Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
It's the arm length, IMO.
And I'll preface this by again saying that I love the player and very much wanted us to take him before the draft.
That said, his biggest asset is converting speed to power, IMO. And that IS a little more difficult when you have shorter arms because it's harder to get inside the OLs pads. What really makes that effective is if you can land a punch, rock 'em a little bit and then drive them backwards and/or dip/rip through them.
I don't think the arm length is the sort of thing that will cost him being a productive NFL player, but it MIGHT make things a little more complicated for him or maybe make him someone more adept at crushing the pocket than actually finishing sacks (a little like GK in that regard, though for different reasons).
I like him, but if you wanna know why he fell further than his production and athleticism says he should've, that's why. It's not pure height - it's reach. The height is a little on the shorter side but not brutal; 5'3"ish absolutely works. It's having arms under 32 inches that is a bit disconcerting.
I mean there's a non-zero chance that he ends up a guy like Josh Paschal who can create some pressure and havoc, but isn't gonna go out there and get 8-10 sacks/season.
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... but what if we operate on the assumption that his arm length, like everyone else's, is 3/8 to 5/8 longer than measured at the combine?