Edge Rushers - When To Grab Them and Who To Get

[polk_high_allstar]

I think we're all in agreement that getting a quality edge rusher in this year daft is the number one priority.  Would like to gauge other people views on where we take one and who it will be.

 

For myself I am really liking the idea of taking either Barnett, McKinley or Williams in a trade down scenario.  I feel that all are very close in ability and would be a great fit in our 3-4 base at edge.  So if we could trade down to the early to mid 20's and get another pick to add to the defense it could be huge.

 

Thoughts

[Colts_Fan12]

It's highly likely that barnett is gone before our pick so won't even be an option after a trade down McKinley is also prolly not gonna happen and if Tim does good at the combine he will go earlier to its a horrible idea to trade back if our first target is and edge rusher 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

when we pick I think we will have some choices of draftees that dropped.

I think Fournette and Foster will be available. I'm guessing Ballard picks Foster.

I'm not against trading back and getting Tim Williams AND a 2nd rd. pick

 

[Track Guy]

I really think we should get at least 2 of them. Depends on what we do in free agency to some extent, but I think you have to consider names like Thomas, Barnett, Lawson, McKinley, Williams, Watt, Mathis, Smoot, Harris, Willis, Carraway, Price, Basham, Bowser, Rivers, English, Sickles etc and figure out which ones we have a shot at and when - then weigh their impact on the alternatives. 

 

Personally I want us to pick up impact players at RG and RB. Then on defense add a CB, a couple of speedy edge rushers, a couple of rangy ILBs, and probably a NT somewhere in there. Free agency and the draft should combine to be able to do this in some manner, and it would be best if our free agency sets us up to stick as true to as close to our board as possible - because reaching for need is a dangerous pitfall. 

[COLTS449]

LOL I hope some * GM takes Barnett before our pick, as that would just help push one of the real beasts down to us. Williams/Charlton/McKinley. I see Barnett as a 7-8 sack a year, all around EDGE rusher, while I see those other 3 as game wrecking 10-15 sack a year studs. Kinda like comparing Robert Ayers to Chandler Jones, Von Miller, etc. I think Williams is the real deal. I want a pure pass rusher any day over a good pass rusher, and besides T-Will should improve against the run after he gets to the league. I like Harris too, but only if we trade down and pick up an extra 2nd or so. One of the 3 I listed will be there at 14/15. Philly will probably go WR. Ross or Davis IMO.....

[UKColt13]

There is a massive drop off after the 1st round at OLB.

 

Barnett is dropping due to athletic concerns. If he doesn't surprise at the combine I can see him falling to the bottom of the first on draft night. People may end up seeing him as a 4-3 only guy. No bad thing, but it limits his landing spots.

 

McKinley will probably stick around to the late teens.

 

Solomon Thomas has top 10 written all over him.

 

Williams, excluding the weed speculation, worries me since he doesn't seem to be an all around player and has had issues picking up schemes in the past. I need to find time to watch more of his tape, but his wonderlic will interest me. He is a very talented rusher though. A lot needs to check out before I'm comfortable taking him at #14, including the story on those drug test rumours.

 

Charlton is just the sort of guy that will either go in the top 10 because someone will fall in love with his potential (Dion Jordan) or will hang around to the bottom of the 1st because people wanted to see more on tape (Ziggy Ansah). 

 

I think there will be options at #14, wherever we decide to go with our 1st, FA will be very telling. 

 

I'm hoping we have the option to trade down and pick up maybe an extra 2, or at least an extra 3. You can pick 1st day talent in the 2nd with a defensive class as deep as this.

[KB]

I think picking one early is a given with all the names listed above. I wouldn't expect us to pick another until the later rounds. The later round guys I have been looking at are Ejuan Price and Joe Mathis. I started looking into Samson Ebukam from Eastern Washington last night. Late round guy but alot of potential. 6' 3" 240. Has good traits that can't be taught like snap explosion and bend around the edge. The bad ones are teachable like run support discipline and such. Read his scouting report from the steelers website. It goes in pretty good detail. Have yet to watch his draft breakdown tape.

[ColtsBlueFL]

Any idea is a player like Jordan Willis of K State would be available in later rounds?

 

I used to enjoy OPC's 'late round prospects' posts here.  The real value in a draft is finding and choosing those gems that slips through the crowd of evaluators into obscurity, until one lucks into 'finding them' and putting them on their back half of the big board.  If/when those types pan out, it is a real boon for the club.  We all expect earlier round players to make the team and contribute.  But the later round guys often just aren't good enough to contribute at a high enough level and don't stick around long.

