How might Columbus 4-star DE Jabari Ishmael fit in Miami’s defense? The ‘viper’ is key
Jabari Ishmael’s job Saturday wasn’t to go straight for Torey Morrison. The Miami Columbus edge rusher spent most of a 28-12 win standing at the line of scrimmage, peering over Miami Booker T. Washington’s offensive line with the goal to contain the all-county quarterback — both his scrambling ability and his proficiency at throwing quick, short passes to the perimeter.
Ishmael is a four-star defensive end in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, though, because of what he has the potential to do as a pass rusher, so Booker T. Washington wasn’t going to totally shut him out in the sacks column. With the Tornadoes down 14-0 and driving in Columbus territory just before halftime, Morrison scrambled right out of a collapsing pocket and Ishmael followed him there. The senior darted left and Ishmael kept chasing. Finally, the defensive lineman pulled down Morrison for 14-yard sack to kill an important scoring chance.
“I wasn’t in contain, but I didn’t want him to get outside,” Ishmael said Saturday. “The quarterback hasn’t been running too much [against us]. To tell you the truth, I missed one sack today.”
Ishmael finished with just the one sack, but the Explorers held Morrison to 20-of-34 passing with 164 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, plus 12 carries for 84 yards. The touchdown pass and 28 of his rushing yards, though, came after Columbus took a 28-6 lead in the fourth quarter and pulled Ishmael from the game.
Now two games into his senior season, Ishmael is providing hints as to what he could be for the Miami Hurricanes. The blue-chip prospect orally committed to Miami in July, and he has perpetually heard people compare him to star defensive end Gregory Rousseau ever since. Mostly, it’s because of their similar builds — Rousseau is 6-foot-6 and Ishmael is 6-5 — but the comparisons actually run a bit deeper.
Rousseau spent most of his career at Hialeah Champagnat Catholic as an oversized safety. On Saturday, Ishmael spent the entire game as a stand-up pass rusher.
“It’s kind of a hybrid position, where you can drop him into coverage and have him go get after the quarterback,” Explorers coach Dave Dunn said Saturday. “He’s good at both.”
It makes his fit in the Hurricanes’ defense apparent.
Since he took over as coach before the 2019 season, Manny Diaz has placed an emphasis on versatility along his defensive front. The two biggest changes are the implementation of a strikerand an increased emphasis on a “viper” defensive end.
The former is now a familiar fixture — a full-blown linebacker-safety hybrid position listed on the depth chart and team roster — while the latter is more of an amorphous role.
Most notably, it traces back to Rousseau. Diaz pitched the defensive lineman on playing this position, which would mostly have him rush the quarterback with a hand in the dirt, but still have him stand up occasionally and drop back into coverage as much as 25 percent of the time. This season, the job has mostly been Quincy Roche’s and the star edge rusher nearly had an interception in the flat last month against the No. 1 Clemson Tigers, although the play was waved off because he lined up offsides.
Ishmael said Miami has suggested he could be a successor in the role, which can virtually give the Hurricanes’ 4-3 defense a 3-4 look. The senior said he’s most comfortable in a stand-up role.
“I can see stuff better,” Ishmael said.
Still, Ishmael will have to be comfortable with a hand in the dirt to thrive in Coral Gables and he took important strides to this goal over the summer. Ishmael began last season at about 210 pounds and he has gained about 20 since, Dunn said.
Every day in practice, Ishmael lines up against either four-star prospect Julian Armella or right tackle Sebastien Laraque. Both check in at 6-6 and at least 300 pounds. Just to succeed in practice, Ishmael needed to bulk up and it’s helping him be a more complete player this season.
“Putting on that weight has helped him,” Dunn said, “both because he’s got to be able to hold up against a drive block in the run game and also going against bigger bodies in pass rush. He’s got to use technique. Even though he’s a bigger stronger kid, he’s just not going to overpower those two guys.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 12:41 PM.
