Football IQ: Josh Paschal can 'talk ball' with teams at NFL Combine

The game of football is a very difficult sport to play. The field is filled with 22 players who are all big, strong, fast, and physical. Therefore, the smallest advantages are something every football team is looking for. Knowledge of the game can go a long way in giving players an edge in between the white lines.

Josh Paschal is a highly intelligent football player who knows the game. That is helping give the Kentucky defensive end an edge at the NFL Combine.

The former four-star recruit in the DMV had a masterful career playing for Mark Stoops at Kentucky. A three-time captain finished his playing career with 37 tackles for loss and was a first-team All-SEC performer as a redshirt senior in 2021.

A big part of the success for Paschal was due to a high football IQ. The Kentucky product has been showing off that attribute with meetings at the NFL Combine.

“I feel like I’ve been doing great with the interviews as far as being able to talk ball with the coaches,” Josh Paschal told reporters on Friday. “My last interview was with the Lions, and we just talked ball. I feel like they were really excited about that. Excited about what I knew about the game.

While being peppered with questions by the media, Paschal elaborated about his knowledge of football. The veteran played multiple positions at Kentucky and was used in numerous alignments by the coaching staff during his stay in Lexington. Paschal has terrific recall and knows the defense from the inside out. That is showing up in meetings with NFL personnel.

“I got a lot of knowledge to soak in through my time at Kentucky as far as football IQ,” Paschal said. “I’m a student of the game, and I’ll always be a student of the game because you can learn more each and every day.”

“I can tell you what the backend does, what the corner does, what the safety does, what the linebacker does. Why we run things. I feel like I’m sharing my knowledge with the teams very well.”

Part of Paschal’s success was the ability to find certain advantages during film study. In Kentucky’s 24-2 win over Mississippi State in 2020, the Wildcats recorded six interceptions as Brad White’s defense smothered Mike Leach’s first Air Raid offense as a head coach in the SEC. Leading up to the game, Paschal noticed that on a jailbreak screen design that quarterback K.J. Costello delivered an interceptable ball. The defensive end knew he could make a play if that concept occurred in the matchup.

“He threw that screen so flat that you that you can get your hand up, and if you can’t intercept it you can knock it down,” said Paschal. “So as soon as he threw it, I knew I could intercept it, and I did it.”

Jordan Rodgers rightly pointed this out: Josh Paschal makes an outstanding read to make this interception. He takes the initial contact, reads the screen and makes a play. pic.twitter.com/czcekd44sb

— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) October 11, 2020

That play was a game-changer in the contest. The Bulldogs were in the red zone with just over four minutes remaining in the second quarter trailing 7-0. Leach went to the screen call, and Paschal noticed the concept immediately. The defensive end slipped a block, made an interception, and set Kentucky up a scoring opportunity as the Wildcats would take a 14-0 lead shortly after.

That was all created by a high football IQ.

At the NFL Combine, Josh Paschal is showing teams his sharp football mind and that should improve his draft stock. The star defensive player gets an edge in the mental part of the game, and that could allow the versatile defensive end — who can slide inside as an interior pass rusher — to play in the NFL for a long time.

“It really comes down to just studying,” said Paschal.