 

I, personally, an interested in round 4-6 type guys that may (even if offset by weaknesses) have upper echelon talent that is undervalued or overlooked.  I hope he, and others that want to do the same, bring that to the forums this draft season once more.

[Indy Fan]

Takk in the first and Lawson in the second. Can't wait to see some combine results because that is going to shape up the board for me. I like Barnett's straight line speed and bend however I want to see his cone speed to see if he could 3-4 OLB. 

[ColtsBlueFL]

3 hours ago, polk_high_allstar said:

I think we're all in agreement that getting a quality edge rusher in this year daft is the number one priority.  Would like to gauge other people views on where we take one and who it will be.

 

For myself I am really liking the idea of taking either Barnett, McKinley or Williams in a trade down scenario.  I feel that all are very close in ability and would be a great fit in our 3-4 base at edge.  So if we could trade down to the early to mid 20's and get another pick to add to the defense it could be huge.

 

Thoughts

 

Two things must happen for this to work, and often  they don't pan out.

 

One, trading partner.  Team you want to trade with must ~

     a. Have a player in mind to take that they Know_Won't_Make it to them at their current spot, and agree on      compensation to get to move up.

 

     b. And the Colts have a player(s) in mind  to get once the trade occurs. , After moving down, those players need to still be there on the board as their pick comes up. 

 

Otherwise the trade was foolish. Teams don't move down into lower talent areas to get players unless they know the guy they want will still be on the board at their new picking position. Or there will be other players at other positions graded the same or slightly higher.

 

 

 

[tvturner]

We've gotta target Joe Mathis in the late rounds, he's a sleeper pick

[Indy Fan]

12 minutes ago, Boomstick1 said:

We've gotta target Joe Mathis in the late rounds, he's a sleeper pick

Joe Mathis is converting to EDGE?

[tvturner]

17 minutes ago, Indy Fan said:

Joe Mathis is converting to EDGE?

He's classified as a DE right now

[Indy Fan]

5 minutes ago, Boomstick1 said:

He's classified as a DE right now

O you are talking about JoJo from Washington, gotcha.

[COLTS449]

.

[Defjamz26]

Takk McKinley is the ideal 1st round pick for me. Easily projects to a 3-4. Charlton is an option but the lack of production worries me.

 

2nd round I like Carl Lawson unless guys like Reddick or Baker are there. Smooth might also be an option there if he tests well.

 

The Colts should really be looking for an edge rusher in the first 2 rounds because I don't really see anyone super talented being available in the later rounds.

[2006Coltsbestever]

8 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

Takk McKinley is the ideal 1st round pick for me. Easily projects to a 3-4. Charlton is an option but the lack of production worries me.

 

2nd round I like Carl Lawson unless guys like Reddick or Baker are there. Smooth might also be an option there if he tests well.

 

The Colts should really be looking for an edge rusher in the first 2 rounds because I don't really see anyone super talented being available in the later rounds.

I agree 100%. My 1st 2 picks would be Takk and then Lawson - 2 Pass Rushers, then I would go RB in Round 3 with either Hunt or Foreman - I like both backs should be there in Round 3. I really don't even need my own Thread for a Mock because I already have Posted what I think our first 3 picks should be IMO on a couple of other Threads. After that I really have no idea who we should take and Free Agency is such a crapshoot so I don't even want to begin to guess how Ballard will handle that. I do love reading the full Mock's on here though and Free Agent guesses so I appreciate when you guys Post them.

[Defjamz26]

2 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I agree 100%. My 1st 2 picks would be Takk and then Lawson - 2 Pass Rushers, then I would go RB in Round 3 with either Hunt or Foreman - I like both backs should be there in Round 3. I really don't even need my own Thread for a Mock because I already have Posted what I think our first 3 picks should be IMO on a couple of other Threads. After that I really have no idea who we should take and Free Agency is such a crapshoot so I don't even want to begin to guess how Ballard will handle that. I do love reading the full Mock's on here though and Free Agent guesses so I appreciate when you guys Post them.

I don't think he'll go after a high dollar pass rusher. I think he'll just draft 1 or 2. McKinley makes sense. HWS like he likes and interestingly enough Zerlein says his pro comparison is Tamba Hali, which would appeal to Ballard. He says he believes that you can't buy a team so I suggest he'll probably sign a CB like Kirkpatrick and draft pass rushers because the class is so deep.

