nfl combine – linebackers

ok. so. wow.

he’s 6’4″ 256 pounds boise st

arms – 33.875″
hands 9.75″
40 – 4.65s
bench – 20
vert – 39.5″
broad – 124″
3-cone – 6.88s
short shuttle – 4.15s

for comparison – khalil mack
6’3″ 251 pounds

arms – 33.25″
hands 10.25″
40 – 4.65s
bench – 23
vert – 40.5″
broad – 128″
3-cone – 7.08s
short shuttle – 4.18s

wow. great measurables. but question marks on production. why did he only start one year? granted that one year was great.

141 tackles 8.5 tfl 4 sacks 3 int 4 ff

rams need a linebacker bad right now. this guy oozes potential. could probably play multiple linebacker positions. probably drops because of question marks about production.

outside of tremaine edmunds, who will never last until the rams pick, this guy is the one who intrigues me the most of the linebacking crew. just the measurables. haven’t seen him in drills yet. watching it on replay right now.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.

besides edmunds and vander esch.

i liked dorance armstrong. he didn’t test the best. but he looked good in the drills. smooth. the lack of speed might make him available in the third. and i keep reading that he played out of position last season. when he played in his usual position the year before, he was dominant.

arden key looked alright too. as did harold landry. like i said. this group just seems loaded with athletes. too many to try and mention.

but vander esch is the one i’m really focused on right now.

JackPMiller wrote:

There are a ton of talented 3/4 OLBs we can get after round 3. Darius Jackson of Jacksonville State, Chad Thomas of Miami(FL), and Marcell Frazier of Missouri are a few to name. Now is the time to think LT for our first round pick.

i am on board with left tackle as long as that player is the best available.

honestly. i think andrew whitworth is good for at least one more year. possibly two. so i’m not on board with drafting a left tackle for need. only if he is the best player available. the defense needs help right now. the linebacking crew is nothing right now. they could even use another corner.

i’m still for best available player.

vander esch might not even be available at #23. whispers that the packers are considering him at #14.

good news though is that’ll push other talented guys down.

at offensive tackle i still like kolton miller. a friend of mine has said nothing but good things about him. athletically, he’s more than solid. what i like most about miller is that he is said to grade very positively in the run game but also seems to have the athleticism to hold up in the passing game as well. a year at right tackle or just learning under one of the best in whitworth would be good. if he isn’t available, i really don’t see any tackle worth a first round pick. mcglinchey, but he isn’t gonna last until 23. tyrell crosby maybe? but from what i’ve read he profiles as a right tackle – not a left.

if they don’t get offensive tackle, i want them to go defense. defensive line, corner, or linebacker. i don’t care. there’s talent at all three levels it seems like. someone is going to be there. they could even trade back if there isn’t an offensive tackle there to groom.

if they stay. and mike gesicki is there. i would be far from disappointed if they decided on a luxury pick and went with him. his athleticism is off the charts. and given mcvay’s track record with tight ends, i think the pick would make too much sense. mcvay would get the most out of him. he doesn’t have to be a blocker. i think with gurley and gesicki. woods and kupp. defenses would have a helluva time trying to match up with that offense.

snowman wrote:

An outside linebacker named Landry looked very good in the agility drills, comes from a 3-4 college system.

There was this drill where the linebackers or d-linemen had to run back, then sideways, then run forward and catch a pass thrown right at them. Quite a few players could not handle the pass, let it hit them in the chest and bounce off. Mike Mayock commented, “If the ball was a javelin, these guys would be dead.”

much like a corner, if those guys could actually catch the ball, they’d be better off playing tight end! ha!

seriously though, yeah. landry looked good too. if they wanted to go defense, my guess is they could trade back into the second round and still find talent. i think it’s that deep.

harold landry
6’3″ 252 lbs from boston college

arms – 32.875″
hands 9.375″
40 – 4.64s
bench – 24
vert – 36″
broad – 119″
3-cone – 6.88s
short shuttle – 4.19s

athletically, a tick below khalil mack. but still explosive. his agility numbers compare to a guy 30 pounds lighter than he is.

his length isn’t elite. again, just a tick below. but more than adequate.

he actually weighed in bigger than they expected. i read somewhere they were thinking he’d be 6’1″ 240 pounds.

a lot more nimble than they thought he’d be too looking at the agility numbers.

i think he played in college as a defensive end. someone correct me if i’m wrong, but that’s what i read. based on his combine performance maybe he’s still got some potential to be tapped playing as a stand up edge rusher. phenomenal numbers his junior year. but had a down year in 2017. i noticed he only played 8 games, so maybe he was dealing with injuries. i don’t know.

but again. those agility numbers. mayock said he looked good in drills. sounds like a fit.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.

zn wrote:

While he can play standing for 3-4 teams, he’s at his best with his hand in the dirt as a rusher.

i like landry. but he’s strictly an edge rusher. a 3-4 outside linebacker. it sounds like. but he could be a helluva 3-4 outside linebacker. so at #23, that’d be a bargain for sure. i wouldn’t be complaining about that.

but what intrigues me about vander esch is, much like tremaine edmunds, this guy might be able to play all 4 linebacker positions. and play them all well. maybe not immediately. but eventually. he can defend the run and pass as well as rush the passer. whereas landry sound like he’s primarily an edge rusher.

there are multiple guys it sounds like who fit landry’s description. maybe they don’t do it as well as landry but they have similar skill sets.

edmunds and vander esch. i just don’t get the sense that you find too many players who have that blend of size and skill.

dorance armstrong also looks good. i think he could be gotten in the third round. his production was outstanding in 2016 and then there was a drop off in 2017. from what i read, the defense changed schemes, and he was playing out of position for pretty much the entire season. in the nfl, he’ll be playing more the position he played in 2016 when he had 20 tackles for loss and 10 sacks!!!

6’4″ 257 pounds from kansas

arms – 34.75″
hands 10″
40 – 4.87s
bench – 20
vert – 30″
broad – 118″
3-cone – 7.12s
short shuttle – 4.23s

very mediocre explosion numbers. the vertical and broad numbers are not the best. his speed has a lot to be desired. but that is partially why he drops to the third. his agility numbers are good though. not elite. but good. a drastic difference between his 40 and his short shuttle times. but then he’s got elite length. long long arms. i think he’d be a good pick up.

if the rams could re-sign trujo. and then draft armstrong in the third. and let’s say they draft a rashaan evans in the first. that’d be a helluva defense there.