Meet Derek Rivers!

Just a really polished pass rusher with great burst, smart hands that stay high bc u cant use them if u forget u have them.

He has a great burst off the line. He can beat his man there alone and can bend/Dip. He shows somes athleticism and ability to contort his lower half.

Love his hands
Strong punch to the inside shoulder if a T cheats. Displays a nice Rip move and swat. And has a bull rush that will only get better.

He's not the biggest guy but plays with functional strength and uses every inch to hold his hold. Not flashy in the run game but gets it done. Teams choose many times to run away from him outside bc his backside pursuit is so good.

He has a lot of work to do but I see him making an impact immediately on 3rd downs.

Nice job BaconGrundleCandy. Would love to see him rush the passer without having to put his hand on the ground. I feel he can do that as well. I really feel we got a steal here.

I love the days-after-the-draft hopes, really, no irony intended. Everything I see and read, it's all great stuff, the word "steal" is being bandied about (as above) and it would be great to see it come true

We all know it's a crap-shoot, let's hope that we rolled boxcars on this one. It's nice to win a super bowl then "win the offseason" to boot, although I am sure the JEST will win the off-season super bowl somehow.

Pretty weird that he has such a strong 3-cone and 40-yd (which are what the Pats seem to focus on anyhow) but does so poorly on the shuttles when compared with much heavier DEs.

Justis Mosqueda absolutely loves Rivers. Here he is pre-Draft going over that tape on the Matt Waldman podcast.

By the way, if you don't follow Justis on Twitter, you should, he's a very knowledgeable resource. Even if he loves his Packers just a little too much.

RSP Film Room No. 111: DE/OLB Derek Rivers (Youngstown St.)

SlowGettingUp said:

Pretty weird that he has such a strong 3-cone and 40-yd (which are what the Pats seem to focus on anyhow) but does so poorly on the shuttles when compared with much heavier DEs.

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That is strange. Great 3-cone and bad shuttle times....maybe he was hammered?

robertweathers said:

That is strange. Great 3-cone and bad shuttle times....maybe he was hammered?

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Useful to look at the actual numbers:

He ran a 4.4, which is comparable to Chandler Jones at 4.38. It's not elite, but it's really not that bad, either. His 3-cone was pretty good, and that's generally the better predictor of success.

Those numbers and the breakdowns above bear out the "fast twitch" comment someone posted earlier. I like the never-give-up, high-motor reputation...

Here's to boxcars not snake eyes

Nice article about Rivers, info from coaches, and how he got on BB radar.

Largely under the radar, Derek Rivers’ hard work finally paid off when he caught Bill Belichick’s eye

n6249c said:

Kraft will pick the next coach and GM. Would not be surprised if it's Caserio in the FO and Josh McD on the field.

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I think Belichick will anoint Caserio and Kraft will sign on to it and Caserio will make the HC decision. This is different than the 90's as they already have an incredibly successful organization in place and Krafts goal is going to be continuity, Caserio is the key to that imo, and having a coach in the same page as he is will be critical to this franchise continuing its success after Belichick and Brady. It will never be equaled but the expectations will still be high.

Rivers finished his career at Youngstown State with an overwhelming program-record 41 sacks to go with 47 quarterback hurries, 173 tackles, 56.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.


47 hurries. I thought someone was asking about hurries/pressures in this thread?

That's the definition of a well oiled machine. I've seen BB defer to Nick in other drafts. After all, Nick is in the center of the research based on what BB feels they need. True leaders have the confidence to delegate and empower. And BB could lead any fortune 500 company in the world. He has all angles covered.

Obviously the question was not asked because they were not sure what to do. Likely a last minute variable was brought into the equation.... like someone in another position they didn't expect to be still on the board or even another DL they ranked very close to Rivers still on the board. They rank every player with multiple variables... skill/leadership-qualities... amongst other attributes. There could have been another DL left with higher skill level but lower overall grade due to another intangible. Its probably so close that its almost a coin toss in some cases.

Not sure if this has been posted yet but an extensive article on Bleacher Report on him:

Could Patriots' Derek Rivers Prove Biggest Steal of 2017 NFL Draft?

OT - we've been touted as "winning" the UDFA race. Although getting one serviceable player out of the UDFAs is pretty much the bar. But we've spend the high(!) amount of 100K guaranteed on one guy, and 90K on another one.

PS, I guess that turns into "part of their contract" if they make the roster? I believe that's way under league minimum.