Good point! He definitely has 3 down abilities, might not be an elite pass rusher, but doesn't mean he cannot affect the passing game. Sam Williams was taken in his same slot and his best sack total has been 4 sacks, but he is no where near the run defender as Kneeland, matter of fact I wouldn't be surprised if we see Kneeland starting over Sam if they play Parsons off the ball against the run.
So Epinesa who has 15 1/2 sacks in 4 years including less than 3 sacks in his first 2 years would be an acceptable criteria ? Call me insane but I think he’s capable of that.
Well I’m talking about what the player develops into…he’s had 6.5 sacks the last 2 years with solid run defense.
I disagree, nobody in day 3 offers his upside potential. Floor maybe, but not his potential.
Isn't that what we get out of DLaw each year? I think Kneeland can become that type of player.
I don’t think there is any question that he’s going to be the guy opposite Lawrence in our base defense. It ain’t gonna be Williams or Gholston. This dude is different. He’s a 270 lb kid that does not lose often when defending the run. Zimmer is going to love this kid. I also think Zimmer is going to love Mazi. Let him be the 325 lb run stopper that he is supposed to be. This defense will play to his strengths. Can‘t do it with Zimmer then he just can’t do it.
Jones is more of a NT. I personally loved the prospect, but he is more of a 2 down only player, Kneeland has the potential to be more.
Tank sprinkled in a few monster seasons of pass rush productivity…even when the sack numbers weren’t high the pressures and win rates were.
He’s also going to continue to earn more snaps…he’s on a loaded roster so he’ll get more opportunities for pass rush. Kneeland has the athleticism to be more but has shown nothing on tape to make us believe he’ll be a legit pass rusher.
Tank had 2 big sack total years, but the majority of his career he has been a 6-8 sack type of rusher, with excellent run defense. I do feel like Kneeland can become that type of player. His issues in college was that he struggled to finish, where many times his teammates made the plays. Sounds like how DLaw plays today.
Jones has shown nothing to project that he will be a 3 down player. And certainly not a pass rusher.
It's not an apples to apples comparison, they play 2 different positions and are in a different defensive scheme.
His job is to play the run and take on multiple blockers, very different then what the Cowboys are going to ask Kneeland to do.
But again the advanced pass rush metrics lean in Tanks favor even when the sacks are low…Ex last year he only had 4 sacks but had a 90+ percentile PFF pass rush grade. Indicating he had a solid win rate and a good amount of pressures.
Agree 100%!
Jones is a solid player. But I hear folks comparing Kneeland to Hunter and Karlaftis. Not a reasonable comparison.The Epinesa comparison is a good one. And one that I think Kneeland could certainly be. This team wanted a certain kind of player. They were not going to a consider a 250 lb Edge player. That’s why they were interested in Robinson. They got the next guy on their board. I loved the pic. You can’t win with a bunch of finesse DL.
He is more of a LE that should have the ability to kick inside against the pass. He isn't a weakside, bend around the corner RE type, that cnuball thinks is a worthy pick of a 2nd rd selection. As we discussed, those type of players are usually drafted much earlier. We already have that type of player in Parsons. Problem is, he has struggled stopping the run as a DE and has warn down facing those big Tackles throughout the yr. Kneeland will help fix the early down issues against the run and be apart of the secondary pass rushers within the defensive line. Do they need another situational type of pass rusher? Maybe, maybe not. They did lose Fowler/Armstrong, but they are expecting Sam Williams to take that next step or they will find his replacement next yr.
During the 2 games per season he's not hurt.
Tank had 20 sacks in 2 seasons at Boise. Kneeland less, but 20 at a small college isn't that impressive.
