Dante Fowler Jr. NFL Draft Scouting Report and Profile
The 2015 NFL Draft is full of pass rushing prospects, and Florida Gators edge player Dante Fowler Jr. is among the best. In fact, some say Fowler is the best pass rusher in this year’s draft in general, ahead of even Vic Beasley at Clemson.
Fowler has an impressive skill set, a guy who can cause a lot of problems for opposing offenses due to positional versatility and athleticism. Let’s take an in-depth look at this fantastic young football player.
Measurables
Strengths
Fowler is one of the most explosive players off the ball that I’ve scouted since I’ve been at NFL Mocks, and that includes guys like Von Miller. In a straight line, there aren’t many faster edge rushers than Fowler, which is why I believe he excels greatly at rushing in a diagonal line or blitzing from the middle of the formation.
He also has scheme and positional versatility. He can play defensive end in a four man front or linebacker in a three man front, and can blitz from the middle or play well in coverage.
Uses his long arms to his advantage, and while he’s still developing a repertoire of pass rush moves, Fowler can explode through or around offensive linemen all the same. He is developing a really strong spin move but that’s still relatively in the works.
This is a guy that can convert speed to power and beat you in a variety of ways, but he’s still figuring all of that out.
Purely in terms of speed, there aren’t many (if any) that much better than Fowler in this draft. He is so quick in a short area. He also hits hard when he gets to the quarterback and doesn’t let up in his pursuit.
His change of direction skills might be one of his best assets as well. Fowler can start an outside rush, plant his outside foot, and explode the other direction. He is able to make offensive linemen look silly with this move…Here he is doing it playing the LDE position.
As was the case at Florida, an NFL defensive coordinator is going to have fun being creative finding ways to get Fowler in one on one situations or in situations where his athleticism and talent is a clear mismatch. This is extremely true for his ability to rush from the middle.
I think with this kind of speed, the sky is the limit.
Weaknesses
Still developing a full arsenal of pass rush moves. He’s inconsistent against the run, which leads me to believe he’s going to be best utilized as a linebacker in the NFL rather than a 4-3 defensive end.
While he does a good job of getting into the offensive linemen and using his speed to knock people back on their heels, he can at times get locked out by tackles with length and almost disappear for stretches of a game.
Fowler was asked to play quite a number of different positions, including a 25 pound weight loss that ultimately led him where he is today. Might be unclear moving forward what his true position is…
NFL Team Fits
Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns
Best NFL Scheme Fit
3-4 Joker
4-3 DE/SLB
Round Projection/Rookie Impact
Fowler is going to be a first round pick, it’s just going to depend on how high. He could go as high as number 3 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars, or he could slide to the bottom of the top 1o, maybe even just outside depending what teams’ preferences are for the edge rushers in this year’s class.
Fowler is an intriguing player with a ton of speed and skill, he just needs the right coaching to be able to put it all together.
I think you could be looking at a Pro Bowl pass rusher before too long. Fowler has that kind of game-changing speed off the edge.