Meet Derek Rivers!

[mrscruff]

Two guys that know football and pass rushers. Top 5 RUSH/EDGE for me.

Fore those undecided, this is definitely worth watching.

Matt Waldman primarily looks at offensive players but he really liked Rivers and bought along Justis Mosqueda who is well-respected in the Twitter draft community for his opinions on edge defenders.

He makes some interesting points which are not obvious to the layperson (like myself) such as reading the tackle at the snap, winning on the edge despite lack of counter moves, playing with his hands above his eyes, etc which really made me like the player though I thought he would be gone by the time the Patriots pick came around (being a fringe 1st round prospect on a few draft boards).

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Someone needs to photoshop this and put Flowers/Rivers faces on it. Also we need to get someone named Woods to complete the trifecta

We already have Branch.

Maybe we pick up Xavier Woods, though, for your thematic defense

 

[luuked]

Let's see how this pick works out; maybe it is good or maybe it was not optimal. Bill may have gotten too cute with his trade-down obsession. Even though the Patriots were in need of a DE, when their pick came up at No. 72, Bill chose to move down to No. 83, figuring that there would some good choices at 83. But then there was a run on DE's:

• Kansas State’s Jordan Willis (No. 73, Cincinnati Bengals),
• Michigan’s Chris Wormley (No. 74, Baltimore Ravens),
• Texas A&M’s Daeshon Hall (No. 77, Carolina Panthers),
• Alabama’s Tim Williams (No. 78, Ravens)
• Ohio’s Tarell Basham (No. 80, Indianapolis Colts)

Did they miss out on a better DE or their top choice? We will not know for a year or two.

Must be easy sitting back, not even predicting a specific player to be a better choice but simply giving a list of DEs that went earlier.

Of course the odds are better that one of those 5 players might end up better than Rivers because that'd just playing the field.

If you wanna be critical at least please say something with a bit more substance than that.

 

[mrscruff]

Drew Boylharts profile:

http://www.thehuddlereport.com/archive/2017profiles/Derek.Rivers.html

 

[VJCPatriot]

The scary thing is that Rivers is even more of a freak athlete than Flowers. Rivers measured out faster at the Combine.

Trey Flowers
6'2 34'25" arms 266 lbs

4.93 40 36.5" vert 121" broad

7.34 3-cone 28 reps 4.40 20 shuttle 12.03 60 shuttle

NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Trey Flowers

Derek Rivers
6'4 32'75" arms 248 lbs

4.61 40 35" vert 123" broad

6.94 3-cone 30 reps 4.40 20 shuttle 12.43 60 shuttle

2017 NFL Draft Profile: Derek Rivers

 

[RobertWeathers]

I'm not much of a draftnik but I do like to think I know what a good player looks like.

This kid has it.

He is explosive and you can't teach that.

Plants his downfield leg like Von Miller. What lean! My god.

Needs a little more weight and another move or two.

Seems already decent vs the run.

This kid will be in rotation by the middle of the season easy if not sooner.

 

[luuked]

I'm not much of a draftnik but I do like to think I know what a good player looks like.

This kid has it.

He is explosive and you can't teach that.

Plants his downfield leg like Von Miller. What lean! My god.

Needs a little more weight and another move or two.

Seems already decent vs the run.

This kid will be in rotation by the middle of the season easy if not sooner.

Don't think he will contribute against the run this year a lot. Like you said, he will need more weight to deal with NFL level blocks. But I can see him getting snaps as pass rusher. Looks like a good pick on paper.

 

[long distance]

Great refinement for a small school player. Excellent player!

Interview: Exclusive Interview with Youngstown State EDGE Derek Rivers | Draft Breakdown

Highlights:

Thanks, reamer.

And this video doesn't even do him justice..
Id recommend watching full games @draftbreakdown to get a real feel of his intelligence. It's unique, esp. for a college level.

This is what I loved about him . watching his film

It’s definitely a mind game. If you get somebody who bails a lot, I might start hitting him with speed-to-bull a couple of times in a row, then he’ll start settling his feet and he’ll start preparing for power because he’s sick of getting bull-rushed.

Derek Rivers - the sack hunter
Some “scouts“ complained about his inconsistency, disappearing periods, gap discipline etc. Instead it's part of his mind game. Unlike most (or basically all) of the prospects he's not a “fool-rush-in“ edge guy. He has intelligence and instincts of big cats. Instead of comparing him to other players I preferred to compare him to the way big cats are hunting prey. He doesn't just rush for sacks snap in snap out - he hunts them. He knows its a 60 minute game. He doesn't need to go all in every snap. He seeks his best opportunities, creates his player-specific leverage - and then goes for the throat. So i wouldn't call him pass rusher but sack hunter. The mind games he talks about and his surprising strength also result in solid pressures that BB values so much. There's a lot of room for improvement in this area and even more in edge setting - I just hope it doesn't affect his unique sack hunting approach that was such fun to watch these past weeks.

