I think one of the most important selections we make this year will be our drafting of our Edge rusher (s). We added Scarlett and he will likely be similar to what we got out of Lawsen last year, but we really need to hit a homerun with our Edge selection in order to improve an already dynamic defense. If we could land a rookie that can put together a 10 sack or more season, it would be the most significant improvement we could make to our defense.
I think one of the signs of a potential bust is a player that couldn't stay heathy in college or that didn't produce much. It seems like those types often don't pan out with the rigors the NFL presents. I find this to be particularly true at the Edge position.
There are a couple of the top ranked Edge rushers from University of Miami that I'd like to see us pass on unless we have a chance to select them AFTER our top 3 selections (not likely as they are both probably going in the top 30-40).
https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/new...-targets-gregory-rousseau-and-jaelan-phillips
Rousseau addressed the concerns of his limited experience when he did a Zoom media session following the UM Pro Day this week.
"I don’t have a lot film, but I feel like I showed a lot in the time that I did play, my redshirt freshman year," Rousseau said. "I feel like I proved a lot. I also feel like I’m a very versatile athlete and I fit into a lot of schemes and I’m just going to be somebody who’s hard working from Day 1. I’m ready to get to the next level."
As for Phillips, the issue are a series of injuries that derailed his career after he started off at UCLA. Phillips even quit football after a second concussion ended his 2018 season at UCLA after he earlier had sustained a high ankle sprain and a severe wrist injury in a moped accident.
After sitting out a year, Phillips became a force at UM last year, finishing with eight sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss.
Like Rousseau, Phillips put on a show of rare athleticism at the UM Pro Day, even topping what Rousseau did.
He then downplayed concerns about his injury history.
We can't draft a Charles Harris with this pick if we want to ensure winning more than 10 games this year. We need players that can stay on the field at WR and on the Edge. We need players that can make plays consistently. I don't want to see us gamble on athletes who can't stay healthy or that haven't proven they can do the job we are drafting them for. I'd much rather look at the kids from Michigan, Georgia, or Penn State IF they meet the criteria for staying healthy and having consistent production.
-
-
Only 10 players in the ENTIRE league had 10+ sacks last year. The top rookie was freak superstar ChaseYoung and he only had 7.5. Almost zero chance of your expectations being met. Lower the bar and hope we can get a solid player who is good enough to get on the field in his rookie year and look the part.
As for Phillips. He did retire from Football due to concussion problems. But he recommitted when he arrived at Miami. And had a damn good year! If not for the concussions, we wouldn’t even have a chance at him with the 18th pick IMO.
All he said is ‘since I got to Miami I never missed a single game, a single workout or one single snap.’. I wouldn’t say that is downplaying anything. He is saying he is fully committed and intends to have more seasons like last year. Teams know his history, what is he supposed to do... Say he is going to retire again, even though he does not intend to?
Doubt he makes it to 36. If he does, I would be pounding the table.
I’m hoping for Kwity Paye to fall to 18 to be honest.Last edited: Apr 2, 2021Dol-Fan Dupree and DOLFANMIKE like this. -
Agreed. I'd prefer us to take the best available edge rusher at 18 and again possibly depending who's there at 36. I think our quickest path to a Super Bowl is making our defense elite while adding a couple pieces to the offense to bring them along. We need to replace the sacks lost by Van Noy and Lawson plus it would be nice to get a little more pressure.
-
Yeah, I'm aware it was a super Lofty goal, but I used the thought to say "it would be the single greatest addition we could make to find that guy".... I didn't intend it to mean this guy should be easy to find.
We already have a dynamic defense, add a 10 sack guy and it's "Super Bowl good defense".KeyFin likes this. -
I really do not want Rousseau.
I think he is lanky, and really, really lacks agility. I see him as a guy who benefited a lot from defensive talent around him. In my mind, he is more of a project than a first round guy.Tin Indian likes this. -
I don’t disagree. That would be great. Best shot to find someone like that now is to throw a 1 year 5M deal at Justin Houston. Still only 32 and consistent producer. Colts were one of the best Defences in the league last year. If he accepts, cut a couple guys and make it work.
Ogbah and Houston on one year deals would not prevent us from drafting a Pass rusher to develop.Last edited: Apr 2, 2021DOLFANMIKE likes this. -
Did someone ask for agility in this DE class?
-
100% agree and this is why I was upset at our current free agent Acquisitions. We should have beefed up with proven talent on defense to help this offense out. Now we have needs on both sides of the ball and Hopi g young guys transition fast and adjust to the nfl. We had plenty of young talent we need solid defensive leaders and they were available!mlb1399 likes this.
-
I looked at him too. I feel like he is exceptional at stopping the run. That being said, I think he is bad at pass rushing. He is coming off a two sack season, and if memory serves me right, they were both in the same game. I could not justify taking a run support guy this high in the draft.
Honestly, I just don't think that this is a very good year for pass rush. I don't think we should force a pick. -
He only played in 4 games last year!
He can do it all. Perfect 3-4 end. Great size and versatile. His numbers are comparable if not better than Rashan Gary at Michigan... including sack rate. -
The B1G was ultra conservative about Covid and Michigan missed some games due to Covid. Want to say they played 5-6 games. And you know how sacks work. He could be getting a lot of hits and pressures but the sacks weren’t coming because he was getting extra attention. Pretty sure PFF rated him fairly high.
-
He wasn't.
The one thing you can say about Michigan is that they have severely underutilized players and players have generally performed under their talent level. Rashan Gary is actually a good example, he was frankly not very good. Green Bay still took him fairly high based on the potential and athleticism. With Paye you are likely hoping for something similar, that with better coaching he will blow up. I'd be OK with him at 18, but I wouldn't be particularly excited. I feel he's a guy who is decent at most things but not really a game-changing type of player. -
I absolutely agree with this sentiment. Just because you didn't get credit for the sack, doesn't mean that the guy wasn't involved in causing the sack. Also, the QB could have gotten the pass off that a certain percentage of the time could have wound up being a sack - essentially, the ball didn't bounce in his direction.
I don't see that being case with Paye. I just did not see him as a good pass rusher.
MLB1399 makes a reasonable assertion that Michigan seems to under-develop its players. There is probably some truth to this. He cited Rashan Gary. The guy has 7 career sacks, and this year, he had a career high of 5 sacks. I think MLB1399 probably is right to say he is an ascending player. Personally, I think Paye is a worse prospect than Gary. If you told me that drafting Paye in the first would get me 7 sacks in the next two years, I'd pass. I don't think that Flores could just wave a magic wand on Paye and turn him into an 8 sack guy. I'd go as far as to say that Van Ginkle will have more sacks in the next two seasons than Paye.