't declare if his stock is high.

[keylime_5]

right now he's looking like a guy who i think will go pick #42 overall in the 2nd round. mark it down.

[ElectricEye]

It's still too early to tell, but I feel like the first round is a possibility for him if he continues developing and shows that he can be an impactful pass rusher at the next level. He's still learning the game, but he shows the ability to dominate at the point of attack with his strength. Especially against the run.

Easily one of the guys I'm most interested in focusing on next year.

[TheFinisher]

I think he's an ideal base 4-3 End who may never be a perennial double digit sack guy but could bring a Justin Smith type of impact, and that would warrant a 1st Round pick for me. Like you said he's just naturally powerful and can really create a jolt upon engaging OLineman, sometimes putting them on skates in passing situations. I think he does a very nice job maintaining arm extension when squeezing down the line on running plays keeping his hat in the box, and then ripping off with violence to make the tackle. He's a very good run defender. Also, it's easy to get caught up in his power when watching him play but then all of a sudden he'll flash excellent burst reminding you he has the athleticism to also be a threat to gain the edge.

I do wish I saw some better flexibility and balance in his game, I'd like to see him do a better job bending and dipping around the corner on his pass rush.

Other than that though there's a lot to like about Werner. He already has some pretty good tape for NFL teams so if he can build off of last season, continue to learn to nuances of the game, and perform up to par at the combine... yea I think he goes day 1.

[TuckNole]

I love Werner. He was probably the best player on Florida State's team last year (tied with Lamarcus Joyner).

Everyone talks about his strength, but he is extremely fast too for his size. He had more sacks last year from purely speed rush than he did bull rush, though he has shown that he can effectively do both.

One of the most impressive things about him in terms of predicting his pass rush ability is how many balls he bats at the LOS. He had 9 PBUs last year. That is more than any person on FSU's team other than CB Mike Harris. He is very instinctive and reads QBs eyes while he rushes allowing him to follow the throwing trajectory and bat balls down. For those that read Football Outsiders, you know that balls batted at the line are just as important as sacks for predicting a draft pick's future pass rushing ability.

I would describe him has a high floor guy. He has no glaring weakness that would cause you to think there is a possibility that he'll be out of the league in 3 years. The real question on Werner is what is his true ceiling. Personally, I think of the 3 FSU DEs, Carradine has the highest ceiling, but there is no reason that Werner can't be 10 sack per year guy.

[TuckNole]

Also important to note that Werner may not have the stats of other DEs this year because he will likely play less snaps than the other top DEs. He splits time with another 1st/2nd round pick at LDE in Tank Carradine.

According to Tomahawk Nation, Werner played 500 non-garbage time snaps last year, vs. Tank at 239. But Tank was playing his first D1A ball the first couple weeks and it was very lopsided. By the end of the year they were splitting snaps 50-50.

If there are ~750 non-garbage time snaps needed from the LDE position next year, expect Werner to have closer to 400, which is at least a 20% decline.