Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Engabare is a similar sort of player.
Not sure he managed to test himself into the late 3rd, but he may be worth moving up for if he's still there in the mid-3rd. I don't know that I'd jump in the 2nd, though the rest of the draft could change my mind.
Very much a pure SDE sort of player. Not terribly dynamic but technically sound and powerful. Good punch, good plan as a pass-rusher. Not a terribly high ceiling but probably a good floor and solid contributor fairly early on.
And as I've said elsewhere, a 'pure' SDE would really free us up to target a dedicated edge rusher elsewhere and lean into those under fronts that can free up your weakside DE to make some noise.
Hell, given the state of our DL, we may even be better served w/ a 3-4 sort of alignment next season. It would be easier to find a stand-up edge rusher at OLB than a strict 3-down DE. And if you have Ingram back, he can do that job and probably even kick down to a 3-tech at this stage of his career. We know Jones can make an impact as a 3-tech and Nnadi would be an adequate 0.
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So many speedy, undersized rushers coming out these days that it
seems it would be advantageous to switch back to a 3-4. There are also a lot of 3-4 LBs composing the top 20 of sack leaders.
That said, most teams run the majority of plays out of 4-2-5 nickel alignments over the past couple of seasons, rendering a base front relatively moot.
With a guy like KC has in Chris Jones who can be a multiple player at either 5T or SDE, it would seem the benefit would be in running 4 man under and over fronts in a 4-2-5 base.
This is where I get the idea that playing Gay as the SAM could be a huge benefit for the Chiefs. In that under front, you could send him instead of your WDE at times, similar in operation to a 3-4, where his size and athleticism should allow him to generate pressure. When you pop into an under front, he plays back in space like he does now.
This would let you take a guy like Arnold Ebiketie, Drake Jackson, Nik Bonitto, and so forth to play WDE early without worrying as much about size since alignment will be wider much of the time. You end up being able to run kind of a multiple defense without much change in personnel.