Rousseau

When I ask myself who do I want to be there for us at 7. I keep going back to Gregory Rousseau. I view him as the best EDGE in the class. There is some lack of experience at play, but this guy has a lot of polished traits in addition to the physical freak traits. I don’t know about the human being, which is huge when you take someone this high. They played him all over the Dline, even head up over the Center at 253lbs. He has the length, explosion, bend, awareness that are top EDGE type traits IMHO. Will he be there is the question.

I’ve got 3 QB’s going before we pick, Lawrence, Wilson and Fields. Then Sewell the monster OT going to Cinci. That leaves 2 picks with Chase on the board as the top WR. So I think it’s really close. We’ll see…

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He’s really dropping on almost every board I see. TDN has him at 18ish last I checked. PFF at 28. I think his testing will bring him back up (he should hope so), but right now it looks like 7 is a little high.

I like his traits of course but I don’t like that almost all of his production came when he was flexed inside against guys who won’t sniff the league. And I’m real interested to see what his 3-cone is, his lateral agility looks a little questionable to me as well.

Not playing this season hurt him a lot I think. He’ll do well at the combine, but not great IMO. A lot of unknown with prospects like him. If he’s a top EDGE that was just hiding with the opt outs we cannot pass on him.

I can’t get with the phrase “almost all” of his production… This is just not accurate. Plenty of EDGE snaps here.

I agree he doesn’t look like a Gumby bend type prospect like Robert Quinn was, but guys get lateral in different ways. The Bosa’s don’t have much bend, Josh Allen isn’t Quinn-like either. But all three disengage their blocks quickly and have an athletic pivot back inside that is still dynamic and happens quicker than guys can react. 19.5 TFL’s from the Dline is impressive. Don’t give a ton of credence to Big Boards this early. I agree not playing hurt him. Which is why that helps him fall to us.

EDGE is interesting as we look forward and away from Patricia’s scheme. I don’t think we can move on from Flowers financially, but I think he’d be more of a LDE in most 4 man fronts as he’s stout against the run, but I’d like more juice from my blindside rusher. I think we could re-sign R Okwara, due to his bro being here as cheaply as he can be had anywhere. But do you throw all your chips behind Flowers and Romeo to generate a much needed pass rush? Then there is little bro Julian. If we move to a defense that doesn’t really favor a JACK LB, does he become a RDE for us? So it’s sort of weird. We’ve been lusting after a rush EDGE player who is dominant for so long, that it’s interesting that a case could be made that it’s not a huge need for us.

For me production means wins and pressure rate and not necessarily the flashy plays that show up on highlight reels. And according to PFF his wins were heavily skewed towards his time in the interior, and he was played there a lot.

I’m not as down on highlights as some. Yes full game tapes are ideal, but highlights do show what a guy “can” do. Those “flashy plays” happened. Over and over again. He did play on the interior “a lot,” but that doesn’t equal “almost all” of his production… Again that just isn’t accurate.

Well we’ll have to agree to disagree. I say most of his production, including win and pressure rate, were accomplished from the inside. In fact a good chunk of the scouting reports I read have his best NFL position being along the interior for that reason. Here’s just one example from a quick google:

Of course we could use interior pressure as well (perhaps more than we do at edge), I just wouldn’t take him at 7 overall.

This guy has a very high ceiling, but needs time to develop

Fair, I’d have to see that data to put a flag in the ground and we are clearly in the semantic zone with me being fine with “a lot” not fine with “nearly all.”

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He looks like an absolute freak to me on film. No idea why his stock is dropping, right up there with Parsons for me as guys I want at 7 assuming we aren’t going QB.

Here are some full game tapes:

Virginia. I counted 8 interior Dline snaps, but it was only 3 through most of the game. 4 of them were the final 4 plays of the game with under a minute left in 3 man fronts.

FSU. I counted 6 interior Dline snaps. The tape ends with 5:40 left in the game, so there may have been more.

Man I see potential due to length, but I don’t see an explosive first step, and it seems he relied on his bull rush more than anything.

I think Paye is far more of a freak athlete, moreso than even Gary was. I think he has more polish as well.

To be honest, Im not a fan of either at 7, but Id give the edge to Paye

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Agreed, there’s just not a very good edge option. And if there was, Atlanta would take him. They’re crying out for one.

However I am intrigued to see how high Azeez Ojulari can rise during the pre-draft process. He’s my personal favorite edge. I expect the teens will be about as high as he gets, but he reminds me of Josh Allen, who was a mid-late 1st rounder before going back to Kentucky, dominated, and going top ten.

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I think Paye will be a good all around DE, but he doesnt bring much in the way of pass rush. Similar to Gary, just not good at getting to the passer.

I’m not sure, I think he could be really good, but could be just avg. Gary I think is out of position in a 3-4, I think he could be really good in a 4-3 but who knows

I see him as a higher ceiling Ansah and that’s not bad. He’s not going to get shorter and he has that freakish length (no homo). He will get bigger, stronger and learn more hand usage / refinement. Add that to what he shows he can do from all over the front four, well I would be happy at 7 for this guy on the field.

I do agree with you about lack of explosive first step. He is a tick slow. But he translates speed to power, sheds everyone that gets on him and shows great closing instincts. I don’t know about the neck up on the kid. That would be make or break for me at 7. But a guy that chases plays like he does on most snaps, I feel like the needle is pointing north on “football character.” Whether he’s a saint or doucher, don’t know. I’ll spend some time on Paye as maybe we trade down a bit with the new regime.

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I like this guy. What about with a trade down?

Rousseau or Parsons are the guys I’ve been eyeing the past year. A comp that I think fits pretty well is Aldon Smith when he was lighting it up in San Fran.

I just don’t see how you can pass on adding a blue chip piece to your front 7 after what we’ve seen on D the past several years. Just think back to all that time opposing QBs have had to sit back and pick our secondary apart.

GR can bring the heat in a serious upfield fashion. TFLs, sacks, batted balls, hits, pressures, forced fumbles…if you want to win games the defense MUST improve. For the Defense to improve, you’ve got to start stuffing the stat sheet with those plays. You just can’t keep putting that off.

Yes, DeVonta Smith would be an exotic toy, so would Chase. But if we learned anything from Millen it’s that WRs are exciting on draft day but rarely make the ultimate difference in the win column.

Holmes needs to take the BPA…let’s hope that’s a front 7 defender.

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Aldon Smith was a total freak athlete. I agree that they’ve got somewhat simliar length, but Rousseau isn’t close to the athlete Smith was/is. The best comp I’ve seen for him is Arik Armstead and I like that one. And Arik Armstead’s a good player.

I think that’s a good assessment, and I see where your thinking is. I even agree. I think Paye has the freakish athleticism…if he can fulfill his potential, to be a Dwight Freeney type. He hasn’t reached it to this point, don’t know if he ever will.

I think for me without a trade down, I lean towards Sewell or Smith. I think both are stars in waiting.

I don’t love our DE’s but I really don’t like our DTs or LBers. Okwara if we can bring him back, along with Flowers and J. Okwara , Bryant I like better than our DTs by a long shot

Parsons worries me that high and as of now I don’t see a DT worthy of 7. So I guess as of now at 7 I want the biggest impact player and lean towards Sewell and Smith. Though I really hope I see a DT or LBer im missing, or a trade down, lol

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