Bryce Boettcher LB Oregon |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #28 PLAY STYLE: MULI-ROLE LB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 03/23/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.69 seconds (56%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl Invite: Senior Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jersey: #28 | |
| PLAY STYLE: MULI-ROLE LB | |
| Last Updated: 03/23/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.69 seconds (56%*) | |
| Bowl Invite: Senior Bowl | |
| Overall Rating: | 81.5 / 100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced | ||
| Offense Rating: |
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78% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Tackling: |
|
85% |
| Pass Rush: |
|
78% |
| Run Defense: |
|
80% |
| Coverage: |
|
86% |
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DRAFT PROJECTION:
6th
Overall Rank:
#175
Position rank:
#17 (LB)
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| College Games: 42 College Snaps: 1465 | ||
247 RATING: 80/100
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Jeffrey Bassa - Oregon |
|
89% |
| Tommy Eichenberg - Ohio State |
|
88% |
| Jackson Sirmon - California |
|
87% |
Drafted: ROUND: 4 - Pick Number: 135 (IND)
Draft Profile: Bio
Dan Lanning's open tryouts after taking over at Oregon in 2022 turned up a find nobody saw coming. Bryce Boettcher had walked on as a baseball player out of South Eugene High School, spending his freshman year patrolling center field. Rated a three-star recruit in high school where he starred in three sports, he earned a football roster spot through those tryouts and never looked back.He transitioned from defensive back to inside linebacker over two seasons, recording 37 tackles in 2023 while also hitting .276 with 12 home runs on the diamond. That spring performance earned him a collegiate Gold Glove and a 13th-round selection by the Houston Astros in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Boettcher chose football over the minors and became Oregon's defensive leader. He posted 94 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks in 2024, winning the Burlsworth Trophy as the nation's top walk-on and earning Second-Team All-Big Ten honors. He returned for a fifth year in 2025, tallying 104 tackles and another interception while again receiving second-team conference recognition. Across those two seasons, Oregon went 26-3 with Boettcher calling the defense.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Good coverage instincts for a linebacker; tightens throwing windows in zone and tracks the ball well downfield.
- Baseball background gives him natural ball-tracking skills and soft hands when contesting passes.
- Consistent tackler who wraps up and brings his feet; missed tackle rate stayed around 9-10% as a full-time starter.
- Communicates well pre-snap and owns the green dot role; gets teammates aligned and sorted before the ball is snapped.
- Moves fluidly laterally and can mirror running backs in the hole before committing.
- Willing to shoot gaps and play downhill when he reads run; not hesitant despite his size.
- Five-phase special teams contributor with the effort and awareness to fill multiple coverage and return units.
- Competitive makeup stands out on film; walk-on chip still shows in how hard he plays through the whistle.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Undersized at the position with short arms, which limits his ability to stack and shed blocks.
- Struggles to hold ground against offensive linemen who get their hands on him in the run game.
- Steep downhill angle against the run costs him containment on outside zone and stretch plays.
- Bites hard on play-action fakes and loses his landmark in coverage as a result.
- Average straight-line speed limits his chase ability when runners turn the corner.
- Older prospect who will be 24 as a rookie, which caps the developmental runway.
- Pass rush production is thin; lacks a reliable plan or the length to convert pressures into sacks.
Scouting Report: Summary
Boettcher's best path to an NFL roster runs through his coverage ability and special teams value. His zone awareness is solid, he tracks the ball naturally, and he can handle short-to-intermediate assignments against tight ends and backs. Those traits give him a role in sub-packages and as a coverage-capable backup who can step in without creating obvious mismatches. He fits best in a scheme that keeps its linebackers clean and asks them to read and react in space rather than absorb blocks from pulling guards.The concern is straightforward. Boettcher is undersized with short arms, and his ability to hold up against NFL-caliber blocking is a real question. He played behind a strong Oregon defensive line that kept him clean on a lot of his production, and that support won't follow him. His speed is adequate but not the kind that lets him recover from misreads. The play-action issues on film are worth flagging too, because NFL offenses will attack that tendency repeatedly.
What works in his favor is the total package beyond the measurables. He processes quickly, communicates well, and plays with an edge that makes coaches trust him. The Drew Tranquill comparison that scouts have drawn is fair in terms of role and ceiling. A dependable backup who can call the defense in a pinch and contribute across all special teams phases has real value on a 53-man roster. The two-sport background adds a layer of competitiveness that the measurables alone don't capture, but it also means he's still catching up in football development compared to players who have been at it since high school.
Bryce Boettcher percentiles vs other Linebackers (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Bryce Boettcher (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
153.8
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
20.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.