Late round LB

[Burma]

There is a kid from Vanderbilt named Stephen Weatherly that has caught my eye.  He's a 6'4" 267lb DE who Vandy moved to a 3-4 OLB in 2015. I can not find much info on him online yet, other than his stats and his combine performance.  I don't know enough about Vanderbilt to know what their defense philosophy was and how that influenced his stats. But he turned in a good combine performance and really impressed at his Pro-day where he ran linebacker drills.  

I compared his testing results from the combine  with some of the other linebackers projected high as well as a few mid round prospects and the Forrest kid from Kentucky the Bengals were interested in. He compared very well, to even the elite prospects.

• 8th in the 40 @ 4.61 (Darron Lee 4.47, Leonard Floyd 4.60, Joshua Perry 4.68, Ragland 4.72, Eric Striker 4.8, Josh Forrest 4.91)
• T-2nd in 10 yard split @ 1.59 (Lee 1.55, Floyd 1.6, Perry 1.65, Ragland 1.66, Striker 1.69, Forrest 1.7)
• T-5th in 3 cone 7.07 (Lee 7.12, Floyd DNP, Perry DNP, Ragland DNP, Striker 7.3, Forrest DNP)
• T-11th in Short Shuttle @ 4.42 (Lee 4.2, Floyd DNP, Perry DNP, ragland 4.28, Striker 4.46,  Forrest DNP)
• T-12th in Vert @ 31" (Lee, 35.5, Floyd 39.5, Perry 33.5, Ragland 31.5, Striker 30, Forrest 30.5)
• 9th in Broad @ 9'-9" (Lee 11-1, Floyd 10-7,Perry 10-4, Ragland 9.8, Striker 9.8, Forrest 9-10)
• T-2nd in Bench @ 23 (Lee 17, Floyd DNP, Perry 20, Ragland DNP, Striker 23, Forrest 11)
  

Here are his season stats which are only for 12  games. Some, like Ragland had 15.

Player_____ FF__Solo__Asst_Total__TFL__Sacks__INT__PBU__QB Hurries
Weatherly ___2___29____17___46___9.5_____3.5_____0___3_____9
Darron Lee___2___36____30___66___11______4.5_____1___2_____7
L. Floyd_____0___37____37___74___10.5_____4.5_____0___3____10
J. Perry_____0___53____52___105___7.5_____3.5_____0___4_____4
R. Ragland___2___60____42___102___6.5____2.5_____0___7_____6
Eric Striker__1____41____26___67___19______7.5_____1___3____11
J. Forrest____1____39____54___93____6_____3.5_____2___5_____2

He checked off all the boxes, big, fast, agile, strong, and productive when he gets near the QB.  He could be a very useful pickup that could split time at DE and SAM. I would hope he is considered if he's still on the board after the 5th round.

[SunsetBengal]

That's great and all, I'm sure that a team that runs the 3-4 scheme will likely pick him up. 

[*SHRacerX*]

(03-07-2016, 11:51 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: That's great and all, I'm sure that a team that runs the 3-4 scheme will likely pick him up. 

Don't forget that Paulie and Zim were trying to get a player that would allow them to give both 4-3 and 3-4 looks.  This type of hybrid is exactly what could accomplish this.  However, to be safe, you would really need two of them and there simply isn't another guy like that on our roster.  Maybe if a Noah Spence fell in Round 1 (I doubt it), but you would also need depth at the position.  

[SFmajor]

Nice Rush End player. perhaps a UDFA for signing a Rookie Minimum Salary to and start him out the ML way for development.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

Sounds like a guy who could play SAM, maybe rush the passer as a nickel DE?

Marvin likes the 3-4 OLBer types. Lawson and Harrison are the two obvious ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

[SFmajor]

Now that Rey has signed, I think that LB will not be a priority in this year's Draft. Maybe a UDFA at the rookie minimum for this year.

[Goalpost]

(03-10-2016, 03:49 PM)SFmajor Wrote: Now that Rey has signed,  I think that LB will not be a priority in this year's Draft.  Maybe a UDFA at the rookie minimum for this year.

I still think LB has issues.  Porter was a fail..now gone, Lamur is signed elsewhere, and Burfict is suspended. Flowers is also coming off a shoulder injury.  That leaves Rey, Maualuga, Hawk, Dawson and Roach...kind of thin to start the year with.