Play like a Raven: Josh Paschal
Tis the season… of March Madness.
And it is, at this time of year, that I’m reminded of my kinship with the teachings of a certain former UCLA Basketball Head Coach.
I’m a John Wooden fan - since I learned of his approach to leadership, I always have been.
I believe in the pursuit of excellence above the pursuit of winning, and that ultimately, the latter will result from the former. Wooden espoused this so vehemently, that he judged seasons based on his players’ success in attaining the different qualities and competencies contained within his pyramid of success, rather than by how many wins they racked up.
That pyramid was full of elusive qualities, for those who like to judge players and their potential; things like loyalty, initiative and self-control. In other words, the make-up of a player’s character that can’t possibly be learned by simply watching their on-field exploits.
As an evaluator, I know I have a bias for players who have overcome hardship in their life. It comes from a sound belief that they are more likely to succeed when faced with the barriers they will undoubtedly stare down in their own pursuit of excellence, in the NFL. But, I also know that it often alters my viewing of a player if I know it before making an assessment of their potential.
So I systematically avoid learning about a player’s backstory until after I have watched their film for my reports. It leaves me less excited about some players, but happily it ensures I don’t miss on my evaluation because of my predilection for finding those players that I know can come through tough times.
On rare but beautiful occasions, I find a player that I love on tape AND has a backstory that leaves me convinced of the player’s character off the field.
Josh Paschal gave me such a moment recently, as I finalized his film and wrote my report on a player that fits the Baltimore Ravens, like the proverbial glove. He’s my fourth red star of the season…
In selecting Odafe Oweh in the first round of last year’s draft, the Ravens showed that, under Eric DeCosta, they are not afraid of eschewing well-trodden paths of success, like drafting somewhat athletically limited but productive pass-rushers in the middle rounds. It has opened up a new world of potential prospects for us keen observers of their draft tendencies.
Josh Paschal, with his six sacks in his Senior season, wouldn’t have been on my radar of potential Raven picks last year, but it would now be foolish to ignore him on production alone. That’s because he fits another profile that the Ravens look for in their pass rushers – he’s measurably explosive. He’s in the 99th percentile at his position for his 10 yard split in his 40 yard dash, and in the 95th and 93rd percentile for his vertical jump and broad jump respectively.
That explosion translates to getting upfield quickly because he’s another thing the Ravens look for – football intelligent. He reads run-pass quickly and he’s particularly proficient in reading Zone blocks in the running game, more on that later. For now, be assured that his pass-rush has so much potential while being somewhat unpolished currently.
He doesn’t have a sophisticated rush plan yet. A good rush plan should be like the arsenal a good starting pitcher has – a strikeout pitch and secondary offerings that keep the hitter off that pitch.
Paschal has a strikeout pitch: a long-striding, explosive, lateral move inside – after threatening the outside with burst, lean and a convincing pressure step – coupled with a powerful and well-timed club-swim. Better Offensive Linemen with better hip mobility, redirect and processing themselves, can compete with him against this. And he doesn’t yet have a secondary pitch that’s effective enough to keep those better Offensive Linemen honest. He’ll need to develop more of that for the next level.
The explosion he has will be alluring once the Defensive Line coaches get involved, but so will his bend, balance and flexibility. These are vital components to his cornering, as is his core strength to resist Offensive Linemen coming across late, looking for work after he’s beaten his man.
His modest sack production could also be put down to him being the versatile chess piece on Kentucky’s multiple front. The Ravens say the best predictor of future success is past performance, and they stick rather dogmatically to that when assessing versatility. Paschal has more than proven his versatility, playing 5 and 4i technique most frequently, but also playing 1, 3 and 7 technique regularly. He’s always asked to perform multiple assignments in a game and takes it all in his stride, from a processing perspective.
The Ravens have been looking for that inside/outside guy in free agency and Paschal fits the bill of that type of player.
He’s also what the Ravens always seem to covet, especially in developmental pass-rushers; a fearsome run defender. This seems to be so they can get them on the field early and often to accelerate pass rush development.
Against the run, he’s quick to diagnose types of block, particularly when facing predominantly Zone blocking teams. He plays with remarkably good hand usage; possessing a forceful, well-placed and well-timed initial strike. He then showcases his play strength, playing with a consistently low pad level to set the edge on the front-side of blocks.
He’s a disciplined and effective back-side defender too. If there is one weakness; when he’s defending Gap runs and lined up inside at 4i/3/1 technique, he can be surprised by movement from blockers up front i.e. pullers, and get stuck on blocks.
He fits so perfectly from a scheme perspective in addition to his explosion, versatility and processing.
But there is one more important piece to the “Play like a Raven” puzzle.
There is plenty of toughness and grit to be found in his play on the field but consider the below as my exhibit of this most important Ravens trait and my final word on his red star qualities…
I went through the process I described at the beginning of this piece to evaluate Josh Paschal, dispassionately watching his play on the field to arrive at the conclusions I’ve drawn above. I gave him a red star before I learned what I’ll describe to you in my closing paragraphs.
With a little bit more research for his injury history, I found that, he missed most of his second year on campus.
I delved a little further to find that, in the pre-season prior to his Sophomore year, a seemingly innocuous lesion on his foot was discovered. With further testing, this turned out to be malignant melanoma; skin cancer. It required surgery to remove it and, while any cancer diagnosis can be life-altering, it looked as though the Kentucky training staff had helped Paschal to catch it early and he could return to the field relatively quickly for his Sophomore year.
Paschal had no such luck, doctors had detected acral lentiginous melanoma – a rare and aggressive type of skin cancer that disproportionately affects Black patients, with only a 70% survival rate, five years after diagnosis. He would require deeper and more invasive surgery, on the ball of his foot – you could not pick a more crucial patch of real estate on an explosive athlete’s body.
The further surgery was followed by immunotherapy, designed to prevent recurrence and boost the immune system, but left him weak and unlikely to return to the field that season. Despite still receiving those injections, Paschal improbably did return to the field for the final home game of the year, completing a remarkable comeback.
Just returning to play football in any guise was an achievement, but Paschal was not satisfied with that. He received a redshirt year for the 2018 season and went on to evidence what I saw on film these past couple of seasons. He became the first three-time, full season Kentucky captain in school history. He also won the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year for his work in raising awareness about skin cancer but also on social justice.
The Ravens have been looking for leaders on and off the field in previous draft classes. They’ve been looking for young, socially conscious, campus leaders who can add to their already impressive locker room. This year will be no exception. And Josh Paschal fits the bill, not just with his play on the field – that stands on its own merit, but with his character off it too. That, only adds to the case that he be marked with a red star on the Ravens draft board this April.
Reference: Gary Goldenberg https://www.skincancer.org/blog/sidelined-by-skin-cancer/