Post by Purple Pain on Jan 19, 2021 18:53:17 GMT -6
The Athletic - Gregory Rousseau mocked to the Vikings: Beat writers analyze the fit
theathletic.com/2305453/2021/01/12/gregory-rousseau-vikings-mock-draft/
On Monday, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler made his picks for the entire Vikings draft, including Miami edge rusher Gregory Rousseau in the first round. On Tuesday, Brugler released his NFL Mock Draft 2.0, which — you guessed it — featured Rousseau going to the Vikings at No. 14.
To analyze the pick, Miami beat reporter Manny Navarro and Vikings analyst Arif Hasan teamed up to take a look at Rousseau’s success with Miami and a potential future with the Vikings.
What was Rousseau at Miami?
Before he decided to opt out of the 2020 season because of COVID-19 at the advice of his mother, who is a nurse, Rousseau put together a phenomenal redshirt freshman season for the Hurricanes in 2019, finishing second only to Chase Young in sacks with 15 1/2.
The 6-7, 255-pounder, who has drawn comparisons to All-Pro Calais Campbell, accomplished that even though he didn’t crack Miami’s starting lineup until the sixth game of the season.
During his first five games as a backup, Rousseau produced four sacks and 12 pressures while averaging about 22 snaps per game. During his final eight games as a starter, he produced 38 pressures and another 11 1/2 sacks while averaging 52 snaps per game. He absolutely destroyed Florida State with four sacks and picked up three more a week prior against Pittsburgh.
As dominant as the All-ACC First Team selection and 2019 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year was in 2019, the one knock on him is he hasn’t played defensive end for very long. He also still has a lot to improve when it comes to stopping the run, as coach Manny Diaz noted last May.
A lot of that has to do with the fact Rousseau, a three-star recruit out of Champagnat Catholic, a small private school in Miami, played mostly receiver and safety in high school before Miami coaches recruited him to play defensive end. His first season at Miami, Rousseau fractured his ankle in the second game of the season and missed the rest of the year.
The good news for NFL teams is Rousseau is a grounded, hard worker with an intense work ethic and good attitude. He could become a star in the NFL for years to come. But his rookie season in the NFL is going to include a lot of learning and require a bit of patience from the team taking him.
What could Rosseau be for the Vikings?
The Vikings would be going a little outside of their tendencies with this pick. They haven’t selected a defensive lineman in the first two rounds in the Mike Zimmer era, with the last such player selected coming in 2013 (Sharrif Floyd). The last edge rusher they selected in the first two rounds was Erasmus James in 2005 — before general manager Rick Spielman was in charge of drafts.
That doesn’t mean this is outside the realm of possibility, as it’s hard to remember a time that the Vikings have been this behind when it comes to the strength of their defensive line. They clearly want to invest resources there, as evidenced by their trade for Yannick Ngakoue, and they very may well want to take a second big chance at getting someone to pair with Danielle Hunter.
Zimmer outlined pass rush as a priority this offseason at the end of the season, and someone like Rousseau will certainly be on his radar, as well as with co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Andre Patterson.
Rousseau in particular represents a big risk. With one year of production — and as a late starter who didn’t receive full-time snaps until his sixth game of 2019 — the Vikings would have to put a lot of trust in their scouting and development staff at the position, especially as they hope to beef up his run defense capability, something important to them at the position. The Vikings aren’t afraid of developing players and often have drafted players high at positions they haven’t played much in their careers.
With a low evaluable snap count and only one year of play, his offseason might matter more than most when it comes to his draft stock and how the Vikings view him. But the Vikings like athletes at the position, so if he tests well, they’ll be interested. Other good signs include the fact that he rushed from inside on third downs at Miami, which the Vikings typically like, and that his pressure rate didn’t drop off after earning a starting job.
