In his rookie season, defensive tackle Jerry Tillery didn’t live up to his label as a first-round pick.
In 2020, Tillery made some strides. His ascend came when he was experimented as a defensive end when Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram dealt with injuries.
Tillery saw his tackles (17 to 30), sacks (two to three), quarterback hits (three to 14), pressures (nine to 22) and forced fumbles (zero to two) all uptick in his sophomore season.
Looking ahead to Year 3, Tillery is in a prime position to take a step even further, as he will be in a scheme that favors his skillset and play for a defensive guru that has elevated front-seven players.
At Thursday’s media availability head coach Brandon Staley elaborated on what he thinks about Tillery and the type of contributor he will be up front in his system.
I am a really big fan of Jerry Tillery’s game. I think this guy is a versatile inside player. … This guy’s got real size, speed. This guy’s production last year jumped off the page for me. And I know that people want to magnify some of the sack production. But I think the tape, what the film said, told me a different story. I think this guy is a matchup guy inside. He’s got real quickness. He’s got real pass-rush ability. And then he does have the ability to play on the edge. I think he was moonlighting on the edge. But he can give you physical body presence if you’re playing a big heavy-run team. Hey, you want to put a physical presence out there, yeah, he has that versatility to do it. But we certainly view him as an inside player and certainly where he’s going to give us the biggest advantage is in the interior pass rush. But we feel like this guy’s got a chance to be a complete player. This guy’s a lot more tough, physical and rugged in the run game than I was expecting. I know that when I watched him I was really excited to work with him because he does have the versatility and traits that we really value inside.
Tillery’s versatility will serve him well and his traits profile more optimally to a 3-4 scheme, given his length, strength and power.
Only time will tell.
