With thin interior defensive line group in NFL draft, Eagles made the right move signing Hargrave

(Ben Fennell is an Emmy Award-winning producer, editor and researcher across several media platforms, including the NFL Network and ESPN College Football. He worked with Mike Mayock on the NFL Network’s draft coverage for five years, and has worked the last two years with Daniel Jeremiah. You can follow him on Twitter at @benfennell_NFL. For the second straight year, Ben is breaking down each position in the draft for The Inquirer. Today, in part 5 of our eight-part series, he looks at the draft’s interior defensive line and edge-rusher groups.)

Last month, the Eagles solidified their interior defensive line by signing free-agent tackle Javon Hargrave to a three-year, $39 million deal.

One of the reasons they were so bullish on signing Hargrave was because they knew the defensive tackle crop in this month’s draft is not terribly deep and they likely wouldn’t be able to get anyone capable of having an immediate impact. Particularly since they are expected to use their first-round pick, the 21st overall, on a wide receiver.

There are two good tackles at the top of this draft -- Auburn’s Derrick Brown, who is expected to be a top 10 pick, and South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw, who likely will go in the middle of the first round.

The 6-foot-4, 325-pound Brown is mainly a run-stopper. A dominant one, but a run-stopper nonetheless. He never had more than 4 ½ sacks in a season at Auburn.

Kinlaw is more what the Eagles would be looking for -- an explosive three-technique player capable of tag-teaming with Fletcher Cox and Malik Jackson and wreaking havoc on quarterbacks.

After those two, however, there is a dropoff, and not a great deal of Day 2-3 tackle depth.

“There’s not a whole lot of upside on many other guys,’’ NFL Network draft analyst Ben Fennell said. “Neville Gallimore [Oklahoma], Jordan Elliott [Missouri], and Ross Blacklock [TCU] are starting to get some buzz. But that’s mainly because the position group isn’t that deep.

“So I could see those five guys going in the top 50. But outside of that, it’s slim pickings. There are some one-dimensional players. If you need a run-plugger, there’s Leki Fotu [Utah]. But he’s not going to provide a lot for you in the pass game. As you get deeper in this draft, most of these guys are going to be more scheme-specific. More one-dimensional.’’

Fennell said things are better on the outside, where the edge-rushing group is deeper than tackle. Daniel Jeremiah has four edge-rushers with first-round grades -- Chase Young (Ohio State), K’Lavon Chaisson (LSU), Yetur Gross-Matos (Penn State), and A.J. Epenesa. A fifth -- Marlon Davidson -- is his 34th-rated prospect.

“If you need an edge-rusher, I think this is a really good draft to find somebody at all different levels,’’ Fennell said. “There are guys of all different shapes, sizes, and abilities.

“There are guys like Marlon Davidson that played up and down the defensive line in their college careers. There are undersized edges that the NFL doesn’t know quite what to do with like Zach Baun [Wisconsin] and Josh Uche [Michigan] and Bryce Huff [Memphis].

“You have tall, lean, wiry guys like Chaisson and Terrell Lewis [Alabama]. Then you have other guys that don’t look the part, like Bradlee Anae [Utah] or Kenny Willekes [Michigan State] or even Epenesa. They’re guys that are a little bit thicker and don’t really want to turn the corner on you. But they’re productive players; good run-defenders that are more power-rusher than speed-rusher.

“Bottom line: I don’t think it’s the best draft as far as pure speed-rushers. But I think there are guys in this draft that can play every down for you.’’

Derrick Brown, Auburn, 6-4, 325, 5.16

Javon Kinlaw, S.Carolina, 6-5, 324, N/A

Ross Blacklock, TCU, 6-3, 290, 4.9

Neville Gallimore, Oklahoma, 6-2, 304, 4.79

Jordan Elliott, Missouri, 6-4, 302, 5.02

Derrick Brown

Auburn

Height: 6-4 Weight: 325

Arms: 34 ¼ inches

Hands: 9 inches

40 time: 5.16 seconds

Vertical jump: 27.0 inches

225 bench: 28 inches

Fennell’s take: “Brown is built in that Kenny Clarke-Linval Joseph bowling-ball mold. He’s a bull in a china shop. Not a very technical player, but just a massive, powerful player. Brute strength. Violent. Lacks refinement. Lacks any short-area twitch. But you just cannot stop him. A lot like the way Shaun Rogers played in the 2000s

“He has a good first step, and once that first step comes, you can’t stop it. He played a lot of good ball at Auburn. A fifth-year senior. They used a lot of stunts on their defensive line to make up for Brown’s lack of ability to beat guys one on one.

