Joe Kruger: 5 Things You Need to Know About the Utah Defensive End

Many of you are familiar with Paul Kruger, who starred for the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens this past season. Paul's lesser-known younger brother, Joe, had a productive career at Utah and can expect to be a mid-to-late round pick later this week. 

The strong defensive end projects to play a different role than his older brother, but should be able to succeed at the next level. 

Time to take a look at five things you simply must know about Joe Kruger as he makes his transition from college to the National Football League.  

Background

Full Name: Jonathan Wells Kruger (June 4, 1992)

Hometown: Orem, Utah

High School: Timpanogos High School in Orem, Utah 

Class: Junior

Major: Economics

Coming out of high school, Kruger ranked 23rd nationally among defensive ends by Rivals.com. He was also the third-ranked defensive end from the state of Utah that year. 

He received offers from CAL and UCLA before choosing to remain home with the Utes. 

Despite majoring in economics and earning solid grades at Utah, Kruger decided to forgo his senior season and enter the 2013 NFL draft. 

Statistics

2010 (Freshman): 12 games, four tackles (three solo, one for loss) and one pass broken up. 

2011 (Sophomore): 13 games, 35 tackles (17 solo, five for loss), three sacks and one forced fumble.

2012 (Junior): 11 games, 30 tackles (19 solo, eight for loss), six sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception and one touchdown

Kruger played primarily on special teams as a freshman in 2010. He recorded just four tackles in limited playing time on the defensive side of the ball. Once Christian Cox graduated following the 2010 season, Kruger took over as Utah's primary backup defensive end behind Derrick Shelby. He proceeded to record 35 tackles and three sacks as a part-time player. 

It wasn't until this past season that the talented pass-rusher really made his name known on a national stage. He took over for Shelby along the right side of the line and lined up next to fellow 2013 NFL draft prospect Star Lotulelei as well as his older brother Dave Kruger. 

He helped anchor the second-best rush defense in the PAC-12 in 2012 and showed everyone that he had the ability to be an NFL-caliber player. In the end, Kruger finished his junior season with honorable mention All-PAC-12 honors and finished first on the team with six sacks. 

All statistics provided by CFB Stats.

Draft Process

Measurements

Height: 6'6"

Weight: 269 pounds

Arm Length: 34.375"

Hand Size: 10.0"

Combine Results

Broad Jump: 117.0"

40-Yard Dash: 4.83

20-Yard Shuttle: 4.46

Three-Cone Drill: 7.17

Vertical Jump: 34.0"

Bench Press: 24 reps at 225

Kruger's 4.83 40-yard dash ranked him in the middle of the pack among defensive ends at the combine in Indianapolis. He finished 11th among defensive ends with a 117.0" broad jump and in the top 10 with a solid 34.0" vertical jump. 

According to Gil Brandt of NFL.com, Kruger "looked very good in his positional workouts." This is what I am more concerned with. The Utah product is not going to stand out in generic drills, but was at least able to quite any skeptics with solid position-specific workouts. 

All combine numbers and measurements provided by NFL.com.

Interesting Facts

Joe Kruger comes from a long line of athletics and individuals associated with the game of football. As mentioned before, his older brother Paul Kruger was a standout with the Baltimore Ravens this past season before signing a lucrative deal with the Miami Dolphins last month. 

Meanwhile, his other older brother is a starting defensive tackle for Utah and will be anchoring a unit that will lose both Joe Kruger and Star Lotulelei. 

Even more interesting, his brother-in-law is current Oakland Raiders starting left guard Tony Bergstrom. They played together at Utah for one season. His father played college ball at Oregon State. 

Needless to say, the younger Kruger has the pedigree to be a solid NFL player. It's now up to him make his name known at the next level. 

Observations

Many have concluded that Joe Kruger is a late-round pick. While this might be the case, it must be noted that his game film suggests a possibility that he might go a bit earlier than anticipated. 

Mel Kiper seems to agree with this assessment. He had Kruger going to the Dallas Cowboys in the third round of his "Grade A Draft" last week (via ESPN, subscription required). 

Our very own Matt Miller echoed a widespread sentiment around the scouting community that showed surprise by Kruger's decision to forgo his senior season:

"Didn't expect Joe Kruger to enter 2013 draft, but the big Utah DE has the strength to be an impact edge anchor. Brother of Ravens DE."

If Kruger does go in the third round or somewhere in that general spot, I highly doubt that returning to Utah for his senior season would have helped his draft stock a great deal. 

Vincent Frank is an NFL Featured Columnist here at Bleacher Report. Vincent is the head sports editor over at eDraft, co-host of Draft Sports Radio, which airs every Monday and Wednesday from 3 to 6 p.m. ET, and a fantasy writer for Pro Football Focus.

Go ahead and give him a follow on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL.