Chao stands up off the line primarily at Pope, which says a lot about his athleticism and versatility as a defender. He is a fundamentally sound defensive lineman with a good punch at the point of attack. He has nice hand placement, gets good leverage, and rips through the blocker with solid intensity. Pads do need to get lower while engaged and work on getting more flexible in the hips. The Pope defensive lineman does a solid job playing off the edge and reading the play, making some high-level reads off the mesh. Chao needs to continue to get more explosive off the snap, work on getting quicker with his first step, and just be lighter on his feet. He is growing into his body, so whether he plays this type of role at the college level or if he plays more inside is to be determined. Chao is now around 270 lbs., and looks to be well on his way to be around 280-290 at the collegiate level. He is a technically strong defender and has very good length, so his good block-shedding will only continue to improve as his hands become quicker and stronger. Chao had 72 tackles as a junior and 15 tackles for a loss, and to be honest, there is a huge vacuum due to graduation that set the defensive lineman up for a huge senior year.




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