I posted this in another thread, but it was kind of irrelevant there, so I'm just gonna repost it here. Shaquem Griffin out of UCF is the one I'm high about. I have no idea where he'll be projected to go in the draft, but he'll be a steal, I'm sure.
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This might be a gamble, but I would like to see another UCF player on this defense: LB Shaquem Griffin.
UCF is the only team I have watched enough to say anything about any college players (cuz that's where I work, and I only live a mile from campus and have been to the games).
But Griffin is reported to be a natural leader, esp in practice. And when you watch him play he passes the eye test, he's fast, has great instinct, sniffs out plays and is in on pretty much every play. Consistently gets pressure on the QB, makes tackles in the open field, sniffs out screen passes. He was a dominant force in the Peach Bowl win vs. Auburn. He's relentless as an edge rusher.
He could be a 1st round pick, maybe 2nd, except for one big thing: he has no left hand!
I think he'll likely fall to the 4th or 5th round because teams aren't gonna want to take a chance on a guy who is challenged on things like wrapping up, catching the ball, basically anything in football where you need 2 hands. But I think he'll be a steal for whoever decides to take him.
Here's one highlight reel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MN6PfGB6eA
Some Peachbowl highlights (his number is 18)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j2fOaUkTpI
At 1:55 you can see Griffin getting into the backfield to disrupt the handoff, results in a fumble return, and Griffin ends up laying a nasty block that springs the return for big yards.
At 2:25 Griffin plows his way past the blocks to get a big sack.
At 3:10, he is slightly held on his edge rush, flushes the QB out of the pocket who then made a great pass
One bad play: at 3:35 he hesitates for some reason and ends up unable to tackle the RB, giving up a TD.
At 5:45, watch Griffin race across the middle to chase down the scrambling QB to make the tackle for short gain.
At 6:10 Griffin speeds past the LT to collapse the pocket, forces the bad throw that results in the game sealing interception.
Here's another highlight reel where you get a nice view on him in pass coverage, even coming up with an interception:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6jFL3W1Z7E
(also lots of forced fumbles and nice spin moves in that clip)
We need this guy!