Todd McShay comes full circle on Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux

NFL expert Todd McShay has Oregon‘s Kayvon Thibodeaux heading to the Houston Texans with the third pick in the 2022 NFL Draft — other mock draft makers have him even higher. Thibodeaux is one of the most sought after edge rushers coming out of college in a long time, which is exactly what some teams need in a league predicated around stopping the quarterback.

“I think it the closer we get to the draft, the more teams are realizing that they’ve got to get pass rushers. They see all these great quarterbacks in the league right now, they’ve got to get after them,” McShay said. ” Thibodeaux’s tape was up and down, and some of the comments, and all that stuff, but the bottom line is this guy knows he needs football in order to have all the other things that he wants, like broadcasting, etc.

“He’s hungry to show everyone … that he can be a star at the next level, just like he was the No. 1 recruit in high school. He’s explosive, fast, has power. He finishes through the quarterback — I think he’d be great at No. 3.”

This past season, Thibodeaux totaled 49 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and two forced fumbles. In three years at Oregon, he racked up 126 tackles, 35.5 tackles for loss, 19 sacks, and three forced fumbles.

On top of that, Thibodeaux proved at his Pro Day last Friday that his NFL Draft hype is well-deserved. In front of several NFL scouts, the 6-foot-4, 254-pound Thibodeaux posted a 4.34 time in the Pro Shuttle. In addition to the Pro Shuttle, Kayvon Thibodeaux also participated in the broad jump (9-feet, 11-inches) and 3-cone drill (7.23 seconds) at his Pro Day. He adds those to an impressive 4.65 40-yard dash time and 1.62 10-yard split time, both recorded at the combine. 

“It was great,” Thibodeaux told NFL.com following his Pro Day. “It was kind of weird because it was like 200 people watching just me work out, but I think it really went great. I was able to display my linebacker drills, my pass rush, my hands, my feet. Everything that I had been working on leading up to it.”

Prior to the Combine, the former Oregon star called himself Jadeveon Clowney 2.0 and will look to prove it in the league after Draft night despite questionable claims regarding his character off the field.