NT Options-To help stop the run

I will join the chorus and say that all these dudes look like 2nd rounders. Here's how I'd evaluate and rank them.

  • Benton is my beat-the-table guy this year. He was a gamer against the run at Wisconsin and was productive there, then he showed in the Senior Bowl that he's a damn good pass rusher too. Dude is a 6'4" 315 DT with run-pass versatility and plus college production, and looks like he could play any spot inside on all 3 downs. Top 50 pick for sure, and if he has a strong Combine, I could even see him rising to our first round pick... he'd really have no holes in his profile at that point.

  • Dexter looks pretty darn good. He is very athletic... 1T strong, but fast and agile enough to chase ball carriers and shoot gaps. My question mark with him is that he was consistently the last guy off the LoS in college... I don't know if his get-off is really that slow, or if Florida was coaching him to do that. He made plays as a pass rusher in spite of that, so if he was being coached to hold back, he could explode at the next level when turned loose.

  • Smith is your classic good athlete, bad football player. He was #1 on Bruce Feldman's Freak List this offseason, and #2 was Marvin Harrison Jr, so we know he's got the tools. But a guy that talented should have more than 6 career TFLs, right? He has bad pad level and more concerningly doesn't show much effort, just kind of stops and plays paddy-cake with OLs. Smith is the kind of boom-or-bust athlete you gamble on in the second, but I wouldn't feel amazing about it.

  • Ika is a huge dude, but I don't really see special athleticism from him. He's no Vea or Derrick Brown. He is mobile enough at a whopping 350 lbs to safely project him as a starting NT, but I don't know how much of a ceiling he has beyond that. His best case scenario is that he becomes DJ Reader, and just crushes the run for the two downs he's on the field.
 
beware_d-ware said:
I will join the chorus and say that all these dudes look like 2nd rounders. Here's how I'd evaluate and rank them.

  • Benton is my beat-the-table guy this year. He was a gamer against the run at Wisconsin and was productive there, then he showed in the Senior Bowl that he's a damn good pass rusher too. Dude is a 6'4" 315 DT with run-pass versatility and plus college production, and looks like he could play any spot inside on all 3 downs. Top 50 pick for sure, and if he has a strong Combine, I could even see him rising to our first round pick... he'd really have no holes in his profile at that point.

  • Dexter looks pretty darn good. He is very athletic... 1T strong, but fast and agile enough to chase ball carriers and shoot gaps. My question mark with him is that he was consistently the last guy off the LoS in college... I don't know if his get-off is really that slow, or if Florida was coaching him to do that. He made plays as a pass rusher in spite of that, so if he was being coached to hold back, he could explode at the next level when turned loose.

  • Smith is your classic good athlete, bad football player. He was #1 on Bruce Feldman's Freak List this offseason, and #2 was Marvin Harrison Jr, so we know he's got the tools. But a guy that talented should have more than 6 career TFLs, right? He has bad pad level and more concerningly doesn't show much effort, just kind of stops and plays paddy-cake with OLs. Smith is the kind of boom-or-bust athlete you gamble on in the second, but I wouldn't feel amazing about it.

  • Ika is a huge dude, but I don't really see special athleticism from him. He's no Vea or Derrick Brown. He is mobile enough at a whopping 350 lbs to safely project him as a starting NT, but I don't know how much of a ceiling he has beyond that. His best case scenario is that he becomes DJ Reader, and just crushes the run for the two downs he's on the field.
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How would you compare Benton to Alabama's Mathis who was drafted by Washington last yr?

We also got to remember, 2 down run pluggers also fall.
 
Cowboyny said:
How would you compare Benton to Alabama's Mathis who was drafted by Washington last yr?

We also got to remember, 2 down run pluggers also fall.
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I remember thinking he went a round too early. Don't remember much about him as a prospect.
 
Cowboyny said:
A'Shaun Robinson from the Rams, is going to be cheap, but would be an excellent value signing. He was one of the reasons why the Rams were so good against the run during their SB run 2 years ago. I would resign Hankins and add a player like Robinson. Think his estimated contract value is like 3 million per year. Probably right about how they usually would address the position.
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He was on IR the last 7 games of 2022. I don't know anything about his injury.

He earned about 18.6M over 3 years with the Rams (~6.2M AAV).
 
Cowboyny said:
I really believe the team is going to use fa to fortify this position, but with Stephen and his cheap ways, they may just go that route again and sign another Watkins type.

-Saiki Ika Baylor-the so called poor man's Vea.
-Mazi Smith Michigan-the #1 on the athletic freaks list
-Gervin Dexter Florida/Keeanu Benton Wisconsin-can play either 1 or the 3T.

All of these prospects appear to be more 2nd rounders.
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They have to be more than a run plugger to get drafted in the 2nd.

There are exceptions, but generally in the modern era run plugger-only types don't get drafted early and don't get big contracts.

Andrew Billings always come to mind in that regard.

Vita Vea was the Bucs top pass rusher in 2022...
 
xwalker said:
He was on IR the last 7 games of 2022. I don't know anything about his injury.

He earned about 18.6M over 3 years with the Rams (~6.2M AAV).
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Was some sort of arm injury, where I heard he should be fine for next season. pff stated his estimated salary for going to be 3.5 million I believe. He will certainly come cheaper then the top guys
 
xwalker said:
They have to be more than a run plugger to get drafted in the 2nd.

