NFL 2021 Draft

If you're not threatening them upfield with your quickness and you're not threatening their anchor and you don't have hand use and counters you're gonna get stonewalled. If you're reliant on length and body control and motor exclusively you're gonna be a cleanup guy for the most part.
I see the quickness to counter and natural hand use, especially given his experience level. Remember, he was a redshirt freshman who never played down in HS. We shouldn't treat him as a finished product. This is a coachable young player who was way ahead of schedule. Compare his TFL and sack numbers (19.5/15.5) to Paye (5.2/2), Oweh (5/5) and Ojulari (5/5.5) at the same age. More than triple the production.

The twitch issue is legit, which is why I use Chandler Jones as my comparison. Average burst and extraordinary length. He will get more direct pressure as he improves his technique, but don't discount the clean-up sacks. A lot of sacks in the NFL are clean up sacks, and not everybody is good at it. Rousseau complements his length/quickness with outstanding awareness of the ball. He's not just running around.
 
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I know its hard for some to try and give context to 15.5 sacks, but a lot of his plays were cleanup plays or unblocked plays.
If it was that easy, more people would do it. How many guys with that kind of sack production and + physical tools have failed? It's a short list.
 
Again Chandler Jones is the most physical edge guy on the planet. He plays with reckless abandon and has the most unorthodox package of rush moves in the league. No one compares to him least not Rousseau.

Cleanup production is not very valuable and not very predictive or sustainable for future success. Sacks are a very misleading stat as they are not created equal at all. Khalil Mack led PFF in edge pass rush grade this year and he had 9 sacks. Leonard Floyd had 10.5 sacks and finished 52nd in grade. He's a versatile, high motor guy who cleaned up Aaron Donald's pressures and fed off coverage sacks. Film will show you who's really winning reps and there's a reason most film guys are down on GR.

Again I like his long-term projection as an interior rusher but a lot can go wrong if he's a 1-dimensional interior guy who struggles rushing from the edge and playing the run. He needs to go to the right team and he needs to develop his skill. Whether the NFL is higher on him than the media or not is mostly irrelevant. Clelin Ferrell went 4th overall - to Mayock who was once the big draft media guy like Jeremiah is now - and he's a big body JAG run defender on a cripplingly bad defense.

Here's excerpts from his profile from Lance Zierlein:


Long-limbed, even-front end with a projectable frame but a concerning lack of functional edge experience. Much of his sack production came via athletic mismatches against interior blockers when reduced inside. He lacks prototypical get-off and needs more violence and pop in his hands, but his length, pursuit agility and wide-open throttle really stand out on tape. He doesn't come off as unwilling at the point of attack. Expect noticeable improvement as a run defender once he adds play strength and learns to bend and anchor more effectively. The checked boxes are a bit uneven, but that appears to be more a reflection of a lack of film rather than projectable talent. He carries a bit of a boom/bust profile, but also has the makings of a player who can become a quality 4-3 end within his first three seasons.
  • High percentage of rush production came at nose instead of edge.
  • Must add mass and strength to both upper and lower half.
  • Not overly twitchy or fleet in attacking the corner with upfield charge.
  • Struggled to dislodge tackle's punch against Virginia in 2019.
  • Conversion of speed to power is below average.
  • Needs heavier hands at point of attack.
  • Height limits natural leverage in attacking run blocks.
  • Absorbs more than he doles out in initial contact.
  • Balance through contact is erratic.
 
Khalil Mack led PFF in edge pass rush grade this year and he had 9 sacks. Leonard Floyd had 10.5 sacks and finished 52nd in grade.

Floyd averages under 6 sacks a season. This tracks with his college production- he never had a season over 6.5 sacks in college and never had double-digit TFLs. Khalil Mack was a monster in college (74.5 TFLs and 28.5 sacks for his career) and it translated.

Disruptive production matters. Of the 13 pass rushers on this year's Pro Bowl roster, 9 of them were double-digit sack guys in college. The others were beasts with TFLs. Last year's pass-rush bust (K'Lavon Chaisson) finished college with only 9.5 career sacks. The Jags did much better with Yannick Ngakoue, who finished 2nd nationally in sacks.

Don't get me wrong-- sack production does not mean you will have production in the NFL. But when you marry production with traits and character, you've got something.

Was Rousseau's 2019 was an unsustainable fluke? Maybe, but I doubt it. I predicted he'd have double-digit sacks before the season because he'd been piling up sacks since he got on campus. He has a knack, and I expect it to continue in the pros.
 
Brother, you know we cool...but you gotta learn to read.