“It was great to see him return for his senior year. They called him Baby Obama on campus because he has a great personality and is a well-spoken kid. I think he’s scheme-versatile. He’s so strong that he can two-gap for you in an odd front. And then he can really play just a no-shade for an even-front team. I think he probably has a little bit more pass-rush upside than a Linval Joseph.’’

Round projection: 1, top 10.

Javon Kinlaw

South Carolina

Height: 6-5 Weight: 324

Arms: 34 7/8 inches

Hands: 10 ½ inches

40 time: N/A

Vertical jump: N/A

225 bench: N/A

Fennell’s take: “Kinlaw reminds me of Chris Jones for a number of reasons. Jones has turned into one of the more disruptive and productive players in the league with the Chiefs. Jones didn’t really do a whole lot at Mississippi State. And when you look strictly at the stat sheet, Kinlaw didn’t do a whole lot at South Carolina. But when you watch the tape, like the Georgia game, when they beat the No. 1 team in the country, you understand that there’s a lot more to Kinlaw than what’s on the stat sheet.

“On the tape, he was up [quarterback Jake] Fromm’s butt all day long. Resetting the line of scrimmage. Knocking back offensive linemen so that the linebackers could come in and make the play. Or he was pressuring Fromm and forcing an errant pass that got picked off for a touchdown. Kinlaw’s nowhere on the stat sheet in that game, yet he totally impacted the game.

“There were a lot of pass-rush situations at South Carolina where it was a three-man rush and he is the nose and he’s getting triple-teamed. So he wasn’t put in a lot of situations to be successful. As you’re digging into him, he also had to deal with a hip injury last summer that he got taken care of.

“He was down 40 pounds coming into this last year. He looked more explosive, made a lot more plays outside the numbers and down the field. He’s a guy whose trajectory is just getting going. I think he’s a three-technique guy. You get him on a half-man just like Chris Jones. And he’s so big. He’s 6-5. He’s long. He’s got an 83-inch wing span. He’s a massive, massive player. But he’s not a fat guy. And his arms are enormous. His biceps are huge.’’

Round projection: 1, middle of the round

Jordan Elliott

Missouri

Height: 6-4 Weight: 302

Arms: 32 3/8 inches

Hands: 10 ¼ inches

40 time: 5.02 seconds

Vertical jump: 27.5 inches

225 bench: 24.

Fennell’s take: “Elliott probably is a Day 2 pick. He reminds me a lot of another Missouri defensive tackle, Sheldon Richardson. This is an explosive, light-on-his-feet interior player. He plays a lot like Fletcher Cox, as well. The way he hustles downfield, makes a lot of plays outside the numbers.

“He’s another guy with an interesting college career because he was a transfer. Texas transfer. Top recruit. You disappear for a year and everybody forgets about you. He sat out 2017. We can argue the grades in Pro Football Focus all the time. I like a lot of their metric stuff, the distance things, but Elliott was literally their No. 1-rated interior run-defender and pass-rusher. Now, we can argue that, but the fact that he was literally rated No. 1 in both of those areas, that’s impressive.

“Elliott played both 1-tech and 3-tech. He played in two different stances. Played in a square stance where he’d hold his gap, and then he played in that staggered track stance where he’s shooting across the line.

“Because he was used in two different schemes, he holds the ground really well at the point of attack. He can also win with upfield quickness. He has active hands. His eye level is always up, so he’s good at finding the ball carrier. Because of that quickness and being 6-4, he plays high at times. Sometimes he can pop straight up. Because he does a lot of movement, he sometimes can get caught on the move. Occasionally, he will take a bad step or get washed out. A lot of post-snap movement with slants and twists. Sometimes you slant into a bad scheme and you can really get crushed. His rushes get burned out a little bit. He lacks some counter moves. But his first-step quickness is impressive."

Projected round: 3

Chase Young, Ohio State, 6-5, 265, N/A

K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU, 6-3, 254, N/A

A.J. Epenesa, Iowa, 6-5, 275, 5.04

Bradlee Anae, Utah, 6-3, 257, 4.93

Yetur Gross-Matos, Penn State, 6-5, 266, N/A

Chase Young

Ohio State

Height: 6-5 Weight: 265

Arms: 33 ¾ inches

Hands: 10 inches

40 time: N/A

Vertical jump: N/A

225 bench: N/A

Fennell’s take: “Young was a five-star recruit out of high school. He’s an explosive elite athlete with tremendous movement skills. He’s a good run defender and good pass-rusher. He can win high side, inside, or through you. He’s pretty relentless. Plays a lot like Brandon Graham does, but with a little more length and size to his game.

