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Mel Kiper Jr. tabs Ed Oliver an 'instant-impact rookie'


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By: Nick Wojton | 14 hours ago

Sometimes life isn’t always easy for a rookie in the NFL. ESPN’s NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. doesn’t think that will be the case for Ed Oliver, though.

Kiper recently tabbed 15 rookie draft picks from the 2019 NFL draft that will be “instant-impact rookies.” You guessed it, Oliver is among them, and is the only prospect drafted in the top-10 to appear on the list.

 

Here’s what Kiper said about Oliver’s addition to the list:

My pal Louis Riddick said on TV several times over the past few months that Oliver was used incorrectly in college. Why is an athlete like Oliver — he has one of the fastest first steps off the ball of any defensive tackle I’ve ever scouted — playing nose tackle? Buffalo will play him as a 3-technique tackle in its 4-3 defense, in place of the retired Kyle Williams, and he’s going to be a disruptive presence. No, he’s not Aaron Donald like some were calling him last summer — he is still developing consistent pass-rush moves — but Oliver will destroy double-teams and cause wreckage in the backfield.

Because of the Bills’ offensive struggles in 2018, the defense went under the radar; it was the top-ranked pass defense, allowing only 179.2 yards per game, and gave up only 294.1 total yards per game. This is a young, talented and physical group. Oliver fills an immediate need.

While the Bills did their best to not have any “needs” on their roster heading into the draft, Oliver will certainly slide right into Williams’ old spot. In college, that nose tackle spot held Oliver to only 13.5 sacks. But put into a perspective of his role at Houston, 13.5 sacks is impressive.

While Kiper does tip his cap to the team’s defense and secondary, specifically, the Bills can stand to improve their pass rush. While Buffalo’s defense did put up some good numbers in 2018, they only had 36 sacks, good for 26th best in the NFL.

 

 

https://billswire.usatoday.com/2019/05/06/mel-kiper-jr-buffalo-bills-ed-oliver-instant-impact-rookie/

Edited by HOUSE
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41 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

I posted this in the Oliver thread but his HS and college coach is sick of these guys saying he was used incorrectly in Houston. 

 

Given his stats, he has a point. https://theathletic.com/962885/2019/05/06/a-j-blum-qa-ed-olivers-longtime-coach-on-his-fit-with-buffalo-and-those-crazy-maturity-questions/

 

Thanks for posting - hadn’t seen that yet. First, I note that he brought up the “used incorrectly” bit in an unrelated question. He’s obviously a little sensitive, haha. 

 

Second, I think what he’s hearing is, “you/Houston did a poor job of utilizing Ed Oliver in your defense,” and I think he’s fair in pushing back against that. But I also don’t think that’s what most people are really saying. I think it’s really more of, “Ed Oliver’s best situation is as a 3-tech DT in a 4-3 defense similar to what Sean McDermott runs, and he’ll be more effective in that role vs. the role he had at Houston.” 

 

I think Blum agrees with the latter statement - he even basically said as much at the end. And the difference between the two is that most coaches aren’t capable of switching from 3-4 to 4-3 based on one player and making it work. 

Edited by Cash
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59 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

I posted this in the Oliver thread but his HS and college coach is sick of these guys saying he was used incorrectly in Houston. 

 

Given his stats, he has a point. https://theathletic.com/962885/2019/05/06/a-j-blum-qa-ed-olivers-longtime-coach-on-his-fit-with-buffalo-and-those-crazy-maturity-questions/

 

I can’t read the article because I don’t want to download the app.  But the premise is that he wasn’t used incorrectly as a NT at Houston?  I doubt anyone outside of him and the coaches that Houston would agree with that.  

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1 minute ago, Doc said:

 

I can’t read the article because I don’t want to download the app.  But the premise is that he wasn’t used incorrectly as a NT at Houston?  I doubt anyone outside of him and the coaches that Houston would agree with that.  

The premise is that he was used incorrectly at Houston. Not sure if the double negative was a type-o. ? 

 

I put the quote in the Oliver thread from the draft and I agree he was used properly within their system. 

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1 minute ago, TroutDog said:

The premise is that he was used incorrectly at Houston. Not sure if the double negative was a type-o. ? 

 

I put the quote in the Oliver thread from the draft and I agree he was used properly within their system. 

 

Then the argument would be that Houston used the wrong system.

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3 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

Then the argument would be that Houston used the wrong system.

Not really.

 

The argument during the draft (by the talking heads) was that he would have been more productive as a three technique due to his speed. You can always make that argument but he was resoundingly successful in their system as a NG thus this coach questioning their logic.

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48 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

Not really.

 

The argument during the draft (by the talking heads) was that he would have been more productive as a three technique due to his speed. You can always make that argument but he was resoundingly successful in their system as a NG thus this coach questioning their logic.

 

if he can still be successful at NG, it stands to reason that he’ll be even more successful not having to face double and triple teams, especially when he not lining up head-on. That’s more the point. 

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I saw Mel on a preview of the NFL (he was a part of a panel with Dan Graziano, Damien Woody and Todd McShay). He said he watched every down of Josh Allen last year with the Bills and he is really high on Josh and the Bills in general. Like any draft analyst he is not always right, but still I welcome his support.

 

Cowherd likes making controversial statements and sometimes he is insightful. I think he likes poking his finger in someone's eye.

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