I would just caution people that both those guys were backing up when he hit them and I have tape of Hockenson where he pancaked a guy. Like I said before, lot’s of rotation on that DL but he has way better skills and is more prepared for the NFL game than AJ Epenesa who after 3 years is finally getting the hang of the NFL after being taken in the 2nd round by the Bills.
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Yeah in the end they’re end they’re just splash plays. But they’re great splashes and show the ceiling… if a OT doesn’t have his feet right, Van Ness can really make them pay. And those are some good tackles for college.
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For this upcoming year, you might be right. But I tend to agree with @Jman that you can’t have enough DL and the best lines rotate. I also think that within a year or two we’ll probably lose the Okwara bros, Harris and Bryant, maybe as soon as this offseason. That will leave us pretty thin on the edge overall and our rotation will suffer. Hutch already led the league in edge snaps, I’m sure that’s not our intention.
It might seem a little high to grab another edge and yeah, it would be great to get one later. But if I told you right now he was the next JJ Watt, you’d take him in a heartbeat right? That’s a tall task, but when you draft a guy this high you’re expecting greatness.
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Good stuff thank you for posting… the Van Ness Monster would be a sweet nickname!
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He prefers Hercules!!
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Man just having a heavy dude like that on one end along with hutch annd Cominsky and Houston with speed, man… that could be a vicious DL.
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For sure, love the idea of continuing to load the D-line with studs. Great D-line play can make average linebackers and average DB’s look way better than they really are. It’s the strategy the Giants used to win 2 super bowls.
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Obviously, yes. If they have a top-10 guy that falls to 18 and it means they usher Harris or Okwara out early, they’d do it. But it would take a stellar prospect slipping to a bargain pick in the draft, IMO.
I agree with that, personally I’d only include Van Ness and Wilson in that, but I know others like Murphy too. But to get one of those 3 I think you’re talking about using the 6th pick and then going CB at 18, something like that. That’s how the value of the draft sets up IMO. So you’ll probably like it even less lol.
Work it out with what you have…
4-3 looks:
Hutch - 3t TBD - McNeil - Paschal
In those 4-3 looks, the TBD 3tech has to be big-bodied enough to stand up to double-teams and stop the run, too.
3-4 looks:
Hutch - Paschal - McNeil - Commish - Houston
Van Ness displaces Paschal in 4-3 looks or Commish in 3-4 looks. (Unless Paschal bulks up to become that interior 3t dude, but I don’t think so.)
I’m just struggling to see value in adding any more Edge/DE/Heavy DE tweeners.
Where my thinking is now, that’d be true. The caveat being what you’ve said regarding the talent shaping up. I mean, you can only pick from who’s available. If there’s only a single tier 1 guy available and he’s an Edge, then you do what you gotta do.
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Rotation, rotation, rotation.
4-3 looks:
Hutch/Cominsky/Van Ness/Houston - 3t/Cominsky/Paschal/Hutch - McNeil/3t/Paschal/Cominsky/Hutch - Paschal/Cominsky/Hutch/Van Ness/Houston
3-4 looks:
Hutch/Houston/Barnes - Paschal/Cominsky/Van Ness/Hutch/3t - McNeil/3t/Cominsky - Cominsky/Van Ness/Paschal/Hutch/3t - Houston/Hutch/Barnes
Drop Hutch from 95% of plays to 75% or so. Paschal and Cominsky spread out at 65% among 3 or 4 different positions, Van Ness and Houston at 60%. Or flip them around some based on play.
Yeah, this is a good attitude. Always draft talent over need.
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This is exactly it when it comes to the defensive line. Keep these guys fresh. Wear down that OL and just hammer them with guys who have a lot more in the tank then they do.
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Yeah, you just fired Romeo, LOL. That’s why I mentioned that I’m probably alone in my thinking… I really do think that Okwara is a lock.
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PFF just updated their rankings on their mock sinulator today and Van Ness is ranked 16th overall.
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Here’s the thing…
What is AG trying to run here? He’s trying to play with only 4 down. “The 4 bigs” as he’s called it. (which is different than Wash’s and Campbell’s reference to the 3 bigs, but that’s for another thread)
When he gets his interior player that matches with McNeil, there will be less rotating inside, IMO. I would expect McNeil and TBD to amass 60-70% of the defensive snaps together.
They’ll still run various sub personnel, even with 3-4 looks I presume, but to make a 4-down defense work, your two interior guys have to be good against the pass and the run. If we put our undersized guys inside too much in 4-down looks, we’re going to get run over like we did in Carolina.
AND, if you’re not drawing double-teams with the 2 inside lineman, you’re not getting Hutch matched up 1-on-1 on the outside.
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Hey, I just copied and pasted yours and added to it lol. So really you were the one to fire Romeo 
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Those were starting lineups, LOL.
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Bingo! Not to mention injuries are going to happen. The best defenses continue to roll 7-8 d-linemen through the game. The less snaps they take, the better the chance they make it through a 17 game season, plus playoffs, because the Lions are going to play 20 games next year right! 
This looks JUST like cominsky
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I think Van Ness has much better explosion, so I expect the jumps and the 10 yards split to be better at the combine (Cominsky was above-average in those areas so it’s not like he’s bad, but I expect LVN to be elite). I also think Van Ness is much stronger than Cominsky was coming out and has a lot better bend. Cominsky is rarely a guy you’d line up on the edge and expect him to corner a tackle to get to the QB. Van Ness can do that.
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