Slimm's 2017 Defensive Ends (Seniors)

[Pachyderm_Wave]

1. Jordan Willis / Kansas St. / 6'4", 255 (#25 overall)

2. DeMarcus Walker / Florida St. / 6'4", 280 (#36 overall)

3. Tim Williams / Alabama / 6'3", 244 (#42 overall)

4. Daeshon Hall / Texas A&M / 6'5", 266 (#51 overall)

5. Trey Hendrickson / FAU / 6'4", 266 (#67 overall)

6. Taco Carlton / Michigan / 6'6", 277 (#74 overall)

7. Tarell Basham / Ohio / 6'4", 269 (#77 overall)

8. Chris Wormley / Michigan / 6'5", 298 (#95 overall)

9. Derek Rivers / Youngstown St. / 6'4", 248 (#100 overall)

10. Tonah Kpassagnon / Villanova / 6'7", 289 (#123 overall)

11. Takkarist McKinley / UCLA / 6'2", 250 (#128 overall)

12. Dawuane Smoot / Illinois / 6'3", 255 (#132 overall)

13. Carroll Phillips / Illinois / 6'3", 242 (#138 overall)

14. Ifeadi Odenigbo / Northwestern / 6'3", 258 (#152 overall)

15. Josh Carraway / TCU / 6'3", 242 (#213 overall)

16. Ken Ekanem / Virginia Tech / 6'3", 257 (#218 overall)

17. Ejuan Price / Pittsburgh / 5'11", 241 (#219 overall)

18. Deatrich Wise / Arkansas / 6'5", 274 (#231 overall)

19. A.J. Jefferson / Mississippi St. / 6'3", 277 (#232 overall)

20. Noble Nwachukwu / W. Virginia / 6'1", 268 (#233 overall)

21. J.T. Jones / Miami (OH) / 6'3", 263
(UDFA)

22. Bryan Cox Jr. / Florida / 6'3", 265 (UDFA)

23. Hunter Dimick / Utah / 6'3", 274 (UDFA)

24. Keionta Davis / Chattanooga / 6'3", 271 (UDFA)

25. Darius English / S. Carolina / 6'5", 237 (UDFA)

26. Lewis Neal / LSU / 6'0", 274 (UDFA)

27. Marquavius Lewis / S. Carolina / 6'4", 275 (UDFA)

28. Alex Barrett / San Diego St. / 6'2", 255 (UDFA)

29. Praise Martin-Oguike / Temple / 6'1", 255 (UDFA)

30. Corey Vereen / Tennessee / 6'2", 249 (UDFA)

31. Gary Thompson / Marshall / 6'1", 265 (UDFA)

 

[MD]

In Michigan's spring camp they ran a speed competition which Jabril Peppers won. He barely beat Wormley. Curious to hear yours and CK's thoughts on him.

Also, could you please remind me why you bold some players?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

In Michigan's spring camp they ran a speed competition which Jabril Peppers won. He barely beat Wormley. Curious to hear yours and CK's thoughts on him.

Also, could you please remind me why you bold some players?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wormley is a monster. I think his best fit is at 5T in an odd front, but you can also shade him inside. Versatile on the defensive line.

I bold a prospect if I put an image with him. If you click on the link below Tim Williams, you'll see a quick GIF of how well Michigan St. was supposedly going to match up with Alabama at the LOS in the Cotton Bowl.

 

[Tannenbombs]

Slimm,
Does Tim Williams ever play any snaps on 1st & 10? I know he's a sub package rusher but, I'm curious if you know of any tapes I can watch to see him at the POA and set the edge. Hope all is well with you.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Slimm,
Does Tim Williams ever play any snaps on 1st & 10? I know he's a sub package rusher but, I'm curious if you know of any tapes I can watch to see him at the POA and set the edge. Hope all is well with you.

Not yet, but he will this season. He's basically just been a pass rusher in sub packages. In fact, he was the most productive pass rusher in the country last year on a per snap basis.

You can see him playing snaps against the run, but you'll have to comb through it. He only played about 35 snaps against the run last season. However, he didn't struggle in those situations. He'll get a big dose of it all this year as he's headed for a full time role.

He wreaked havoc on the offense in the spring game. Korren Kirven couldn't even get a finger on him.

 

[Tannenbombs]

Not yet, but he will this season. He's basically just been a pass rusher in sub packages. In fact, he was the most productive pass rusher in the country last year on a per snap basis.

You can see him playing snaps against the run, but you'll have to comb through it. He only played about 35 snaps against the run last season. However, he didn't struggle in those situations. He'll get a big dose of it all this year as he's headed for a full time role.

He wreaked havoc on the offense in the spring game. Korren Kirven couldn't even get a finger on him.

After Garrett, is Tim Williams your favorite DE for 2017?

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

After Garrett, is Tim Williams your favorite DE for 2017?

Tim Williams is such a nuanced pass rusher, especially to be what amounts to a part time player up to this point in his career. Although that has nothing to do with his talent, and more to do with the talent on Alabama's roster.... and how Saban likes to matchup with the varying types of offenses that Alabama faces. Williams can utilize an array of pash rush moves, or beat you with rare speed, explosion, and flexibility to run the arc.

