Chris
Garrett.
Chris
Garrett.
Concordia-St.Paul (MN)· 6'5"· 254 lb
"A 6-foot-5, 254-pound Concordia-St. Paul edge with a D-II sack record and a 2020 season lost to a canceled MIAC schedule — a Round-7 developmental rusher whose length outran his level of competition."Pre-draft read
Aligns as a wide-9 or looser 5-technique with a long frame; his top gear on tape is a get-off and outside speed rush that threatened D-II tackles before they could set. Hand usage is inconsistent, flashing a chop-rip and a long-arm to stack blockers, but too often absorbing the punch chest-plate first and riding the arc without a real counter. This lets pass-sets recover once his speed is respected.
Run defense shows willingness to set the edge with length and a wrong-arm on down blocks, though pad level rises when he has to reset feet in the C-gap. He can be walked back by combo blocks. Ankle flexibility and corner bend are functional. The pursuit angle stays clean and the motor runs on rush lanes and screens. The obvious separator is length paired with straight-line burst off the snap.
The ideal system for Garrett is a wide-9 attacking front that prioritizes outside pass rush and single-gap assignments for defensive ends.
Initially a special teams contributor and rotational pass-rush specialist on obvious throwing downs, he could develop into a starting wide-9 DE within two to three years as he refines his pass-rush plan and adds strength.
A 3-4 two-gap scheme would diminish his value significantly, requiring him to play with more power and less immediate burst than his current skillset allows.
Garrett is a high-upside developmental prospect whose length and straight-line burst offer a unique pass-rush trait for wide-9 fronts, but he requires significant coaching to round out his game and improve functional strength after competing at a lower level.
Chris Garrett, Defensive End, Concordia-St. Paul - East-West Shrine Bowl
Game film cut-up of Chris Garrett's Concordia-St.Paul (MN) tape.
2017 Concordia-St. Paul football highlights vs Minot State, 8-31-17
Game film cut-up of Chris Garrett's Concordia-St.Paul (MN) tape.
2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Chris Garrett
Game film cut-up of Chris Garrett's Concordia-St.Paul (MN) tape.
Chris Garrett was a developmental edge defender out of Concordia-St. Paul, a Division-II program, taken as a length-and-traits bet. He set the school's career sack record dominating MIAC/NSIC blocking as a senior in 2019, but the 2020 fall season was canceled. His last tape was over a year old by draft weekend, and a modest pro day pushed his consensus grade into priority-free-agent territory. The pick was a calculated flier on frame, arc bend flashes, and the possibility that NFL coaching could translate a raw first step.
He primarily aligned as a wide-9 or looser 5-technique, leveraging his length and get-off against overmatched D-II tackles. While productive, leading his defense in TFLs, his wins were largely speed-based against a lower level of competition. There was little opportunity to see how his game would translate against FBS quality.
Evaluators were concerned about the level of competition, the missing 2020 season, and a shallow rush plan, requiring significant projection. His modest pro day numbers and overall profile made him a consensus UDFA or late-round pick, though he was ultimately selected 252nd overall in the seventh round.
- 01
First-step burst
Wins the initial phase against overmatched D-II tackles, translating snap anticipation into pressure before the offensive tackle can complete his kick-slide.
- 02
Length and reach
Long-armed frame at 6-foot-5 lets him press blockers off his chest, stab-and-shed on run downs, and finish plays through tackles when he arrives with leverage.
- 03
Production profile
Set Concordia-St. Paul's career sack record and was a repeat all-conference selection, consistently leading the defense in TFLs.
- 04
Motor and pursuit
Chases screens and boots to the numbers, cleans up cutbacks from the backside, and rarely coasts when the play declares away from his rush lane.
- 05
Frame projection
Carries his 254 pounds cleanly with room to add 8-10 pounds of playing weight without compromising bend, supporting a developmental pitch.
- 01
Level of competition
MIAC/NSIC tackles rarely tested his hand plan or bend, requiring heavy projection since his flashes came against non-NFL-caliber blockers.
- 02
Missing 2020 season
Evaluators worked from 2019 tape and a limited pro day, without a bowl-week or all-star game rep against FBS competition to recalibrate.
- 03
Pass-rush plan
Wins are almost entirely speed-based; the inside counter and long-arm-to-chop sequences are underdeveloped, with little evidence of setting up tackles.
- 04
Anchor and functional strength
Gets bumped off spots when guards climb to him and struggles to hold the edge when double-teamed, a strength issue against NFL run schemes.
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Concordia-St. Paul | 11 | 44 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018 | Concordia-St. Paul | 11 | 70 | 16.5 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2019 | Concordia-St. Paul | 11 | 60 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Career | — | 33 | 174 | 36.5 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
Stats from official NCAA records. Did not play in 2020 as the D-II season was canceled due to COVID-19.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Rotational Day-3 edge whose length and motor earn a jersey on special teams and sub-package rush snaps but never a full-time starter role.
Best-case is a smaller, bendier edge who lives on a plus first step and long arms while a coaching staff builds a real counter package around him.
Small-school length prospect who never solves the level-of-competition jump, bounces on and off practice squads, and washes out inside two years.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context. Chris Garrett arrived at the 2021 draft as one of the most extreme small-school bets on the board: a 6-foot-5, 254-pound edge from Concordia-St. Paul, a Division-II program in the NSIC, coming off a senior year where he broke the school's career sack record but then lost the 2020 fall season to a canceled D-II schedule. There was no combine invite and only a modest pro day, so evaluators worked mostly from 2019 tape against blockers who will not appear in NFL camps. Boards were split between UDFA and late Round 7, and the appeal was almost entirely traits — length, first-step burst, and a productive college motor — rather than a refined pass-rush plan.
NFL fit — Los Angeles Rams. Los Angeles used pick 252, one of two Round-7 selections, on Garrett as a developmental rusher behind an established front headlined by Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd, and eventual trade addition Von Miller. The pitch was to redshirt him behind veterans, weaponize his length on special teams, and let the defensive staff — operating a two-high match-quarters shell — coach up a counter package he never truly needed at D-II. He made the initial 53-man roster in 2021 during the Rams' Super Bowl LVI run but was inactive for every regular-season and playoff game.
Retrospective. Garrett never logged a regular-season defensive snap. He spent 2021 on the active roster without game action, then bounced between the Rams' practice squad and roster fringes before being released; he later surfaced in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, where the length-and-speed profile played more cleanly against a wider field. As a pure NFL outcome the pick was a miss — no snaps, no production — but at pick 252 the downside cost was minimal and he did earn a Super Bowl ring on the 2021 roster before the depth chart moved on.
Data note: Stats from official NCAA records. Did not play in 2020 as the D-II season was canceled due to COVID-19.