The National Football Post’s Greg Gabriel recently highlighted two defensive linemen who should be selected in the first round in late April’s NFL Draft, and the reports read quite positive on both players: Corey Liuget and Aldon Smith. In particular, Missouri’s Smith is compared to DeMarcus Ware for his pass rushing skills and sheer athleticism in getting around offensive linemen.
He is best as a pass rusher and comes off the ball very quickly with an explosive first step. He stays low and he has a knack for slithering through blockers to find his way to the quarterback. He has quick hands and good hand use and does a good job keeping blockers off his body. While his sack numbers were down from 2009 this season he still had a lot of pressures and hits.
Gabriel also explains that Smith saw a lot of double teams last year, which kept him from racking up the stats of fellow draft prospects like Ryan Kerrigan. He still lacks some experience and will also add bulk over the long-term but Gabriel’s in-depth report shows more and more reasons why Smith should be selected fairly early — most likely between 11 and 18 — in the NFL Draft.