Watching him another player jumped to mind - not a pass rusher - Le'Veon Bell
__

So if you don't want to call him panther (or cougar) . just call him - puma
.

 

[Nunchucks]

I faulking love this pick! Great find at a serious area of need.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Don't think he will contribute against the run this year a lot. Like you said, he will need more weight to deal with NFL level blocks. But I can see him getting snaps as pass rusher. Looks like a good pick on paper.

He has ok size but needs 10-15lb but yea I think he's more off the line run D right now as hell wear down. Because of his quickness and speed he could be ok.

 

[Nunchucks]

He has ok size but needs 10-15lb but yea I think he's more off the line run D right now as hell wear down. Because of his quickness and speed he could be ok.

I expect that he will be a situational pass rusher, not too much running down opportunities in year one.

 

[Uptown]

We already have Branch.

Maybe we pick up Xavier Woods, though, for your thematic defense

Force(s) of Nature??

 

[Patriot Missile]

The scary thing is that Rivers is even more of a freak athlete than Flowers. Rivers measured out faster at the Combine.

Trey Flowers
6'2 34'25" arms 266 lbs

4.93 40 36.5" vert 121" broad

7.34 3-cone 28 reps 4.40 20 shuttle 12.03 60 shuttle

NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Trey Flowers

Derek Rivers
6'4 32'75" arms 248 lbs

4.61 40 35" vert 123" broad

6.94 3-cone 30 reps 4.40 20 shuttle 12.43 60 shuttle

2017 NFL Draft Profile: Derek Rivers

Anyone have a way of looking up his qb pressures?

That was one stat from Flowers that stuck out to me. I believe he was 2nd in the nation his senior year.

 

[Tony2046]

We already have Branch.

Maybe we pick up Xavier Woods, though, for your thematic defense

The first image that pops up when you Google "Branch Flowers Rivers"

 

[Patriot Missile]

I looked up Branch Flowers Rivers after the game and all I found was this.

 

[long distance]

Let's also add this here from Reiss . for River's 2017 roster value:

Given how often the Patriots are in sub-packages (as much as 80 percent of the snaps in some years), and how the Patriots adopted a four-man rotation at the end of last season, Rivers has the chance to be an immediate contributor. At the least, because of how well he runs (4.63 in the 40-yard dash), he should factor into the special-teams mix from Day 1.

 

[patchick]

Let's see how this pick works out; maybe it is good or maybe it was not optimal. Bill may have gotten too cute with his trade-down obsession. Even though the Patriots were in need of a DE, when their pick came up at No. 72, Bill chose to move down to No. 83, figuring that there would some good choices at 83. But then there was a run on DE's:

• Kansas State’s Jordan Willis (No. 73, Cincinnati Bengals),
• Michigan’s Chris Wormley (No. 74, Baltimore Ravens),
• Texas A&M’s Daeshon Hall (No. 77, Carolina Panthers),
• Alabama’s Tim Williams (No. 78, Ravens)
• Ohio’s Tarell Basham (No. 80, Indianapolis Colts)

Did they miss out on a better DE or their top choice? We will not know for a year or two.

Actually, I'm pretty sure we'll never know. Because given that you listed 5 players of similar draft status, the odds are that one will be better than Rivers and one will be worse. And we'll never know which one they would have picked.

As long as Rivers succeeds it's a good pick, regardless of the success of the other 5.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Actually, I'm pretty sure we'll never know. Because given that you listed 5 players of similar draft status, the odds are that one will be better than Rivers and one will be worse. And we'll never know which one they would have picked.

As long as Rivers succeeds it's a good pick, regardless of the success of the other 5.

We'll never know which the Patriots liked better - it was clearly noticeable how the run started right after we traded down. I was disappointed but thankfully there was one left for us

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

So I guess we'll have one more gameday active on the DL unless there's a surprise cut. Rivers and Ealy replace Sheard and Long. The DT return. And then we added a Guy (Lawrence Guy). That should be the DL.

 

[The Gr8est]

Fore those undecided, this is definitely worth watching.

Matt Waldman primarily looks at offensive players but he really liked Rivers and bought along Justis Mosqueda who is well-respected in the Twitter draft community for his opinions on edge defenders.

He makes some interesting points which are not obvious to the layperson (like myself) such as reading the tackle at the snap, winning on the edge despite lack of counter moves, playing with his hands above his eyes, etc which really made me like the player though I thought he would be gone by the time the Patriots pick came around (being a fringe 1st round prospect on a few draft boards).

Really good stuff here and well worth watching. It will put a smile on your face if you are a Pats fan.