He’ll likely have a direct path to starting right away opposite Hunter, but the Vikings won’t hand the job to him without competition from Ifeadi Odenigbo and D.J. Wonnum, especially given his development profile. A lot of the burden will fall on whoever wins the job to be effective enough to free up space for Hunter — especially without a clear starter on the interior — and that might fall on Rousseau whether or not he’s fully improved as an edge rusher.
To analyze the pick, Miami beat reporter Manny Navarro and Vikings analyst Arif Hasan teamed up to take a look at Rousseau’s success with Miami and a potential future with the Vikings.
What was Rousseau at Miami?
Before he decided to opt out of the 2020 season because of COVID-19 at the advice of his mother, who is a nurse, Rousseau put together a phenomenal redshirt freshman season for the Hurricanes in 2019, finishing second only to Chase Young in sacks with 15 1/2.
The 6-7, 255-pounder, who has drawn comparisons to All-Pro Calais Campbell, accomplished that even though he didn’t crack Miami’s starting lineup until the sixth game of the season.
During his first five games as a backup, Rousseau produced four sacks and 12 pressures while averaging about 22 snaps per game. During his final eight games as a starter, he produced 38 pressures and another 11 1/2 sacks while averaging 52 snaps per game. He absolutely destroyed Florida State with four sacks and picked up three more a week prior against Pittsburgh.
As dominant as the All-ACC First Team selection and 2019 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year was in 2019, the one knock on him is he hasn’t played defensive end for very long. He also still has a lot to improve when it comes to stopping the run, as coach Manny Diaz noted last May.
A lot of that has to do with the fact Rousseau, a three-star recruit out of Champagnat Catholic, a small private school in Miami, played mostly receiver and safety in high school before Miami coaches recruited him to play defensive end. His first season at Miami, Rousseau fractured his ankle in the second game of the season and missed the rest of the year.
The good news for NFL teams is Rousseau is a grounded, hard worker with an intense work ethic and good attitude. He could become a star in the NFL for years to come. But his rookie season in the NFL is going to include a lot of learning and require a bit of patience from the team taking him.
What could Rosseau be for the Vikings?
The Vikings would be going a little outside of their tendencies with this pick. They haven’t selected a defensive lineman in the first two rounds in the Mike Zimmer era, with the last such player selected coming in 2013 (Sharrif Floyd). The last edge rusher they selected in the first two rounds was Erasmus James in 2005 — before general manager Rick Spielman was in charge of drafts.
That doesn’t mean this is outside the realm of possibility, as it’s hard to remember a time that the Vikings have been this behind when it comes to the strength of their defensive line. They clearly want to invest resources there, as evidenced by their trade for Yannick Ngakoue, and they very may well want to take a second big chance at getting someone to pair with Danielle Hunter.
Zimmer outlined pass rush as a priority this offseason at the end of the season, and someone like Rousseau will certainly be on his radar, as well as with co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Andre Patterson.
Rousseau in particular represents a big risk. With one year of production — and as a late starter who didn’t receive full-time snaps until his sixth game of 2019 — the Vikings would have to put a lot of trust in their scouting and development staff at the position, especially as they hope to beef up his run defense capability, something important to them at the position. The Vikings aren’t afraid of developing players and often have drafted players high at positions they haven’t played much in their careers.
With a low evaluable snap count and only one year of play, his offseason might matter more than most when it comes to his draft stock and how the Vikings view him. But the Vikings like athletes at the position, so if he tests well, they’ll be interested. Other good signs include the fact that he rushed from inside on third downs at Miami, which the Vikings typically like, and that his pressure rate didn’t drop off after earning a starting job.
He’ll likely have a direct path to starting right away opposite Hunter, but the Vikings won’t hand the job to him without competition from Ifeadi Odenigbo and D.J. Wonnum, especially given his development profile. A lot of the burden will fall on whoever wins the job to be effective enough to free up space for Hunter — especially without a clear starter on the interior — and that might fall on Rousseau whether or not he’s fully improved as an edge rusher.
theathletic.com/2305453/2021/01/12/gregory-rousseau-vikings-mock-draft/
... and neither is this Chris guy.