Five Techniques in 2013
 

From Draft Tek:

In a 3-4, this is a tough position to fill. You usually want somebody who is tall, hovering somewhere near 300 lbs, strong as a bull but can still move better than most defensive tackles, the longer his arms the better.

Pretty good fit:

Sheldon Richardson, Missouri: 6'2", 294 lbs, 5.0 40, 30 bench, 32" vertical, 34" arms
Sylvester Williams, North Carolina: 6'3", 313 lbs, 5.0 40, 27 bench, 26.5" vertical, 33+" arms
Joe Kruger, Utah: 6'6", 269 lbs, 4.8 40, 24 bench, 34" vertical, 34" arms
Damion Square, Alabama: 6'2", 293 lbs, DNP at any drills at Combine, 32+" arms
William Campbell, Mighigan: 6'5", 308 lbs, not invited to Combine
Spencer Nealy, Texas A&M: 6'5", 277 lbs, not invited to Combine

Prototypical fit:

Sharrif Floyd, Florida: 6'3", 297 lbs, 4.9 40, no bench yet, 30" vertical, 31+" arms
Margus Hunt, SMU: 6'8", 277 lbs, 4.6 40, 38 bench, 34" vertical, 33+" arms
Datone Jones, UCLA: 6'4", 283 lbs, 4.8 40, 29 bench, 32" vertical, 32+" arms
William Gholston, Michigan State: 6'6", 281 lbs, 4.9 40, 23 bench, 28" vertical, 34" arms.
Quentin Dial, Alabama: 6'5", 318 lbs, DNP at any drills at Combine, 34+" arms
Nick Williams, Samford: 6'4", 309 lbs, 4.9 40, 28 bench, 33" vertical, 34+" arms
Malliciah Goodman, Clemson: 6'4", 276 lbs, 4.87 40, 26 bench, 31.5" vertical, 36+" arms

I'll add sacks and tackles for loss if I feel like it.

By comparison:

Tyson Jackson

6'4"
295 lbs
5.0 40
20 bench
28" vertical
33" arms

Good lord, Tyson. C'mon.

It sounds like everybody wants 3-4 DEs these days to create havoc in the backfield and make big plays. The 1-gap helps that, but I don't know if there are really any players in this draft who can make that kind of difference. Sheldon Richardson seems to have the most potential, but I'm not rolling the dice on any more defensive linemen with bad attitudes.

Pretty hilarious how inferior Tyson Jackson's physical ability is compared to just about everybody in this draft.

Malliciah Goodman is a freak, by the way.

Good size, real good speed, benched 28 with ridiculously long arms.

Where do you see Ezekiel Ansah? Do you think he could work as a 5 tech? If you have Margus Hunt in there, you certainly need Ansah....

Ansah would be a 4-3 DE or a 3-4 OLB. It would be a waste of his talent to put him at the 3-4 DE position.

Yeah he's probably more of a 4-3 DE. He'd be interesting as a 3-4 OLB.

But he's not a 3-4 DE, he's legitimately undersized. Hunt is only slightly undersized (277 lbs to Ansah's 271) but he is amazingly strong (38 reps to Ansah's 21). Plus their skill sets are different. Hunt has a history along the interior line, Ansah's an end.

Gotta love Ansah's arm length (35+"). I think he's a safe pick for passrusher.

Did anyone else read the report that Ansah didn't even ****ing train for the combine? He was to busy taking classes at BYU. That performance at the combine was reportedly just him working out as normal.

****.

Called up the homies and I'm askin y'all
Which court, are y'all playin basketball?
Get me on the court and I'm trouble
Last week ****ed around and got a triple double
Freaking brothers everyway like M.J.
I can't believe, today was a good day

Ziggy is a guy I've had to really check out since the Senior Bowl. Out of nowhere to top pass rusher in the draft!?!

Ansah was 274 and could easily put on a little weight. He also played all over the line at BYU--including nose tackle, if you can believe that.

He has the strength to hold up at the line and is apparently good against the run.

I think he is a freak, and when paired with Tamba and Houston creates nighmarish (for other teams) possibilities if we really switch to an attacking D.

That's just this year, man.

Nobody elite, and all the really good prospects are all about the same talent.

If you move a player's rating up a hair, they end up leapfrogging like 15 other prospects because everybody's so freaking close.

You've got to be kidding me.

That can't be real.

Everybody thinks players can just put on weight:

http://gamedayr.wpengine.netdna-cdn....ah-570x379.jpg

Ziggy, for the most part, is maxed. He can get stronger, but this is his bodytype. Getting more fit will probably only lower his weight, but not by much. His body is NFL ready.

He's going to be fine as a 4-3 DE where he only has to worry about attacking tackles from the edge.

