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Jon Gruden on Denzel Perryman

CaneGang440

CaneGang440

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Is the next Ray Lewis in this draft, and if so, should teams really wait until the second round before taking him?

Gruden: Denzel Perryman is one of my favorite players in the draft. I don't understand why he isn't in the top 10 of this pool of players, really.

Kiper: Top 10 overall?

Gruden: Why not? He makes all the tackles. He is like Ray Lewis. You criticized Ray Lewis. I heard you on here years ago. "Twenty-sixth pick, he doesn't deserve it." He is the greatest linebacker that ever played. Where do you have Perryman this year? He is just like Ray Lewis.
Kiper: Perryman is 5-10 1/2 and 236 pounds. Very athletic, incredibly strong, fast enough and instinctive. Does he fit every defense? That is the thing. Who fits every defense of the inside linebackers? Is it Eric Kendricks of UCLA?

Gruden: If he doesn't fit your defense, fire your defensive staff.

Kiper: Perryman is a guy I am taking in the second round.

Gruden: Second round? You have Randy Gregory and Vic Beasley going ahead of Perryman?

Kiper: Yeah.

Gruden: OK, you and I are not from the same planet. Take a look at this film. You like this hit right here, Mel? You think you got a hit of Beasley or Gregory ever doing this? He is the most explosive hitter in this draft, Perryman. He has jaw-dropping hits, doesn't he?

Kiper: No question about it. But again, where did Ray Lewis go in the draft?

Gruden: In this draft, you are telling me he is a second-round pick?

Kiper: In any draft there will be guys who go in the first round that Jon Gruden doesn't like, but they allow great players to get to the second round and he is going to be one of those guys that goes in the second round and you'll say three years down the road, 'Why didn't he go in the first?' He is 5-10 1/2, he is 236 pounds and he is an inside 'backer.

Gruden: It will be one of the biggest mistakes in this draft if he goes that late.



More praise from Gruden on a separate article

Denzel Perryman, ILB, Miami

We talk about these quarterbacks all the time, but no one talks about the guys who set up the defense. We have to have somebody who has the football aptitude and the tenacity to set up our base defense, our nickel defense and our goal-line defense, and then you've got all these no-huddle teams.

Perryman makes all the tackles. He is the most explosive hitter in this draft. He has great zone awareness, and he understands routes. He can line up off the tight end, see the checkdown and make the play. College football is not producing players like this anymore. He has instincts, he has leadership, he has communication, and if he sees something, he will run through a backside swap combination and get a tackle for a loss. If he doesn't fit your defense, fire your defensive staff.
 
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The main flaws behind Perryman is that he isn't great in coverage, not great speed, and struggled to shed blocks in college, His short arms don't help with that last one either. Looks to be a two down linebacker at the next level sooo yea he shouldn't go in the 1st.
 
Shinyheadman said:
The main flaws behind Perryman is that he isn't great in coverage, not great speed, and struggled to shed blocks in college, His short arms don't help with that last one either. Looks to be a two down linebacker at the next level sooo yea he shouldn't go in the 1st.
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nonsense. he'll be a perennial pro-bowler. one of the best sideline to sideline tacklers Ive ever watched.
 
Shinyheadman said:
The main flaws behind Perryman is that he isn't great in coverage, not great speed, and struggled to shed blocks in college, His short arms don't help with that last one either. Looks to be a two down linebacker at the next level sooo yea he shouldn't go in the 1st.
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If DP gets picked by a team that runs a 3-4 and has a good coaching staff watch out.

I was hoping he would fall to my Bears in the 3rd but that wont be happening
 
Perryman is the real deal. Not sure that all the issues with him in coverage are his fault. I am convinced that with a competent staff you would see players play closer to their true potential in college rather than blowing up when they get to the NFL. I'm not sure if he is perennial All-Pro at the next level, but he will be a very good NFL LB for a long time. He is natural at his position and knows it well as he's played it since high school at least. He is an explosive hitter - very aggressive. Players either have that or they don't.

I still remember all of the naysayers who doubted Vilma when he came out - some claimed he was too small to play Mike at the next level and that he was a tweener - whatever. They said similar things about Beason, then Spence, and now Perryman. Perryman is a true Cane. He'll represent us very well at the next level.
 
All I know is that at one point during the season he was a legit butkus favorite. Right after the gtech game is when he turned it on.

He was better then beason was here and he has a unique skill that is hard to find these days. People want the next Navarro Bowman but give me Patrick Willis pre injurt all day. When Perryman hits you, you go down..period.

He will be the best LB that came out of this Draft if he stays healthy and it wont be close.
 
Any blood and guts defense will love DP. Seahawks were one Lynch goal line carry away from 2nd Super Bowl. Who would you want on the other side on the line for that play in this year's draft? Even in today's pass happy NFL, sometimes you need a man to meet a man in the hole when and where it counts. DP comes in clean of problems at a time when that happens to matter some. Still 1st seems a little unlikely but maybe. NFL seems to have noticed our coaching is not equal to our talent and might just imagine DP with real defensive coach.
 
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Sam mills and london fletcher were pretty good 'small' backers in the league. Denzel is on another level.
 
lol with the corners playing 30 yards off the ball i think duke covered pretty well
 
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I always love hearing this ridiculous statement from so called analysts, and definitely the wannabes on sites like this one or even on tv, "He struggles to shed blocks", newsflash, most of the time if a 300+lb linemen is engaged with a 240lb LB, they wont shed crap. In fact last I have checked in my 30+ years of watching, playing in HS school (which means ****), and most of all listening to those that know this game, including just recently having a nice in depth conversation with a former scout of 20 years and now has a high position within NFL player circles over in the west coast, defensive schemes are designed for Linebackers to not engage and shed offensive linemen, if you're defensive line is not freeing up your linebackers to make plays, it does not matter who the LB is, more often than not they will be swallowed up by the free offensive linemen who has engaged with the LB.

So again the previous long winded response is to state that the statement of LB shedding blocks is ridiculous and dumb
 
CaniacMike21 said:
Like a lot of others, I worry about him a bit in coverage.
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That can be fixed with coaching. People have to remember that these aren't finished products coming into the league, they're young kids who mostly have the talent and skill to succeed at the next level. I believe DP will benefit greatly from better coaching, especially in terms of improving coverage skills. We've constantly complained about Golden/Do'nof's defense and how he has his linebackers/DBs playing 8-10 yards off the line of scrimmage, but then want to knock DP for not being great in coverage. How much of that is truly his fault?
 
All I know is I enjoyed watching DP wearing the orange and green at every home game. That being said, I'm an abnormality, I actually enjoy going to watch the Canes at Sun life just like I did when they played in the OB.
 
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