Name: Zacch Pickens

School: South Carolina

Year: Sr

Position: Defensive Line

Measurables: 6’3 5/8" 300lbs

Stats: 

Courtesy of sports-reference.com

General Info:

Zacch Pickens was born on March, 06, 2000 in Anderson, South Carolina, where he attended high school and collected 87 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 6 sacks as a senior and was ranked a five-star player by all recruiting services. Although he did not start as a true freshman at South Carolina, he played a lot of snaps and was an honorable mention Freshman All-American. For the 2020 season Pickens started seven games, while coming off the bench the first three games. For his Junior year the former five-star athlete started every game and had a career high in sacks and was named the most improved player on the defense. Returning for his senior year the South Carolina native started every game, and was named a team captain, the MVP of the defense, and was also invited to the Senior Bowl. He was named All-SEC Academic Honor Roll all four years he was at South Carolina

Positional Skills:

Strengths

Pickens has the ideal build for the modern NFL defensive lineman with a thick, well developed lower body. The former five-star recruit has the size and strength to play up and down the line, and can play both the run and pass. Off the snap the South Carolina native is very explosive, as he is usually the first defender to make contact with the offensive linemen. There are plenty examples on film of him tossing offensive linemen to the ground. The Senior Bowl invitee has solid short area quickness to shuffle his feet and go from the A gap to the B gap and vice versa, he has even beaten blockers to a gap. He has developed an effective swim move, using his quick and strong hands. When the former team captain’s technique is right, he is a load to handle off the snap with his natural explosiveness and strength; he does well holding the point of attack. When Pickens uses his 34 1/8th” arms he can be very difficult for offensive linemen to deal with. The native of Anderson, SC has shown on film to be continuously working his hands, they don’t stop.

Weaknesses

Pickens has yet to develop a diverse pass rush set, he usually just tries to bull rush. His motor does not run as hot as you would like. While a versatile player, Pickens has mostly played 1-tech, 2i, and 2-tech in his career. The former Gamecock can struggle at times against double teams, putting his use as a nose tackle in question. Pickens can also come off the snap too high at times and get pushed back and or stalemated by the offensive lineman. Pickens does lack long speed; he is not a player that’s going to chase too many plays down past the line of scrimmage. He doesn’t always use his 34” arms to their full potential. Once the three-year starter gets going in one direction it can be difficult for him to change direction sometimes. The former five-star recruit also has a little bit of baby fat that could be worked off, it would probably help his agility.

Fit with the Packers:

Zacch Pickens has one of the higher upsides of the defensive linemen in this draft with his size, strength, and explosiveness but, he just has yet to get close to it. The encouraging sign is the last two seasons he showed signs of improvement. He played better against the run in 2022 versus 2021, was better able to get off blocks, and started developing as a pass rusher in 2021. If he can continue to work on the little technical aspects of his game like developing more pass rush moves, counters, playing with a better base, keeping his pads low, etc., he could be a dominant force on the defensive line. He would be a great fit in Green Bay, probably in the 2nd – 3rd round. The former Gamecock would probably need to spend his rookie season as a backup developing, and then blowing up probably in year three.