Packers Eyeing a Small School Pass-Rusher
By Zach Kruse
It's no secret that the Packers need to find a pass-rusher or two during or after the 2012 NFL draft. The front office is reportedly leaving no stone unturned to discover such a player.
According to Sports Illustrated's Tony Pauline, the Packers are interested in Praire View defensive end/outside linebacker Adrian Hamilton, a small school prospect who could be considered in the late rounds or as an undrafted free agent.
The Texas Tech transfer quietly had one of the most dominant seasons of any defensive player on the college field in 2011. Hamilton totaled 81 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss plus an eye-popping 22 sacks. He's a forceful athlete who beats opponents around the edge with quickness or defeats blocks with brute strength. Hamilton still needs to fine tune his game, but his pass rushing skills have teams such as the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers on his trail.
Hamilton (6-2, 250 lbs) ran the 40-yard dash in 4.81 seconds (1.67 seconds 10-yard) at his Pro Day, while posting 24 reps at 225 pounds and a 30-inch vertical leap.
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Comments (7)
April 19, 2012 at 09:49 pm
Measurables?
GBP 4 LIFE
Zach Kruse
April 19, 2012 at 09:55 pm
Threw them in there at the bottom, Fitz. Sorry for leaving it out.
April 20, 2012 at 09:24 am
Thank you sir.
April 19, 2012 at 10:01 pm
He's no Shea McClellin-that's for damn sure.
April 19, 2012 at 11:22 pm
No but I'm sure he's better than what we have right now. Hopefully Shea gets called at 28
April 19, 2012 at 10:04 pm
I'd love to take Hamilton. Why? 20 sacks is 20 sacks. I don't care if its D1 or D2 or even D3. That's good. He broke Robert Mathis' record for D2 sacks I believe. As a 5th round pick or later, why not?
April 20, 2012 at 09:43 am
Combine measurables can be red herrings but there are a few that I think are real important for a 3-4 OLB. One is the 10 yard split, because it measures how explosive a player is in short space. 1.67 seconds 10-yard is a little slow for a guy who will need to take tackles up-field and hit them before they regain position. Looking at his highlights he just ran around a lot of Tackles for those sacks. He won't be able to do that in the NFL.
Lamar Woodley was a 1.65 so 1.67 might be explosive enough if he's also really strong in the hips and violent with his hands the way Woodley is. I didn't see much in his highlights to indicate that he is.
That said, 22 sacks is 22 sacks and TT knows many times more about football that I do.