STRENGTHS
Chad reminds me a lot of former LB standout Sean Lee. He has the size, speed, athletic ability, and the high football IQ to be a coach on the field as well as your best player on the field. He shows an excellent burst to the ball and has just enough coverage skills and anticipation skills to play any one of the linebacker positions in any style of defense. Chad has the athletic talent, speed, and size equal to any of the linebackers in this draft. Add that to his high football IQ, instincts to play the position like a defensive coordinator, and his leadership skills and you have yourself a player who just might be one of the best in this draft. So, let the nitpicking begin.
CONCERNS
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah yes, I know most will question the level of competition. I know most will question selecting a linebacker early because of the value of the position. I know most will suggest he is tight in the hips and will struggle to cover like a cornerback as if comparing his cover skills to a cornerback when he is a linebacker is logical! I know what I see on film, and I don’t nit-pick the obvious when I see the obvious, I draft them instead and, in this case, I would draft this one early.
BOTTOM LINE: 1.43
Cowboys selected Sean Lee at the 55th pick in the 2nd round. I had Sean listed in that draft as one of my top ten players. Panthers selected Luke Kuechly as the 9th pick in the 1st round in that draft. I had Luke listed on my board in the 2nd round because I felt he wasn’t strong enough against the run and seemed to always be tackling players after they gained the yardage they needed. I didn’t think his instincts were that good and he was late to react. Luke became an outstanding instinctive linebacker and Sean was an excellent linebacker when he was on the field. Both linebackers had the size, speed, agility and high football IQ to make the players around them better and to make plays and impact a game. My guess is Chad with these same talents and abilities will be selected at some point between the 9th and the 55th pick of this draft all because of one reason…level of competition. For me, he is a top 10 to top 15 pick on my board and right now sits as the 6th best player in this draft. That could change as I continue to do profiles but it will not change his talent nor will it change what I feel will be his impact at the next level. My guess is once I finish all the profiles Chad will still be sitting in my top 10. Level of competition my ass. That’s what they said about Josh Allen too, not me…those so-called “experts”
