STRENGTHS - Francis is a physical player at the POA. When he is able to come off the line smoothly with a solid first step and combine that with his ability to get love and drive his legs to push the defender, he is able to move the smaller OL off the LOS. He did show some swim moves, however he will need to use those more consistently. He shows good awareness on run plays and has solid quickness for a big man to make the tackle on the ball carrier and showed the extension and trip up the ball carrier from behind. When he is able to get to the QB, you can be sure he will put on a good hard hit.
WEAKNESSES - Francis' struggle at the next level will most certainly be his strength. While he uses his legs to drive the smaller OL back, he will not be very successful doing that at the next level. Francis also has a slow punch, and will need to develop a quicker punch to gain some separation on the OL at the POA, especially with the lack of strength. He will need to develop pass rush moves and use them on a much more consistent basis. One play that stood out was the roughing the passer play against WVU, hitting the QB long after the ball was released, which could have been avoided, costing his team.
SUMMARY - Francis a guy that will show no quit on the play, whether the play is on his side, the opposite side or if the play is down the field, he tends to be around the ball more often than not. He shows solid quickness and speed for his size and is therefore able to get down the field with success. Francis is a physical player from the snap but he lacks the strength he will need to be a successful player at the NFL level on a consistent basis. He will also need to develop more of a pass rush repertoire and develop quicker punch to gain the separation at the POA. When he is able to get to the QB, he will put on a solid hard pop. Tackling also tends to be somewhat of a question mark as his technique needs to improve and will need to become better at wrapping up the ball carrier. Francis' discipline became a question mark in the WVU game where he hit the QB much after the ball was released. In the games that I watched on film, this was the only issue I saw on that, so this could have been in the heat of the moment play rather than lack of discipline. Overall, Francis is currently a developmental player with an opportunity to develop into a contributing defensive tackle if he can become stronger and learn to utilize more pass rush moves.