[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

When you look at this, you have to include OLBs that are edge rushers. When you do that, I see the following since 2018:

2023: 1 of 4 (Also way too early, Tuipulotu is starting and performing well for LAC though)
2022: 3-5 of 8 (You be the judge on Ebeketie and Hall, Mafe, Jackson, and Bonitto are hits)
2021: 0-1 of 3 (Ojulari is good when healthy, jury still out on Dayo)
2020: 2-4 of 5 (Yetur Gross-Matos, Darrell Taylor, and Josh Uche have all had stretches of high production)
2019: 0 of 1 (Just our bust Ben Banogu here)
2018: 2 of 4 (Harold Landry and Uchenna Nwosu are good starters, Turay and Lewis were busts comparatively)

If you take the low end numbers, that's 8 of 25 quality players (32% hit rate). At the high end, it's 13 of 25 quality players (52% hit rate). Either way, Ballard is performing way worse than average over that stretch. For reference, here are the players I included for each of the 6 years:

2023: Derick Hall, Isaiah Foskey, BJ Ojulari, Tuli Tuipulotu
2022: Logan Hall, Arnold Ebeketie, Boye Mafe, David Ojabo, Josh Paschal, Sam Williams, Drake Jackson, Nick Bonitto
2021: Azeez Ojulari, Dayo Odeyingbo, Carlos "Boogie" Basham
2020: Yetur Gross-Matos, Marlon Davidson, Darrell Taylor, A.J. Epenesa, Josh Uche
2019: Ben Banogu
2018: Harold Landry III, Uchenna Nwosu, Kemoko Turay, Tyquan Lewis

This seems like a flawed method with subjective criteria for a good pick and a small sample size. How does this compare Ballard to his peers? How often are those teams drafting defensive linemen? Are they OLBs that can rush the passer but have LB duties or full-time pass rushers? Also, would they all be considered guys they would draft that Eberflus would want in his defense?

I felt that Eberflus’ desire to shut down the run limited the prospects and eliminated some guys who might be good pass rushers but were a liability in the run game. Ballard drafts player types his coaches want.