2022 EDGE Thread

[rossihunter2]

@JoeyFlex5 - just finished my preliminary grade on Travon Walker and without a doubt he's a top 10 type player - id like to see him be better with his hand counters and id have liked to see him get more opportunities to rush out of wider alignments to get a better sense of his ability to dip and bend (from what i can tell he can bend pretty well but rarely got an opportunity to challenge the outside shoulder of tackles with it)

but the kind of guy who you can describe in a word or phrase - where jordan davis is overwhelming power...
travon walker is unadulterated violence

 

[RavensMania]

Karlaftis himself has said there are still many areas of his game he wants to improve, but if he’s available at pick No. 14, the Ravens shouldn’t think twice about drafting him.

 

[Simba]

Not because they're both white dudes... but Karlaftis is basically a more refined Trey Hendrickson who won't need as much time to develop.

 

[RaineV1]

Karlaftis himself has said there are still many areas of his game he wants to improve, but if he’s available at pick No. 14, the Ravens shouldn’t think twice about drafting him.

He also perfectly fits how the Ravens usually prefer big, powerful edge rushers.

 

[rossihunter2]

pretty confident about 5 of these guys: Hutchinson, Thibodeaux, Karlaftis, Ojabo, Walker
not super confident who the 6th and 7th guys will be given he said top 25 but my best guess would be jermaine johnson and arnold ebiketie for the other 2 unless there's someone ive not got to yet

 

[RavensMania]

pretty confident about 5 of these guys: Hutchinson, Thibodeaux, Karlaftis, Ojabo, Walker
not super confident who the 6th and 7th guys will be given he said top 25 but my best guess would be jermaine johnson and arnold ebiketie for the other 2 unless there's someone ive not got to yet

wow seems like a great Edge rusher class. What would you say is the best edge rusher class in the last 10 to 15 years.

 

[rossihunter2]

wow seems like a great Edge rusher class. What would you say is the best edge rusher class in the last 10 to 15 years.

depends what you mean by that
i dont think the top guys are near any of those elite guys in some other classes... there's no garrett or bosa or bosa or young in this class

i havent been doing this long enough to know what edge classes were like pre-2013ish
but i would say it's probably the best in terms of combination of talent and depth that ive done since i started

only last year really comes close in terms of that 1st/2nd round depth of talent - the difference though is that a lot of that in 2021 was guys going at the end of the round - we might see 5 EDGEs come off the board in the top 20 in 2022

i havent got a handle just yet on just how deep the class goes yet though but it looks like it could be up there with the best - certainly in terms of high picks

EDIT: having looked into it a bit more and gone back to 2008, i would point out that the 2011 draft class was pretty exceptional both in terms of top-end talent as well as depth

 

[RavensMania]

depends what you mean by that
i dont think the top guys are near any of those elite guys in some other classes... there's no garrett or bosa or bosa or young in this class

i havent been doing this long enough to know what edge classes were like pre-2013ish
but i would say it's probably the best in terms of combination of talent and depth that ive done since i started

only last year really comes close in terms of that 1st/2nd round depth of talent - the difference though is that a lot of that in 2021 was guys going at the end of the round - we might see 5 EDGEs come off the board in the top 20 in 2022

i havent got a handle just yet on just how deep the class goes yet though but it looks like it could be up there with the best - certainly in terms of high picks

EDIT: having looked into it a bit more and gone back to 2008, i would point out that the 2011 draft class was pretty exceptional both in terms of top-end talent as well as depth

I'm just trying to figure out how this class matches up to previous classes and how deep they are. It reminds me of the WR class we had a few years ago, that wasn't really top heavy, like you said this year we have no Garrett's Bosa's or Young's but it seems to be really deep.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

TDN has dropped karlaftis to 22nd, and that is ridiculous.

if that’s anything close to what the nfl thinks of him, well the nfl is wrong and the ravens would be dumb to pass on him at 14. He looks like an absolute sure thing to me, like if this mf falls to 14, look out, cuz he’s a raven and that’s bad news for the league

 

[rossihunter2]

TDN has dropped karlaftis to 22nd, and that is ridiculous.

if that’s anything close to what the nfl thinks of him, well the nfl is wrong and the ravens would be dumb to pass on him at 14. He looks like an absolute sure thing to me, like if this mf falls to 14, look out, cuz he’s a raven and that’s bad news for the league

im not convinced by him tbh - i dont think 22 is that ridiculous at all - the power's great, the get-off's great, the hands are powerful and active and pretty nuanced with his rush moves especially working off a stab/long-arm move - but he's quite a stiff/upright athlete with disappointing lateral mobility and reactive athleticism and also shorter arms which stop him from stacking and finishing so well - i still think he's a 1st round player but im not sold on a super high grade with him

i just find some of his change of direction skills a little worrying for someone im going to spend a high pick on

as it stands i dont think he's going to be in the top 14 on my board but maybe ill have to revisit when we start getting into testing season