If you saw those posts thinking it was a bunch of negatives because I don't think he's an EDGE player, breh, idk what to tell you. I'm just telling you why I don't think he's an EDGE pass rush prospect like basically everyone else thinks he is, and that he is more of a 34 end (which there is a lack of analysis on him there). The analysis I see on Greg Rousseau on the internet blows my mind (from most everyone, not just here). My eyes must be seeing a different player out there. I actually like Greg Rousseau as a prospect...just...not as an EDGE pass rusher. I think you need to project way too much...he's not incapable...but I think the leap to him being a pass rush EDGE specialist is a big leap. I think the gap is much closer to him being a DeForest Buckner type of 34 interior defensive lineman than it is a pass rusher from the outside like he's Julius Peppers. His skill set...that I outlined with posted video (you know I'm not talking out of my ***)...just screams like more of a mismatch inside than he is a mismatch outside. The production and tape tell me thats so. I highlighted how his motor is an ASSET inside and how well he's worked through trash and how his long arms are a benefit inside. But his motor is far too often negated from the outside, especially when OT get their hands on him.

D$ compared him to Calais Campbell...even coming into the league, I thought Calais Campbell was more advanced as a football player. Hand use, coming in with a plan of attack, etc. Calais was just lazy in his last year at Miami, basically took everything off after the Oklahoma game in his last year (Phil Loadholt beat him up quite a bit) and - unlike Greg Rousseau - notoriously gave no fvcks about putting in work in the gym. I don't see the same player. But I guess if you project Greg Rousseau way far out and say he can BE that, but I think that's a long bridge to get there.

Like I said, can you go into any of those highlight clips I posted and find ONE play from the EDGE where he's making a first round play on an ACC level RIGHT TACKLE? I did not see one. Had a cool sack against a TE, sure. But everything else was him inside beating interior OL. I'd ask for you to make a gif, but I'd ask for just a time stamp at this point.

---

and ya, bruh...yall constantly surprised when Miami players are not drafted as high as you think.

and when I mean yall, that means you, too.





When I have time later in the week, I want to go into a few more games from 2019 to see if I keep seeing the same ****.

Calais played his entire last season here with a detached tendon in his groin. He wasn't lazy and didn't take everything off. He had surgery to repair it after the season. If he was taking everything off, he would have had it months before.
 
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WHO ARE YOU TWO TAKING OVER ROUSSEAU? @HighSeas @BoxingRobes I WANNA SEE SOMETHING
The only other pass rusher I've studied is Phillips. So him for sure. But I've evaluated a ton of skill guys and would take many of them ahead of GR.

Jon Ledyard has GR pegged as a day 3 talent, fwiw. Peter King just wrote his column insinuating that GR is a huge risk. PK doesn't know **** about evals so he's obviously being fed that info from GMs.
 
WHO ARE YOU TWO TAKING OVER ROUSSEAU? @HighSeas @BoxingRobes I WANNA SEE SOMETHING

I mean, what position are we talking about here? I've told you that i see him as more of a 34 end type. Maybe as a 43 LDE. Overall players ahead of him? idk, a lot. Defensive players, quite a few, but I haven't seen a lot of guys...but just a random example, I'd take a guy like Zaven Collins over him. As an EDGE, I guess it depends on the scheme and is a more nuanced conversation.

Lets revisit after athletic testing and we have a better picture on what these guys bring to the table athletically. From the tape, if you look what Rousseau did as a LDE only (getting rid of the interior stuff you wouldn't evaluate if he's an outside guy for you)...while Rousseau is a better prospect, I think a guy like Patrick Jones from Pitt has some very similar tape from that spot in that role. Same spectrum.
 
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Denver should be doing everything in their power to upgrade QB. Lance or Fields would be awesome there.
 
It means nothing but in mock drafts I have been able to get a little trading back with Cincy and they always grab Sewell. I have got a ton trading with Philly and especially Denver who take a QB. Denver won't give up a WR but if we sign somebody lake KG don't need a WR would rather get one of their 1st and second round picks so we are set next year SHOULD we decide maybe QB needs to be looked at...Ammo to move.

I take Pitts at 9.
 
Agreed. Fake trade that makes sense: #3 for #9, Jerry Jeudy and a third.

I would make that trade as a Dolphins fan. Jeudy has actually been in Miami this offseason training with Tua.
If Miami trades with Denver I would rather see them get Denver's 1st in 2022 than Jeudy. Sign Golladay, draft a WR at #9, cut Wilson and Hurns.
 
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Agreed. Fake trade that makes sense: #3 for #9, Jerry Jeudy and a third.

I would make that trade as a Dolphins fan. Jeudy has actually been in Miami this offseason training with Tua.
Jeudy is overrated imo but Dolphins could find a use for him since Tua is reliant on RPOs, quick hitters and schemed shot plays anyway.

If I'm Denver I take that deal in a heartbeat. Sutton, Patrick and Hamler is plenty good enough at WR with 2 talented young TEs.
 
mannnn seem to think Phillips AND Rousseau are good to great edge prospects as rookie players early on

All that Rousseau talk b4 draft was b.s.
 
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