https://nflmocks.com/2019/06/20/miami-dolphins-terrill-hanks-undrafted-player-watch-2019/ Early on in the 2019 NFL Draft process, it was easy to see why some felt like Terrill Hanks had a chance to follow in the footsteps of another versatile and productive small-school linebacker (some guy named Darius Leonard). Hanks had more than 100 tackles in each of the last three seasons for New Mexico State, and had 81 tackles as a freshman back in 2015. He finished his career with a whopping 391 total tackles, 43.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, eight interceptions, and seven forced fumbles. Brian Flores spent the last 15 years working for the Patriots in just about every way possible. He was a scout, special teams coach, offensive assistant, defensive assistant, and last year he was the team’s defensive coordinator. He’s worked quite a bit with linebackers in recent years, and as a former linebacker himself he knows exactly what he’s looking for at that position. Hanks has apparently impressed so far in Dolphins OTAs and he hopes to carry that momentum into training camp. The New Mexico State product who grew up idolizing Zach Thomas, This guy is team-oriented and he was too productive in college to just discredit at the NFL level.
This is the type of player you build a team with. Guys grateful for an opportunity in the NFL and maybe with a bit of a chip on their shoulder for not having been picked in the draft. I think it's going to be a fun team to watch, on both sides of the ball. It's mere weeks till the start of pre-season.
He's an interesting prospect, but it's worth noting the Dolphins have a pretty huge logjam at ILB. They're going from one end of the spectrum to another in terms of the snaps they give "true" linebackers- their base was three true linebackers, and they hardly ever ran extra DBs and instead just matched base vs. 2 back or 2 TE, Nickel vs. 3 WR, etc. The new defensive philosophies they're drawing from(Belichick/Pettine) very commonly just use the one, sometimes two.
My perception was that he was more of a blitzer than an edge rusher, but I see now that he had seemingly quite a bit more work there than I realized as a Junior. I was expecting him to be more of a Jamie Collins, ILB first OLB second guy, but now I don't know.
I hope, for his sake, it's at that OLB spot, I think there's less depth there and he has more of a chance to stick. His 40 was slow as molasses but his trigger is decisive on tape. He's also pretty impressive physically.
I don't know anything about this prospect, but LB (along with RB and G) are positions where you often see unknowns come in and become productive players.