Hunter Dimick, DE/OLB, Utah

[stitches]

Dimick was one of the sacks leaders in the country this season, but he didn't get an invite to the combine, probably because of perceived lack of high end athleticism and short arms(31" measured at the Shrine game). It seems like teams might have slightly underestimated him. According to reports he ran 4.69 40 yard dash, did 38 reps on the bench press and had 120" broad jump at his pro-day. That's at 6'3", 268lbs! Those are numbers in the realm of what Solomon Thomas did at the combine.

 

Here's what Tony Pauline wrote about him last week:

Quote

Utah’s Hunter Dimick wasn’t invited to the combine and may go undrafted, but after watching the game film I feel reasonably sure he will play on Sundays. Dimick plays with a non-stop motor and is a disruptive force behind the line of scrimmage besides showing the ability to make plays in space.

 

And after his pro-day, about what he's hearing from scouts:
 

Quote

I’m hearing a lot of positive notes from the Utah's pro day, but the praise for Hunter Dimick has been deafening.

Dimick, who was a combine snub, measured 6030 and 268 pounds, completed 38 reps on the bench press and then ran as fast as 4.69s in the 40. He was then put through defensive line drills and also did a few drops into coverage.

During the March 13 edition of Monday Musings, I stated that I felt reasonably sure Dimick would play on Sundays. After today I feel the need to apologize to Hunter for underestimating him.

 

I haven't studied him enough, besides whatever I've seen while watching several Utah games, but he might be worth diving into a bit more. I was left with the impression that he was winning mainly due to high non-stop motor and effort, but there might be more to him than that.

 

Here are some highlights

 

And here's his draftbreakdown available film:

Unfortunately there's only one game available. I will watch it today and give my opinion in this thread. I might try to find film of other Utah linemen and try to scout him through their film.

 

Have you, guys, seen him play? Any thoughts on him?

 

[I'm mad, bro]

If thats a true time wow. I would've loved to get him as a UDFA, not likely anymore. 

[krunk]

I had watched his film some weeks ago. Good ball player.

[stitches]

Just watched a couple of games of him. Besides the one I offered above, here's the film of one of the premier guard prospects in this year's draft Dan Feeney from Indiana playing against Dimick.

 

In this game, Feeney played some right tackle and guard and matched against Dimick a lot. And my oh my, was the outcome a surprise to me. Feeney looked completely outmatched in a lot of snaps against Dimick. Dimick shows very good push and bullrush repeatedly, collapsing the pocket. He seems to have great hand placement that helps him with his bullrush and setting up his swim and rip moves. He does employ some inside moves, although, I'd like to see him use them more frequently when the tackle sells out on the outside. He seems to rely too much on his outside push and pull move sometimes, but I can see why... he threw Feeney on the ground with it like a rag doll a couple of times. The thing I want to see him do better is flatten quickly towards the QB once he beats his man on the outside. Right now it looks a bit awkward and his closing speed does not look elite. He also sometimes takes himself out of the play by going way too far on the outside and the tackle just pushes him out of the way with enough time for the QB to make a play or escape the pocket. He showed a nice spin move to the outside, that you don't see very often and it looked smooth. I'd like to see it as a counter to the inside more often.

 

On the line of scrimmage he seems to set the edge well and closes running lanes OK(could be better, sometimes got taken out) on to the inside, but his lack of length is visible with some missed tackles of runners in his vicinity. The good thing is even when he realizes he probably can't reach the QB he tries to effect the pass(trying to deflect the ball in the air) - he had 8 (!!!!) passes defended this last season! Some of those are on deflections at the line of scrimmage, others are when dropping in coverage.

 

You can see him dropping in coverage at about 5:00, he dropped to cover the big WR on his out route and he did it seamlessly. Two plays later (on 3d and 22) he drops again and covers the crossing receiver in zone... seems like it wasn't his job to follow him all the way, but I can't be sure. The receiver got the pass once Dimick stopped pursuing him, but his teammates made the tackle to force 4th down.

 

About his effort - he doesn't seem to give up on plays, he pursues the passer until the very end. Very good motor. His burts off the ball seems about average - neither great, nor poor.

 

I can say I am intrigued. His other game was not as good as this one I will try to find another one from this year to see if this is the regular level of play he displays. If it is, I can't believe more people are not talking about him. It's also possible Feeney had trouble with him because he's not used to covering on the outside. I'm not sure.

 

[stitches]

Just watching this one:

 

His short area quickness and change of direction don't look too good. He doesn't look athletic whenever he has to change direction in pursuit. His tackling looks lacking here. I don't know why but he hesitates when he has to just go for the tackle and then a little shake from the opponent and he can't recover. Again his short arms show up. Ballage stiff arms him and just blows past him. For what it's worth, he seems to drop in coverage well. His push and pull move to the outside is nice, did it again vs ASU's tackle.

[stitches]

Dimmick vs Cal

 

 

Not much new here - he seems disruptive, but lacks closing speed to finish the plays. He's strong and has good bull rush and pull and rip moves. I love the work of his hands. He also drops in coverage again several times in this game and seems fairly comfortable doing it.

[NewColtsFan]

 

I think this kid has a strong chance of being drafted.     I think it's more likely than not.

 

I think I've read that each year roughly 20-30 kids who were not invited to the Combine get drafted.

 

I suspect Dimick will be one of those guys this year....

 

[stitches]

Here's one more:

 

 

I like Dimick. I think I wouldn't mind drafting him with our 5th round pick. I'm not sure about higher. BTW Lotulelei is a freaking beast. He could have been a NT option for us had he declared.

[AZColt11]

I watched the IU bowlgame against them (yes, I'm the one) but I don't remember much about him.  Maybe cause I wasn't concentrating on him.  Utah had a lot of really good players.

[stitches]

Here's a scouting report on him by NFLMocks:

 

http://nflmocks.com/2017/03/27/hunter-dimick-de-utah-2017-nfl-draft-scouting-report/

 

They are projecting him as a day 3 pick and think he could be a starter at some point.