[akcolt]

1 hour ago, Defjamz26 said:

I don't think he'll go after a high dollar pass rusher. I think he'll just draft 1 or 2. McKinley makes sense. HWS like he likes and interestingly enough Zerlein says his pro comparison is Tamba Hali, which would appeal to Ballard. He says he believes that you can't buy a team so I suggest he'll probably sign a CB like Kirkpatrick and draft pass rushers because the class is so deep.

The draft is deep at Edge and CB. In fact CB looks to be the deepest position to me. Why do you think we sign a CB in FA? 

 

I would like to see ILB as the FA focus. I don't think we go nuts in FA like I've seen in a lot of the off season mocks posted here. I think we should try to bring in Hodges and/or Brown at ILB. There isn't much Day 1 help in the draft at ILB.

 

I think we need day 1 help at ILB. We are going to have trouble if Morrison starts. You are as strong as your weakest link or as slow whatever the case may be. I'm more comfortable with Melvin at corner than Morrison at ILB. 

 

As as far Edge Rushers for us at 15  I'm looking at Thomas Taco or McKinley.  

 

The 2nd guys like Williams walker Harris Lawson and Wyatt then in the 3rd Willis Anderson Smoot and Basham.

 

Day 3 guys Wise Rivers Biegal Hall Carraway Fields Phillips and Davis. My guy day 3 if he doesn't start climbing is Jo Jo Mathis. 

 

Thats where I'd be comfortable taking guys now before the combine.  Williams most likely won't be there in the 2nd but as long as the league tests for pot I would be shy of him in the 1st. 

[JRnINDY]

Rd1...We need the best pure pass rusher in the draft....Tim Williams..

 

come back in with one of our 4ths for JoJo Mathis

[polk_high_allstar]

Anybody else not feeling Taco?  If he added some bulk i could see him sliding out to 3-4 DE in our system but don't like him at edge.  His lack of production college is concerning too.

[Shive]

Edge seems like a deep class, which it is, but how much true top level taren't there is is questionable. Garrett is an absolute beast, and will be a top 3 pick. After him, the rest each have their question marks.

 

Takk is regarded as having the highest upside, but also the lowest floor (boom or bust). He has the physical tools, but is still raw as far as technique, especially his hand usage. I'd be ok using a 1st on him.

 

Barnett I'm not sold on making the transition to 3-4 OLB. I think he'd be best as a 4-3 DE. With his limited athleticism, I'd be concerned about a potential Werner 2.0. I wouldn't even have him on my board, as I don't feel he is a scheme fit, nor athletic enough to warrant our 1st RD pick.

 

Tim Williams is as sure of a pure pass rusher as there is in this draft, although he comes with the obvious baggage and concerns about ability to play the run & understand the defensive scheme. If he interviews well and the rumors are found to be just that, I'd use our 1st on him. Otherwise, I'd still consider him in the 2nd & would jump on him if he fell to the 3rd.

 

Taco is intriguing, but the lack of production is a concern, as he is a 1 year wonder but did play well late and in big games. He could be in the consideration for 1st and he's a no-brainer if he falls to our 2nd.

 

The guy I LOVE is Hassan Reddick. I know he shined as an ILB at the Senior Bowl, but he is such an athletic beast, I couldn't pass up on him. Despite playing against lesser competition at Temple, he can do it all: edge, play the run inside and set the edge, and is excellent in space. He could stand to add a little weight and strength, but he has every skill you could ever want from the position and plays with a huge chip on his shoulder. I'd use our 1st RD pick..

 

Later Round Guys:

-Ryan Anderson - A sure prospect. You know exactly what you're getting, no world beaters, but a solid edge guy that will consistently execute and do his job to a T. The Patriots' defense is filled with guys like this and you see how good their defense has been. 3rd RD all day, but no higher.

- Derek Rivers - Played against lower level of competition, but I really like what I see on tape so far. Would consider him with 4th RD comp pick, definitely in the 5th.

- Devonte Fields - Ridiculously athletic. He's lightning fast off the line and has crazy closing speed, which helps not only in the pass rush, but also stopping the run with backside pursuit. He's extremely raw and needs to add some bulk, but he's a project that could seriously pay off. I'd consider him with the 4th comp pick, and definitely with our 5th.

[Andrew Luck fan club]

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[throwing BBZ]

Love the excitement, let`s gamble with our 1st rd pick.