“He’ll occasionally zone-drop. He’ll occasionally run with the running back. This whole narrative that he went quiet down the stretch this year is, in my opinion, completely overblown. You watch the Michigan game. You watch the Clemson game. He had good pass rushes in those games. If the ball comes out on time, there’s nothing you can do as a pass-rusher. Doesn’t mean you didn’t rush well. Means the ball came out quick.

“These Ohio State edge-rushers, like Young and the Bosas, share one great quality. They use their hands in combination with their footwork. There are so many pass-rushers that rush, stop, dance, and rush again. These guys have the ability to dance and rush at the same time. To be able to gain ground while you’re using your hands and still coming forward, a tackle’s feet stop when you engage with him. So if you can engage and keep going, the Ohio State guys all have that knack.

“I thought the Bosas were just freak shows. But now when you also see it out of Young and some other guys there, it seems to be a coaching thing and something they stress. It also could’ve been a Bosa thing from the standpoint of having them around and teaching other guys like Young. Whatever, Young can do it.

“No question this kid is going to have an immediate impact in the NFL. Can he turn into a Khalil Mack type of player? Absolutely.’’

Round projection: 1, top 3 pick

K’Lavon Chaisson

LSU

Height: 6-3 Weight: 254

Arms: 32 ¼ inches

Hands: 9 7/8 inches

40 time: N/A

Vertical jump: N/A

225 bench: N/A

Fennell’s take: “He’s my riser for a number of reasons. He tore his ACL in the opener in 2018. So he was off the grid for a while. This past year, like a lot of other guys on that LSU team, he rose with the rise of the program.

“In a year with not a ton of guys that are bendy, flexible speed rushers, he is. And he has the ability to win in a multitude of ways. He can win with speed, can win with power, can win with spins, can win with hand-usage, can win with counter-moves. And he’s a really good run-defender. He has that looseness like he’s going to be a speed-rusher, but he can beat you in multiple ways. Kind of like Andre Carter 10 years ago, or Kamerion Wimbley. Or the way Whitney Merciless plays for the Texans.

“He’s a guy that has great, great pass-rushes when you just watch him in a vacuum. He may not always get home because the ball comes out. He only had 6 ½ sacks this year. But he’s a guy that doesn’t have to come off the field because he plays the run so well. He’s only a red-shirt sophomore, so he hasn’t played a lot of football.

“He was a late riser. Only played two seasons of football in high school. Kind of fell into the game, then ended up being the No. 4 defensive end in his [prep] class behind Chase Young. He’s scheme-versatile. He can stand up in an odd front or play end in an even front. He’s a little undersized for an even front, but I think teams are leaning that way now anyway.’’

Round projection: 2

Terrell Lewis

Alabama

Height: 6-5 Weight: 262

Arms: 33 7/8 inches

Hands: 9 7/8 inches

40 time: N/A

Vertical jump: 37.0 inches

225 bench: N/A

Fennell’s take: “It’s pretty rare to have a sleeper out of Alabama, but let me explain. This guy has only played 685 snaps in his career. He could potentially be one of the least experienced players to ever be drafted. So he’s a sleeper because of his lack of production and on-field time and injuries. And right now, teams can’t poke and prod the medical aspect as much as they’d like.

"He had an elbow injury in 2017. He tore his ACL in 2018. Combine that with the fact that he was a backup rotational player on their D-line. But there aren’t a lot of loose, flexible edge-rushers in this class. A lot of the top edge-rushers this year are built like refrigerators. They’re guys that are good edge-setters. Power rushers. But they’re not those speed guys that are going to chase you out and can play the run.

“But Lewis has the rare combination of having a lean, flexible lower body with a powerful upper half. He has really violent, cinder-block hands. And he has a variety of moves. And he’s super long. He has an 83-inch wing span. He has long-arm moves, spin moves. He destroys tight ends. He can win high side or inside. He has a mix of everything you want.

“They lined him up in some weird spots. He played 3-tech, nose tackle. He’d stand up mugging the A gaps like you see some linebackers do in the NFL. So a lot of different usages for him. When he’s on the field, he’s a great productive player. The question is whether he can stay healthy. If not for his medical history, he’d be a Round 1 player. He’s just not experienced.’’

Round projection: 4