There are exceptions, but generally in the modern era run plugger-only types don't get drafted early and don't get big contracts.

Andrew Billings always come to mind in that regard.

Vita Vea was the Bucs top pass rusher in 2022...
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I agree, they won’t draft a two down player until day 3, they have to have rush skills to be considered higher
 
xwalker said:
They have to be more than a run plugger to get drafted in the 2nd.

There are exceptions, but generally in the modern era run plugger-only types don't get drafted early and don't get big contracts.

Andrew Billings always come to mind in that regard.

Vita Vea was the Bucs top pass rusher in 2022...
Click to expand...
Really good ones with pass rush potential get drafted before the 3rd.

Jordan Davis just went in the 1st he offered zero pass rush as a prospect. Terrible pick IMO but it happened.

I bet Mazi Smith goes in the 2nd this year. Good run player bad pass rusher but great athlete - some team will be on his traits.
 
I’m telling you right now… Benton is the one to get. He is just country strong, is mature and loves to play the game. He does have a high ceiling, but his floor is also high IMO. He will be a solid player, at worst. He can do whatever you want him to do on the DL, and he’ll do a good job doing it.

Because he’s a good football player, and because he showed at the Sr. Bowl that he has some pass rush potential, and because he will test well and interview well at the combine… I think he will end up going in the first round. Initially I had hoped that he could possibly slip to Dallas’ second round pick, but that’s not going to happen. He will go in the first.

I really like the guy and if he tests like I think he will, I would have no problem with him at 26 if that’s what the team wants to do. I doubt they will though.

I wouldn’t want Ika or Smith over Benton because I think he’s simply better… and will be better.
 
AsthmaField said:
I’m telling you right now… Benton is the one to get. He is just country strong, is mature and loves to play the game. He does have a high ceiling, but his floor is also high IMO. He will be a solid player, at worst. He can do whatever you want him to do on the DL, and he’ll do a good job doing it.

Because he’s a good football player, and because he showed at the Sr. Bowl that he has some pass rush potential, and because he will test well and interview well at the combine… I think he will end up going in the first round. Initially I had hoped that he could possibly slip to Dallas’ second round pick, but that’s not going to happen. He will go in the first.

I really like the guy and if he tests like I think he will, I would have no problem with him at 26 if that’s what the team wants to do. I doubt they will though.

I wouldn’t want Ika or Smith over Benton because I think he’s simply better… and will be better.
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Not everyone is going to be taken in rd 1, we always see players slide unexpectedly, especially that position, remember we were all surprised how late the lions got McNeil 2 years ago. The UConn DT slipped to rd 3 last yr
 
Cowboyny said:
Not everyone is going to be taken in rd 1, we always see players slide unexpectedly, especially that position, remember we were all surprised how late the lions got McNeil 2 years ago. The UConn DT slipped to rd 3 last yr
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We will see. There have been a few that did go later than we thought they would… but Benton is solid all the way around. Those types of DT’s tend to go in the first.

It will be interesting to see his combine numbers. I think he will test a little better than people think. If teams have any idea that he might be good rushing the QB, he will rise.
 
I think Benton is slightly a better player than Smith and Ika. But if we’re thinking Benton is a 1st round pick, then I’d rather have Smith in round 2. He has more upside than Benton I can develop into an impact player.
 
AsthmaField said:
We will see. There have been a few that did go later than we thought they would… but Benton is solid all the way around. Those types of DT’s tend to go in the first.

It will be interesting to see his combine numbers. I think he will test a little better than people think. If teams have any idea that he might be good rushing the QB, he will rise.
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I loved both McNeil/Travis Jones and would of taken them both with our 2nd rd pick as I did believe they both had upside as interior pass rushers with being stout run defenders entering the league. Just think the sweet spot is the 3rd rd for these types of players. Based on this team's history, they will only consider 3T's with high selections, as I believe they will view him more as a 1.
 
Cowboyny said:
A'Shaun Robinson from the Rams, is going to be cheap, but would be an excellent value signing. He was one of the reasons why the Rams were so good against the run during their SB run 2 years ago. I would resign Hankins and add a player like Robinson. Think his estimated contract value is like 3 million per year. Probably right about how they usually would address the position.
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Didn’t realize he was a FA only 27 years old so fairly young.
 
AsthmaField said:
I’m telling you right now… Benton is the one to get. He is just country strong, is mature and loves to play the game. He does have a high ceiling, but his floor is also high IMO. He will be a solid player, at worst. He can do whatever you want him to do on the DL, and he’ll do a good job doing it.

Because he’s a good football player, and because he showed at the Sr. Bowl that he has some pass rush potential, and because he will test well and interview well at the combine… I think he will end up going in the first round. Initially I had hoped that he could possibly slip to Dallas’ second round pick, but that’s not going to happen. He will go in the first.

I really like the guy and if he tests like I think he will, I would have no problem with him at 26 if that’s what the team wants to do. I doubt they will though.

I wouldn’t want Ika or Smith over Benton because I think he’s simply better… and will be better.
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Agreed. The only player better is Carter, and he'll be long gone.
 
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