Greg Rousseau is making run at names like ‘Sapp’ and ‘Campbell,’ but what took so long?
Everyone remembers the first time they saw Gregory Rousseau. Dennis Marroquin, Rousseau’s coach at Champagnat Catholic, was introduced to him by Jerry Jeudy and Calvin Ridley, and they both told him Rousseau was going to be great. Manny Diaz saw Rousseau first when the redshirt freshman was already in high school, albeit playing as a comically oversized wide receiver and safety.
Shaquille Quarterman first took notice of Rousseau when the defensive lineman first arrived in Coral Gables in the first days of 2018. It’s impossible not to think about what a 6-foot-6 defensive end can become.
“I didn’t see him play a snap, but once I met him I knew he was going to be an awesome player,” the linebacker said Wednesday. “Everybody gravitates to him.”
The only ever question about Rousseau was, When? He hadn’t played much defensive end before he joined the Miami Hurricanes, so when would he start to put all his potential together? When would he be so good Miami couldn’t take him off the field?
The answer was Oct. 11, when the Hurricanes beat the then-No. 20 Virginia Cavaliers in Miami Gardens. Rousseau started for the first time, racked up seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. He started again the next week against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and then again Saturday in Miami’s 16-12 win against the Pittsburgh Panthers — the best game of his young career. He piled up seven more tackles, three more tackles for loss and three sacks. He now has eight sacks on the season — the most among Hurricanes, the most in the Atlantic Coast Conference and tied for 10th most in the entire country. He has done all this despite starting fewer than half of Miami’s games and spending the first half of the season in a situation role.
He will almost certainly start again Saturday when the Hurricanes (4-4, 2-3) head up to Tallahassee for their annual rivalry game against the Florida State Seminoles. It will be a national spotlight for one of the most fascinating young players in the country. As great as he is, Rousseau is far from a finished product. His massive production, by his own admission, is the product of his rare size and pure effort.
“I know a couple moves, for sure, but mostly, still, a lot of times it’s really just effort because you could do a move and it could like not work,” Rousseau said Wednesday, “and you just keep fighting, keep running to the ball and good things happen.”
Even learning this was never so simple for Rousseau. He missed almost all of his freshman year because of a ankle injury, then earned rave reviews all throughout the spring. Universal acclaim gave when to question marks in fall camp, though. Rousseau was competing for a starting job and didn’t earn it. He settled primarily into a third-down role behind starting defensive linemen Jonathan Garvin and Scott Patchan.
Every week, Rousseau impressed in games and every week coaches fielded questions about why he wasn’t playing more. On Wednesday, coach Manny Diaz said Rousseau was trying to be a little too perfect in camp and into the start of the regular season. Now the 251-pound lineman is playing without thinking.
“Young players think. Older players, experienced players go. Younger players are counting their dance steps. Older players just let it rip, and that was really Greg’s thing,” Diaz said. “He’s such a pleaser. He’s very intelligent and he wants to do everything exactly right, and sometimes players get in the habit of perfectionism where they try to do everything too correct instead of, Hey, sometimes let’s not back-solve some of the problems. And once Greg realized he’s so much stronger — coach [David] Feeley did an amazing job with him — if I just cut it loose and let it rip, I’m pretty hard to block.”
Diaz was never attracted to Rousseau because of his technique, anyway. Diaz discovered Rousseau in 2016 when he was still the defensive coordinator and he went out to watch Rousseau practice. The coach immediately thought of Manny Lawson when he saw Rousseau, who was only about 222 pounds his senior year. Like Lawson, Rousseau played a lot of wide receiver at a small high school before he went to be an edge rusher for Diaz with the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Like the Hurricanes think Rousseau can, Lawson was picked in the first round of the NFL Draft.
“We all have to remember, Greg played safety at Champagnat, he played wide receiver,” Diaz said. “He painted the field, he like mixed the Gatorade. I mean, the guy did everything, so when he came here, it was the evolution of how to become a defensive end.”
There’s a chance he’ll have a place in the Hurricanes’ record book by the end of the year. With eight sacks and four games left to play, Rousseau is on pace to crack the top 10 of Miami’s single-season sacks leaderboard. Former defensive linemen Warren Sapp, Calais Campbell and Russell Maryland round out the top 10 in a three-way tie for ninth with 10 1/2 sacks. Rousseau is on pace for 12 in the regular season, which would place him in a tie for fourth with former defensive ends Danny Stubbs, Kenard Lang and Derrick Ham.
As it stands, he’s only one sack away from matching Joe Jackson for most by a Hurricane this decade after the former defensive end racked up nine last season. Miami has consistently sent ends to the NFL in the last few seasons. Rousseau might top them all.
“His confidence has grown and he’s gotten more involved in the game,” Diaz said. “He has some things naturally that you don’t have to watch a video. He has a great knack, his ability, his length, his movement skills are all elite.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 3:41 PM.
