Derek Parish, EDGE Houston: Offseason 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Parish was a three-star recruit from Pearland High School in Pearland, Texas in the class of 2017

Houston edge rusher Derek Parish began turning heads when he produced five sacks in his first two appearances of the 2022 college football season. Now firmly on scouts’ radars, Parish is filling out his profile for the 2023 NFL Draft.

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Derek Parish, EDGE Houston: 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt senior defensive end from Pearland, Texas

Background: Parish was a three-star recruit from Pearland High School in Pearland, Texas in the class of 2017. He was the No. 1,137 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 1,083 for On3.com. Parish was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 72 grade out of 100. As a high school recruit, Parish ran the 40-yard dash in 4.84 seconds and the 20-yard shuttle in 4.44 seconds. He earned District 6A-23 First-Team honors in 2016 and District 6A-22 Second-Team honors in 2015.

2021 Production: 14 games, 54 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 36 pressures, 5 sacks

2020 Production: 8 games, 25 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 26 pressures, 3.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 touchdown

2019 Production: 12 games, 38 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 24 pressures, 2.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery

2018 Production: 13 games, 21 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 12 pressures, 1.5 sacks

2017 Production: 0 games (Redshirt Year)

Injuries & Off-Field: Underwent hip surgery in January of 2022, had surgery early in the 2022 season for a broken bone in his hand but didn’t miss playing time

Awards: 2021 Second-Team All-AAC

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, background as a fullback, muscular throughout his frame, weight room warrior, significant number of reps working in half man as a pass rusher, attacks the tackle’s inside shoulder, adequate bend and ability to flatten his rush to the quarterback, upper body strength helps pull him around the tackle’s outside shoulder, deceptive speed at the top of his rush, terrific get-off, arm strength creates backward movement when he gets into the blocker’s pads, effective cross chop, uses a hopping cross chop for added power and control, converts speed to power, rip counter, compresses the line on inside runs, motor runs hot, attacks the tackle’s hands with powerful chops, powerful hands, uses a one-armed stab to create separation before winning the outside shoulder, stout player who is rarely moved off the line against the run, gets his arms up for PBUs, has improved his vision into the backfield to track the running back

Cons: Age, undersized player by NFL standards, committed four penalties in 2021, not a player you want dropping into coverage, arm length concerns, tackles can engulf him, collapses too far inside on outside runs leaving an open lane, limited tackle radius, too many instances of just throwing his body into the lineman, deploys hands late, sometimes struggles to disengage from blocks, leverage could improve, limited experience in recent years rushing from a three-point stance, needs to finish more tackles, gets sealed by linemen in the running game, blocking tight ends can give him problems, will face size mismatches trying to anchor against NFL linemen

Overview: Parish is unofficially listed at 6'2", 245 lbs. He applied pressure on 15% of his pass rush snaps in 2020 and 13.5% in 2021. According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, Parish is one of the most accomplished weight room warriors in the 2023 draft class. The redshirt senior power-cleans 426 pounds, back-squats 674, and benches 425. Parish has improved his speed since high school as he now runs a 4.58 40-time and has hit 21 miles per hour on the GPS. Parish set the American Athletic Conference single-game record with 4.5 sacks in 2022 against Texas Tech. The former three-star recruit primarily rushes from a two-point stance. Parish sometimes plays the half-man game as a pass rusher, but there are also many instances of him throwing himself into the offensive lineman with little finesse. These power rushes produce mixed results as Parish lacks elite arm length or size for an edge rusher. However, his weight room heroics translate to the field. Parish is muscular throughout his frame, which helps him convert speed to power as a rusher. He’s able to jostle and displace linemen with powerful stabs and leg drive. When his initial rush dies, Parish has several counters in his bag, including a rip. He’s willing to redirect into inside rush lanes if the B-gap has opened. Parish has adequate bend to work around the tackle’s outside shoulder and flatten his rush to the quarterback. The Texas native has deceptive speed at the top of his rush and displays above-average burst off the line. Parish has mastered a cross chop and a hopping cross chop variant, which produce many of his initial wins as a pass rusher. His motor runs hot in pursuit, and he never quits working toward the quarterback. Parish also uses a powerful one-armed stab to create separation before winning the outside shoulder. He compresses the line on inside runs and has improved his vision into the backfield as a run defender. There are concerns about Parish’s projection to the NFL level as a run defender. He’s an undersized edge rusher who will face size mismatches trying to anchor against NFL linemen. Parish is strong, but he gets sealed by linemen in the running game and sometimes struggles with blocking tight ends. He lacks experience dropping into coverage. Tackles with superior length can engulf Parish and erase his impact from plays. The sixth-year edge rusher has a limited tackle radius and needs to finish a higher percentage of his tackle attempts. There are instances where Parish struggles to disengage from blocks. He sometimes launches his body into the tackle, and his rush immediately dies. His hands deploy late on these reps, negating his power.

Overall, Parish is a versatile player with over 400 snaps on special teams, experience playing fullback, and encouraging technical development as an edge rusher. However, he lacks the size to earn a consistent role on defense early in his NFL career. 

Role & Scheme Fit: Outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme

Round Projection: Mid Fifth to Mid Sixth

Player Comparison: N/A

Submitted: 09-14-22