Attacking multiple lineman from the inside, however, is out of his weight class. And as Pest said earlier, a total waste of his talents. You want this guy in space on the edge, not in the slop.

This is from www.rotoworld.com

BYU DE Ezekiel Ansah did not train for February's Scouting Combine, instead focusing on finishing classes at Brigham Young.

Almost every Combine invitee hires a trainer to prepare. Ansah didn't, and he still tore it up. Measuring in at 6'5" and 271 lbs with 35 1/8 inch arms, Ansah posted the sixth fastest forty time (4.63) of 37 defensive linemen who ran, and his 34 1/2 inch vertical tied for seventh. Only Barkevious Mingo had a faster ten yard split (1.56). Ansah's agent claims his forty-yard dash at the Combine was the first he's ever run in his life. We expect Ansah to be drafted in the single digits.

Single digits, ****. That guy's a Top Five pick.

I honestly wouldn't be against taking him #1. At this point....if we can't trade down and we aren't taking Geno Smith.....it comes down to 3 players.

D. Milliner
S. Floyd
E. Ansah

And yes I realize that we have Hali and Houston. But Hali is getting up there in age. You could rotate Ansah in while getting him used to the speed of the NFL and in a year or two....he'd replace Hali.

I still don't see how you aren't impressed by Floyd.

Kid's 20 and he made first team all SEC. He's strong as an ox, his athleticism jumped off the page during the combine and he's a hell of a worker. I love the guy.

If you can get a true difference maker for this 1-gap, you've salvaged the pick; it's the biggest difference we can make at this pick apart from QB.

I'd rather take Hunt at #34....

....****.

Totally agree. I'm very comfortable with that.

I don't think a single GM in the league is, however.

Considering Dorsey's history, he's almost certainly going with the trenches, either LT or DE.

Agreed.

Both Dorsey and Jackson have proven that even if blue chip draft selections don't pan out, they can still be key players for your team if they are the kind of guys who work their ass off. (This could easily be true of Poe as well.)

That's the difference between them and Ryan Sims, who's total lack of work ethic gave him nothing to fall back on when he failed to hit his ceiling.

How did either of them prove that? Jackson's hardly been a guy that works his ass off and Dorsey's never been a key player on even an average football team.

I see you left off the Chiefs #1 overall pick, Star Lotuleilei.

FFS.....if they won't re-sign Albert......then go sign Bushrod. He'll come cheaper than Albert.

Okay...shit has just got weird.

Ansah was physically manhandling linemen at the Senior Bowl; he was literally just throwing them aside. And no, he is not maxed--not even close. What you are looking at is a body in progress: it is a body that had been used for hoops and track. Only recently has he even begun to focus his body on football. One of the reasons why he only has a couple years of football experience is because he felt his body was a "delicate flower" (yes, his words). With his explosiveness and strength--and our move to an attacking defense, I think he would make a great, though unorthodox, 5 tech.

Doesn't really matter though...we're drafting Geno.

lolwut?

IMO, the 10 yard split in a DL's 40 time (burst) as well as their 3 cone time (agility) are reliable indicators of a Dlineman's ability to attack the LOS and make plays in the backfield. Josh Boyd, DT Miss. St., had a 10 yard time of 1.67 sec. (better than Floyd) and an outstanding 3 cone time of 7.16 sec. (same as Georgie LB Alec Ogletree). His 2011 season was as good as any DT in this draft; 51 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and 2 qb hurries. I think he's got the size, strength, agility, and motor to be a good 1 gap DT/DE and should still be available in the 5th round.

There are a multitude of reasons to stay away from interior d-line and 5-techniques high in the draft as fans of this football team should know better than most:

1. The learning curve is steeper than any other position. It takes most guys 3 yrs to finally "get it" and with the way rookie contracts are now you basically spend a first round pick and if you're lucky you might end up having an effective player in your defensive front for all of 2 yrs. Better to spend high draft picks on players that will give you a solid 4 yrs of production.

2. With the way passing dominates todays game their effect on the game is minimal. Most teams go to a 2 down lineman look on passing downs and guys who line up inside don't typically get much done regardless of how good they are. There are a few exceptions like JJ Watt but Tyson Jackson is typical of what you get with a 5-technique.

4. The job is largely about motivation and you take a risk anytime you give guys with a propensity to be fat a lot of money. They can eat themselves onto the bench or out of the league in a hurry (see Dorsey, Glenn). You can find plenty of motivated guys later on in the draft and let them develop over time. See the 49ers dline as an example.

This football team has thrown away enough good draft picks on interior d-line. It's time to get out of the 80's and the Hackoli way and look at the way the modern game is played.