One guy I would like to hear more about on the defensive line is Derrick Shelby of Utah. I know, just another Utah pass rusher, which carries negative connotations from the Koa Misi pick...but this guy is more interesting to me as a pure DL than Misi was. Misi was always more of a LB convert. He got to the passer creatively at Utah, so you project him as a linebacker blitzer. It's just too bad Miami all too often tried to have Misi get to the passer traditionally, because of some scheme limitations involved with Cam Wake's style.
But anyway back to Shelby, he's not a fast guy and you're probably not going to have him play linebacker, but he is a strong guy with good burst, balance and flexibility, and best of all he's always got his eyes on the quarterback and is ready to bat passes in the air. He gets his arms up and he's got enough leg strength that no matter what he's doing in his pass rush he can get air and attack the ball as it leaves the QB's hands. He's very ball-oriented, it's no coincidence he intercepted that one ball against Pittsburgh this year, nor that he had an unusual number (7) of passes defended. He's got some resiliency to him too, and it's no coincidence he broke a bunch of tackles and returned that interception for a touchdown, either. Nor that he recovered a fumble in the end zone against BYU for another touchdown in 2011.
Anyway he's not necessarily a future star but he's a guy I'd like to see how he translates. I'd compare him as a cross between Dexter Davis and Pernell McPhee. Dexter Davis was a 6'1" and 244 lbs underrated DE I liked back in the 2010 NFL Draft, because he was physical, resilient, had unusual balance and flexibility, a feisty player. He played as a rookie and in only 49 pass rush snaps he had a sack, a hit and 9 pressures. He also made some plays against the run, and had a big positive grade from PFF despite his only playing 80 snaps. Remember that PFF's grades are cumulative, so there's an element of the more snaps you play the more positive your grade can be if you're a good player. Davis spent all of 2011 injured if I'm not mistaken. Pernell McPhee was a similar resilient player but feisty as hell, bigger and bulkier at 6'3' and 270 lbs, and he's made a huge name for himself in Baltimore rushing the passer over guard in strict pass rush situations. Shelby is a little bit of a cross between the two in that he's got the explosiveness of Davis (which is verified in workouts) but closer to the size and speed of McPhee. I know that makes him sound like a better player than either, but I'm not saying that. Anyway, he's a guy I've tabbed as someone I'll be watching closely in the preseason.
Here's a video of Matt Barkley against Utah in 2011. The nice thing about it is that probably 85-90% of the snaps in this video, you see Derrick Shelby #90 rushing the passer or dropping back into coverage. Shelby really made an impact in this game.
[video=youtube;ebLa2pMr8Mc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebLa2pMr8Mc[/video]
But I'm hearing some decent things about Jacquies Smith. Smith always impressed me more as a linebacker at Mizzou than he did as a DL, but if there's one thing you can say about him it's that he's highly mobile and that will avail him. He's also very well built, a gym rat type. Body will not be a problem with him.
