Daniel Hardy, OLB Pick #235 - 7th round

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FarNorth said:
Explosive and imo 235 is big enough to play. At least to start with. Sometimes leaner dudes can be a quickness mismatch for oversized NFL players.
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Micah Parsons is a great example of that
 
FarNorth said:
Explosive and imo 235 is big enough to play. At least to start with. Sometimes leaner dudes can be a quickness mismatch for oversized NFL players.
Click to expand...
I agree his weight is fine for what we need, which is a rotational rusher. He won't be out there stuffing the run, they'd road grade his ass.
 
I honestly believe that Daniel has a shot to be that edge opposite Floyd, long term. He has the talent he just needs to develop it, technique, i.e. hand use, arm, hand play and bend. Show he can be stout at the POA on outside runs, and understand and execute zone pass defense concepts. It's a lot but once he begins to get it the process will go faster as he's building upon not trying to learn new stuff.

IMO Hardy is the sleeper in this draft. Others are much easier to project because they are closer to being complete players. It's a long difficult process but the payoff can be enormous for the player and the team.
 
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I like this pick due to his explosiveness and length. I thought Chris Garrett when I saw him too. I suspect Covid affected Chris worse than we know, btw. Solid pick here. One of my fave picks.
 
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I really like this kid and feel he's a legit shot at being a very good edge in the NFL. He got downgraded by teams because of his school (like Kupp was) and the fact he isn't "Ideal" in his physical metrics. That said, he's about the same height as AD perhaps an inch taller and AD is frequently aligned outside. Hardy has longer arms than AD and is faster (4o time) than Donald. If AD's influence can rub off on him this kid has a high ceiling.

I've watched a lot of film on him and his first step is explosive. What he needs to do is study how AD uses his arms and hands to get by the lineman. AD is a technician when it comes to that. He's going to see a lot of single blocks and so he will have his share of opportunities. He's got the speed (4.57) to run QBs down from behind. What I like about him is he is relentless as Donald. His film shows some inconsistency setting a hard edge, but a lot of that will come with better coaching and experience.

I'm really looking forward to the first time he plays against the Cards. They had him come in for a visit and he left with the impression he was under strong consideration. But when he saw Thomas and Sanders get taken in the 3rd round by AZ he knew he would slip. I'm glad the Rams grabbed him and IMO even they don't really know what they have in him.

I see a long-term solution at edge. I can see him as a 9-12 sacks a year type of edge after he fully develops. People shake their heads when I say that, but it was the same when I predicted likewise for Floyd and that is exactly what he has turned out to be. Like the Rams, I go by traits and film study. :)

He potentially could push both Lewis and Garrett back in the rotation by the end of the year. Daniel is everything Okoronkwo wasn't. I never really warmed to Okoronkwo because he was slow and a one trick pony.
 
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OnceARam said:
His tape is incredible. He blew up the FCS based on talent alone. He looks like a puppy version of Von Miller. Hopefully he grows into that talent.
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Nothing wrong with aiming-high ... but ... DAMN!
 
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FarNorth said:
Explosive and imo 235 is big enough to play. At least to start with. Sometimes leaner dudes can be a quickness mismatch for oversized NFL players.
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One year in the weight training room could get him to 255 easily.

Jourdan said Chris Garrett is going to be used to replace Obo’s snaps. Do that likely means Hollins and Lewis are the main OLB opposite Floyd. I am going to guess that Hardy will have a similar trajectory as Garrett.
 
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Rushing the passer is only a portion of the job. Is he decent in coverage, can he set the edge on runs?

Love the excitement and he has a great motor. Teams guy but, we need Garret and others to make that jump this year.
 
Elmgrovegnome said:
Jourdan said Chris Garrett is going to be used to replace Obo’s snaps. Do that likely means Hollins and Lewis are the main OLB opposite Floyd. I am going to guess that Hardy will have a similar trajectory as Garrett.
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Yes, I'm guessing that you can safely say that Lewis & Hollins will be the primaries with Garrett involved in a bigger rotational manner which approaches Obo's numbers.

Lewis had 367 snaps in 11 games last year, Okoronkwo had 255 snaps in 13 games
Hollins had 223 snaps in 8 games and Garrett had 4 snaps in 1 game.
 
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This time last year I was looking at Garrett and thinking "Damn man just maybe...." And this year it's a similar deal for me. Gotta roll the dice on a player with flaws that late, as none of the late guys are well rounded, so I think choosing the small school flaw isn't a bad way to go.

His game is a little different from Garrett's IMO. He's got a little more power to him. Garrett's a leaner guy to my eye and his shrine game film last year the OTs leaned down on him and sort of rode him to the ground which made me think he really needed a year of pro training. Hardy meanwhile is a little more stout, he's kind of fierce off that edge with a little more power so maybe he can hold up in a rotation we'll see. If he can it would be a pretty damn big hit for that pick.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Garrett can do after that year of pro training. Sure would be nice if he's ready to go.
 
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Don't know much about the kid. Looks like a good rotational player . possibly a starter if he excels against better competition. Speaking of. I'm not too familiar with him. Did he ever play against better bigger school competition? And how did he do?
 
Championship game below. He draws a round 4 OT for most of the game (Volson), real good look matchup-wise. Unfortunately the Bison run game neutralizes that Montana St rush but he does some good things.

86 for Montana St is our UDFA receiver we signed, Lance McCutcheon. He has an irritating series right before the half where he straight drops two nice passes down the sideline.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Xi4qXjB6s&ab_channel=NCAAChampionships
 
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