NFL Draft: The 29 players Tennessee Titans should consider in round one
By Will Lomas
5. A.J. Epenesa EDGE/DL, Iowa
I think YGM is the better EDGE, but I think Epenesa is the better fit for what the Titans want to add to this team in that DL/EDGE hybrid role.
Epenesa didn’t test like an EDGE which means that his future in the NFL is muddled. In theory you just move him over and play him inside but now you are talking about a guy who weighs 275 lb. playing in the B-gap full time? That doesn’t really work.
So, the best fit for him is to go to a team like the Titans who will move him around and let him have the advantage of not going against the same OL over and over and giving opposing coordinators a player to target.
If you want productivity then they don’t get much better than Epenesa who had 10+ sacks in each of the last two seasons and has 30 TFLs over that time as well.
He won’t win with burst like Harold Landry, but maybe that is a good thing. He will give opposing offensive linemen fits with his power and hand usage and if you don’t mind a player who is basically a better Derrick Morgan then Epenesa is your guy.
Not an amazing value on the big board in terms of a guy who should have been drafted in the top-10, but often a fit and plan for a young player is more important than the player’s talent in a vacuum.