Ben Bywater, LB BYU: 2024 NFL Draft Profile
Bywater was a three-star recruit from Olympus High School in Holladay, Utah in the class of 2017
Ben Bywater will be one of the oldest prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. The BYU linebacker has active hands to combat blocks and good range in coverage. He projects as a fourth round selection with the potential to rise in a questionable linebacker class.
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Ben Bywater, LB BYU: 2024 NFL Draft Profile
Classification: Redshirt junior linebacker from Salt Lake City, Utah
Background: Bywater was a three-star recruit from Olympus High School in Holladay, Utah in the class of 2017. He was the No. 1,027 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 1,276 for On3.com. Bywater was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked two-star recruit for ESPN with a 69 grade out of 100. He was a two-way player in high school as a linebacker and running back. As a senior, Bywater totaled 95 tackles, including ten for loss and a sack. He also rushed for 766 yards and nine touchdowns on 133 carries. Bywater helped Olympus to region championships in 2015 and 2016. He was a First Team 4A All-State selection for the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News as a senior. Bywater was the Region 6 MVP in 2016. He also played rugby at Olympus. Bywater served a full-time, two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Guatemala City, Guatemala. He is fluent in Spanish.
Injuries & Off-Field: Missed junior high school season with a lacerated kidney, sat out most of 2020 after tearing his posterior labrum, missed 2023 spring practices with left shoulder surgery for labrum muscle
Awards: 2021 Independent Defensive Rookie of the Year (Pro Football Network), 2021 First Team All-Independent (Pro Football Network), 2022 Second Team All-Independent (Phil Steele), 2022 New Mexico Bowl Defensive MVP
Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, appears to have NFL-caliber arm length, experience lining up in the slot and out wide, chess piece for BYU’s defense, enough agility to duck around linemen, swim move to avoid climbing blockers, spins off blocks toward the ball, uses arm length to engage linemen, quick to bounce off blocks and redirect, quick hands, active hands to combat blocks, tracks the ball carrier well, gets skinny to shoot gaps, turns back runs that attempt to bounce outside, poised and patient tackler, comes to balance as a tackler, decent range in coverage, closing speed to shut down throwing windows, quick to identify and break on screens
Cons: Age, injury history, lean and thin frame, likely lighter than his listed weight, lacks elite agility and twitch, not an explosive athlete, limited play strength, bounced around by contact, inconsistent separating from tight end and o-line blocks, block shedding has a foundation but still requires development, sealed to open inside rush lanes, grab and drag tackler at times, slides off tackles, effort is hot and cold in pursuit, a little late reacting to the quarterback’s eyes, loses pass catchers behind him in zone, needs to take better angles to the receiver in coverage, very limited pass rush upside
Overview: Bywater has special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. He appears to have NFL-caliber arms attached to his lean and thin frame. Bywater is an older prospect with an injury history. He is likely lighter than his listed weight. The Utah native lacks elite agility and twitch, he isn’t an explosive athlete, and his limited play strength leads to him being bounced around by contact. Bywater is a defensive chess piece for BYU who lines up all across the front, slot, and even at outside corner. He is able to survive as a stack linebacker because of his block defeat skills. Bywater uses his agility to duck around linemen and uses a swim move to avoid climbing blockers. He spins off blocks toward the ball. The former three-star recruit uses his arm length to engage linemen. He is quick to bounce off blocks and redirect and uses his quick, active hands to combat blockers. Bywater tracks the ball carrier well and gets skinny to shoot gaps. He is a poised and patient tackler but slides off tackles and often resorts to grab and drag tactics. The 2022 New Mexico Bowl Defensive MVP offers decent range in coverage and closing speed to shut down throwing windows. He is quick to identify and break on screens. However, Bywater is late reacting to the quarterback’s eyes in coverage. He needs to take better angles to the receiver in coverage. Bywater loses pass catchers behind him in zone. Despite his hand usage, the linebacker is inconsistent separating from blocks thrown by tight ends and offensive linemen. There’s still room for him to grow in this area.
Overall, Bywater is a versatile linebacker with good coverage range and a set of go-to moves to take on or avoid climbing blockers. His ability to stack blockers is limited by his play strength. He projects as a moveable second-level defender capable of matching up with some tight ends in coverage.
Role & Scheme Fit: Weakside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme
Round Projection: Fourth Round
Size: 6'3", 235 lbs. (Unofficial)
Submitted: 09-14-23