 

[JoeyFlex5]

im not convinced by him tbh - i dont think 22 is that ridiculous at all - the power's great, the get-off's great, the hands are powerful and active and pretty nuanced with his rush moves especially working off a stab/long-arm move - but he's quite a stiff/upright athlete with disappointing lateral mobility and reactive athleticism and also shorter arms which stop him from stacking and finishing so well - i still think he's a 1st round player but im not sold on a super high grade with him

i just find some of his change of direction skills a little worrying for someone im going to spend a high pick on

as it stands i dont think he's going to be in the top 14 on my board but maybe ill have to revisit when we start getting into testing season

I see him bend and redirect to finish plays with ease, often.

 

[RaineV1]

TDN has dropped karlaftis to 22nd, and that is ridiculous.

if that’s anything close to what the nfl thinks of him, well the nfl is wrong and the ravens would be dumb to pass on him at 14. He looks like an absolute sure thing to me, like if this mf falls to 14, look out, cuz he’s a raven and that’s bad news for the league

Him falling for 14 would be a dream scenario.

 

[rossihunter2]

I see him bend and redirect to finish plays with ease, often.

i see him turn the corner sure - and i see some ankle flexion true which allows him to have ok bend for his size - but where i see issues is when he's asked to redirect laterally in space (like when left unblocked with meshes or transitioning unplanned from an outside rush late back inside

he's not kingsley enagbare stiff - im not saying he's a completely stiff linear athlete - just suggesting that the movement skills might not be ideal for someone im thinking of investing a really high pick on

he reminds me a little of aj epenesa just with shorter arms but better bend

 

[JoeyFlex5]

i see him turn the corner sure - and i see some ankle flexion true which allows him to have ok bend for his size - but where i see issues is when he's asked to redirect laterally in space (like when left unblocked with meshes or transitioning unplanned from an outside rush late back inside

he's not kingsley enagbare stiff - im not saying he's a completely stiff linear athlete - just suggesting that the movement skills might not be ideal for someone im thinking of investing a really high pick on

he reminds me a little of aj epenesa just with shorter arms but better bend

I think you’re severely overthinking this one

 

[rossihunter2]

that's spicy but i get it - if he was bendier i think he's up there with hutchinson

it's not a very bendy draft class tbh this year - of the top guys it's really only ojabo and ebiketie who id say have notable bend

 

[RaineV1]

that's spicy but i get it - if he was bendier i think he's up there with hutchinson

it's not a very bendy draft class tbh this year - of the top guys it's really only ojabo and ebiketie who id say have notable bend

I like the player just not at 14. If we trade down into the 20s then I won't complain about grabbing him.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Senior bowl got me changing my thoughts on jermaine Johnson, he looks unstoppable there. Im gonna need to watch his film again, but I’m seeing him on mock generators as a top 10 pick pretty consistently. if this is accurate, that means you have Hutchinson, thibodeaux, Johnson, ojabo, and walker, which means that one of those latter 3 are falling to 14.

 

[RavensMania]

Has anyone watched Cameron Thomas, Edge San Diego State. He's expected to go in the 2nd round, but could move into the back end of the 1st.

 

[rossihunter2]

Has anyone watched Cameron Thomas, Edge San Diego State. He's expected to go in the 2nd round, but could move into the back end of the 1st.

some of my notes - it's a shame he had to pull out of the senior bowl - would have liked to see him vs better competition

• Explosive, powerful, athletic
• Somewhat stiff – not a great bender but moves well laterally
• Dominated small-school competition like you’d hope – too big, too quick, too powerful
• High effort – never stops
• Shows good use of hands to disengage – powerful hand strikes can rock OL heads back and works the hands with violence to counter with an array of moves – seems to like swimming over guards and chopping hands off him – compounds hands-moves together well to work through chips and doubles – works well transitioning off a long-arm move especially to inside moves
• Looking to get himself into half-man relationships and overpower offensive linemen
• Aligned all over the defensive front – often reduced inside to a 4i or 3t

 

[rossihunter2]

i bet you the sources for some of these mutterings about thibodeaux probably hail from places like Carolina and Atlanta and maybe Denver and Washington... who just so coincidentally have picks outside the top 5

this is the 2nd person though in the media draft world ive seen talk about thibodeaux slipping - DJ said it in his first mock too