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Tennessee Titans 2018 NFL Draft: Dorance Armstrong with GIFs

ByWill Lomas|
LAWRENCE, KS - SEPTEMBER 03: Head coach David Beaty speaks with Carter Stanley
LAWRENCE, KS - SEPTEMBER 03: Head coach David Beaty speaks with Carter Stanley

Is Dorance Armstrong a good fit for the Tennessee Titans in the 1st round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

With Tennessee Titans training camp only hours away, I’m working on exactly what you would imagine: the 2018 NFL Draft.

Alright, well maybe it isn’t exactly what you thought but it is still important. Jon Robinson lives to build through the draft.

Look no farther than today’s nearly psychic extension of Jurrell Casey before the defensive line market really started to go crazy. Robinson doesn’t want to deal with that, he wants to thrive with homegrown guys.

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So as I looked around the internet, who else by Nashville’s new adopted son (at least for the NHL) Matt Miller posted a new 2018 NFL mock draft before his vacation.

When I found the Tennessee Titans pick, I honestly was surprised because not only had I not seen him connected to the Titans, I hadn’t ever watched a game of his. The player the Titans drafted in that mock was Dorance Armstrong.

If you don’t know, Armstrong is an EDGE from Kansas and he actually is a really interesting player to watch and a potential fit for the Titans.

Let’s look at a breakdown with some GIFs to see how he might fit the team.

Dorance Armstrong

EDGE, Kansas

6’4, 241 lb.

Games watched: Oklahoma, Texas Tech

Jon Robinson notes of interest: 3-star prospect, 10 sack season recently, but only started 12 games.

Pros

-Armstrong stood out on a bad team. That sounds easy to do, but it also means you get extra attention all the time.

-His length and effort leads to plays that most guys can’t make. Watch how he makes the tackle from the backside on this run in Oklahoma’s own endzone and nearly comes up with the safety:

-He can be truly explosive, especially from a standup EDGE position. That is something the Titans desperately need in the 2018 NFL Draft if they are going to build depth behind Brian Orakpo. Watch this:

-While I don’t like him as a 4-3 DE at all, he does show that he can explode when he is allowed to move laterally. Watch him stunt into the A-gap here and fight through hard contact to get a sack:

-I think Armstrong’s defining characteristic is his relentless effort. Even when he is getting beat he is moving and doing his best to affect a play even if he shouldn’t have any chance at it. Sometimes he will get pushed past the quarterback and will end up tackling the wide receiver. Watch this effort to get to the QB and then to turn and track down the RB:

Cons

-Armstrong doesn’t have the size to play 4-3 DE, but thanks to the defense Kansas runs that is all he will get to experience in college. It could slow an already raw prospect.

-Can get buried or thrown sometimes at the LOS and really hurt the run defense on that side. It puts a lot of pressure on the LBs.

-Struggles to finish plays at times, like this play where it is whistled dead but the QB never even looks like he is going to fall:

-Those struggles aren’t just limited to stumbling to penetrating the pocket either. Watch here how he has the running back in a great place to make a big TFL and he just doesn’t bring any real pop with him:

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    • Summary

    I have to be honest, I thought this was going to be a guy I hated when I watched the Oklahoma tape. However, after you watch that Texas Tech tape you see what there is to like in Armstrong.

    Here is what Armstrong CAN do, he brings relentless effort and a long frame to a pass rush. While he lacks a refined move set he has the most important thing you could want in a stand up pass rusher, initial quickness.

    Those things alone make him a fit for the Titans, but if he comes out and ends his career with 24 games played and two consecutive 10-sack seasons for a team like Kansas than I believe the Titans will look strongly at him in the 2018 NFL Draft.

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    Given his scheme limitations and the fact that he is a smaller name and a “try-hard guy” in the mold of Jack Conklin, teams may be looking for someone else at the end of the first round and the Titans could actually trade back and still land him in the top of the second in the right scenario.

    However, this isn’t a guy to fall in love with as a top-16 pick that you need to trade up for if he starts falling (at least not yet). So he will fall into a pool of impact starters that the Titans bite their fingernails for as the wait until their pick ticks down.

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