NFL Draft
2/7/25
6 min read
Jeffrey Bassa 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Oregon Ducks LB
Height: 6010 (verified)
Weight: 226lbs (verified)
Year: Senior
Pro Comparison: Daiyan Henley
Scouting Overview
Oregon Ducks linebacker Jeffrey Bassa projects as a developmental starter at the NFL level. Bassa is a former safety who converted to linebacker during his freshman season with the program, leaving him with promising continued room for growth as a stack linebacker.
Bassa is a fast, fluid, and dynamic athlete who has appeal as a man or zone coverage defender. His ability to improve attacking blocks and gaps alike in the run game will determine if he reaches his potential ceiling as a pro. In the event his transition does require added time, Bassa sports a notable special teams resume and should be a viable contributor in these phases to support his 53-man roster spot.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| LB | Jeffrey Bassa | Oregon | 4.63 | 1.59 | 118 | 38.5 | 7.34 | 21 |
Positives
- Dynamic athleticism pops in a big way as a space athlete
- Plays with the needed aggression and play demeanor to be impactful despite a high-cut frame
- Has dramatically improved his tackling consistency in the last two seasons, posting single digit missed tackle rate in each
Negatives
- Play diagnosis and instincts against the run are still, understandably, a work in progress
- Consistency of run fits and ability to play off of contact will compromise tackle opportunities inside
- Despite his defensive back background and athletic profile, has not made a lot of plays on the ball in coverage
Background
Bassa is from Salt Lake City, UT, and played high school football for Kearns HS. There, he was a two-way standout who played wide receiver and safety. Bassa collected offers from programs like Arizona State, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Utah, and others but ultimately committed to Oregon as a member of their 2021 recruiting class.
Bassa played in 14 games for Oregon as a true freshman in 2021, starting seven at inside linebacker despite starting the season on the roster as a safety. Bassa played in 13 games with nine starts as a sophomore in 2022 before a huge leap for his junior season in 2023, in which Bassa started every game and was named Second Team All-PAC 12. He was named the Defensive MVP of the Fiesta Bowl that year vs. Liberty.
Bassa finished his career with another strong campaign in 2024 and accepted an invitation to play in the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Tale Of The Tape
Bassa has excellent potential to be an impactful all-around linebacker. His immediate strengths are tethered to his background as a former defensive back, which should serve as the foundation for his early playing opportunities, but this is a player you’re also drafting for what his projection suggests he’s capable of becoming.
Bassa is a fast, fluid, and dynamic athlete in space with impressive transitional quickness and range in coverage. He illustrates the ability to get out of his read steps and quickly drive into ambitious zone landmarks to funnel the field into underneath areas as an intermediate defender. When playing Tampa-2, Bassa shows an elite ability to run the pole and handle speed up the seam from the slot. He’s got the right blend of size, speed, and hip turn to force perfection from opposing quarterbacks trying to test that tight window.
Bassa isn’t a perfect player in coverage. He has conceded some option routes to backs out of the backfield by being too aggressive in matching the stem. He’ll overrun the top of the route and give the back an easy break against his momentum into the middle of the field. He’s also been a part of some miscommunications in zone match opportunities to the passing strength — so coverage rules must be well established for how to match switch and swap releases or motion at the snap.
However, he’s got the speed and size to handle either running backs or tight ends in man-to-man coverage and has done well to contest through the contact window and disrupt the timing of routes. He’s a hands-on player with good functional strength.
As a run defender, Bassa has the right demeanor and attitude but needs to be more consistent. There are not a lot of instinctive plays on the reel. He’s more of a reactive defender in this phase but can be slowed by misdirection and misses opportunities to aggressively trigger at the first sign of developing blocks.
Bassa plays with aggressive hands to attack blockers, but his stature can be overwhelmed at the point of attack by opposing linemen. He lacks the upper-body strength to consistently punch his way out of close-quarter run block fits. Even when he’s playing with disciplined leverage, he lacks the mass necessary to create stalemates and play off blocks for tackle challenges.
Bassa does well with his burst in space to play around contact and has the speed to duck under blocks, but these traits make him a backside defender in a pursuit role.
His special teams resume is a nice ace in the hole for a team that wants to bet on developing him into a starter without needing him to hit as a rookie.
Nearly 300 of Bassa’s career special teams reps have come on the kick coverage and return units. He should be a good fit for the modern kickoff rules with his ability to run around block challenges and his improved tackling rates. Bassa brings good pop as a tackler and boasts enough length to be considered a reliable wrap-up defender.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Bassa projects as a sub-package coverage linebacker and special teamer as an early draftee. He should be considered a developmental starter with room for growth against the run.
He’ll thrive in nickel and dime packages as a coverage player and would benefit from playing behind a gap-control front to allow him more uncontested challenges to fit the run.
Grade: 75.00/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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