He takes football and working at his craft very seriously. He'll time the snap count and get a jump that puts him at the quarterback by the time the ball gets there....see the SEC Championship Game vs. Florida.

I think his best fit is probably at OLB in a 3-4 defense at the next level, and I give him a top 15 grade. Yeah, he'd be the #2 edge player behind Myles Garrett on my board.

 

[fininpsl]

Slimm, I'm curious to hear how well you think Trey Hendrickson's game will translate to the NFL. He's been very productive for FAU, but is he athletic enough to play DE in the NFL?

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Slimm, I'm curious to hear how well you think Trey Hendrickson's game will translate to the NFL. He's been very productive for FAU, but is he athletic enough to play DE in the NFL?

I believe he's over the threshold in terms of athleticism for what some would think is the cutoff point. In other words, I see plenty of defensive ends get drafted, and many still in the NFL that have athleticism in the realm of what Hendrickson possesses. However, it's not always athleticism that is the determing factor.

What makes Hendrickson an interesting prospect to me is his unique ability to finish. He doesn't leave many plays on the field that should've been a sack or negative play for the offense, but weren't. You'll notice that with kids that just don't quite meet that threshold of requisite athleticism. To illustrate this statistically in a sense, his 6 forced fumbles are tied for second most among this entire list of my carefully handpicked Senior DE prospects. Only Praise Martin-Oguike has forced more fumbles (8).

Furthermore, his 19.5 career sacks are second only to Devonte Fields (22) on this list. Trey Hendrickson finishes. That's what I believe gives him a shot.

I think he profiles more as a quality backup defensive end in the NFL, and there's room on every roster in the league for those. I have a higher grade on Hendrickson than I did a player who he's very similar to in Tourek Williams coming out of FIU a few years ago that the Chargers selected in the 6th round. Hendrickson is a top 150 player in this draft in my opinion.

 

[Tannenbombs]

Tim Williams is such a nuanced pass rusher, especially to be what amounts to a part time player up to this point in his career. Although that has nothing to do with his talent, and more to do with the talent on Alabama's roster.... and how Saban likes to matchup with the varying types of offenses that Alabama faces. Williams can utilize an array of pash rush moves, or beat you with rare speed, explosion, and flexibility to run the arc.

He takes football and working at his craft very seriously. He'll time the snap count and get a jump that puts him at the quarterback by the time the ball gets there....see the SEC Championship Game vs. Florida.

I think his best fit is probably at OLB in a 3-4 defense at the next level, and I give him a top 15 grade. Yeah, he'd be the #2 edge player behind Myles Garrett on my board.

He has better Play Strength than I anticipated. I think he can be a solid run defender. We shall see when he plays early down snaps this year

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

He has better Play Strength than I anticipated. I think he can be a solid run defender. We shall see when he plays early down snaps this year

Yes he does. As I mentioned before, he didn't struggle during his limited exposure to the run. Even though he only played about 35 snaps vs. the run last year, he had a run stop-percentage of about 14.7%. Which was better than Vince Biegel for example, who had the 4th highest grade against the run among all edge defenders last year.

 

[Tannenbombs]

Yes he does. As I mentioned before, he didn't struggle during his limited exposure to the run. Even though he only played about 35 snaps vs. the run last year, he had a run stop-percentage of about 14.7%. Which was better than Vince Biegel for example, who had the 4th highest grade against the run among all edge defenders last year.

I may very well have him in my top 10 overall. I gave him a 7.5 grade. Which I borrow from the Ron Wolf/Jerry Angelo scale that a lot of teams still use. Basically saying that this is a Pro-Bowl player that you win because of. Myles Garrett received an 8.0, All-Pro grade and as high as the scale goes. I gave the same grade to Leonard and Bosa.

 

[Tannenbombs]

Why so low on Smoot??

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Why so low on Smoot??

He's a little lower here initially than he should be. He'll end up in my top 10 Senior DE's. The kid can play no doubt about it. But all of these guys here on my list can play. They're all hand selected by me after at minimum 1 year of study.

I think people see a list like these of 20-40 prospects and feel like I'm low on a kid because I have him at #22 for example. What they don't realize is how many players I've seen in college football that don't even make it in these threads. Or how many close calls there are between the kids towards the bottom of these lists and the kids I decided to leave off because I just don't quite like them enough.

The issue with Smoot is that he rushes against right tackles in college, and the sack numbers just aren't there like they should be for a kid with his ability. If you go back to the Iowa game last season, he made a lot of plays in the backfield against a right tackle that was a replacement...not even a starter. He was completely ineffective against a good offensive line like North Carolina in a blowout. I could go on, but you get the point.

Secondly, he needs to improve against the run. Often times he's so worried about trying to sack the QB that his rush is very undisciplined. Illinois doesn't have the run fits to compensate. I believe he's a boom or bust prospect if you take him in the 1st round.

However, the positives with Smooth are that he looks like Cam Wake in terms of rushing from the LDE spot. I believe he has significant upside as a pass rusher if he developes an effective counter to win inside.

Lastly, I think he's a great fit for a team like Miami to select in Round 2 in an effort to replace Cam Wake. He may need some time to polish up his game as a pro, but make no mistake he can play.

 

[Tannenbombs]

Have you seen Villanova DE Tanoh Kpassagnon?