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Why Wisconsin edge rusher Nick Herbig should be an option for the Browns in the 2023 NFL Draft

Wisconsin edge Nick Herbig is one of the more interesting players in the 2023 NFL Draft, and the Browns should consider taking him with the 74th pick. Cleveland Browns have chosen Nick Herbig, a Wisconsin edge rusher, as an option for the 2023 NFL Draft. Herbig was an elite producer at Wisconsin with 20 sacks and 30 tackles for loss in his final two seasons of college football. His position in the pros is unclear, but he is ranked 58th by Pro Football Focus and 168th by The Draft Network. The Browns need to get more out of their pass rush and Herbig may be as talented a pass rusher as they need to find a pure pass rusher. Gambling problem? Call the Ohio Gambling Council on Gambling.

Why Wisconsin edge rusher Nick Herbig should be an option for the Browns in the 2023 NFL Draft

Opublikowany : 12 miesięcy temu za pomocą timbielik, Tim Bielik | w Sports

CLEVELAND, Ohio — In case you didn’t see my latest Browns mock draft on Monday morning, I had Cleveland take one of the more intriguing front seven prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft cycle in Wisconsin’s Nick Herbig with the 74th pick.

Herbig was an elite producer at Wisconsin with 20 sacks and 30 tackles for loss in his final two seasons of college football. But with Herbig, there is very little consensus of where he could be picked. For example, he’s ranked 58th by Pro Football Focus and 168th by The Draft Network.

The reason why his range is all over the place is that his position in the pros is unclear. He was a 3-4 base outside linebacker at Wisconsin, and weighed about 228 pounds in college. Herbig did measure in at 240 at the NFL combine in February, which helps him.

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But in a lot of ways, he’s a projection player in the NFL and teams want more certainty. It’s a reason why Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, for example, was picked 52nd overall by the Browns in 2021 despite being a consensus first-round talent.

Herbig has the size of a traditional linebacker in the NFL, but his play style is more suited to rushing the passer. The question then becomes if you believe he can stay in the 240s and at worst be a sub-package pass rusher.

The best way to use him could be how the Cardinals, Panthers and Eagles used Haason Reddick in the past three seasons. After Arizona mostly used Reddick as an off-ball linebacker for his first three seasons, the Cardinals moved him to the defensive front, and he turned in his best season to that point with 12.5 sacks.

The Panthers and Eagles followed suit and he had two more double-digit sack seasons after that, including a career-high 16 in 2022 in Philadelphia. In fact, despite being 240 pounds, he played 760 of his 816 regular season snaps last season on the defensive line last season.

This isn’t to say that Herbig will be as good as Reddick. Reddick was the 13th pick of the 2017 NFL Draft and tested very well in his draft year. Herbig only ran the 40-yard dash and did the bench press. His 40 (4.65 seconds) was slower than Reddick’s 4.52. But the 10-yard split (1.6) was only 0.01 seconds slower than Reddick’s, which is critical and a sign of the quality of his first step.

There are also plenty of reasons why the Browns could be a team that makes the call for Herbig. As evidenced with Owusu-Koramoah, Andrew Berry has shown he’s not afraid to gamble on the talent and figure out the rest later. Jim Schwartz’s scheme demands a high-level pass rush and there isn’t much proven ability outside of Myles Garrett and Ogbo Okoronkwo.

Speaking of Okoronkwo, the fact that he is only 253 pounds helps Herbig’s case in Cleveland. Should the Browns implement the wide-9 defense, bend and quickness are just as important, if not more, than pure size.

The Browns need to get more out of their pass rush. By the 74th pick in the draft, Herbig may be as talented a pass rusher as you’re going to find. Good coaches know how to fit schemes to their players, and it’s safe to say Schwartz fits that mold. They need pure pass rush talent and Herbig is one of the more underrated ones in this draft. He may be a projection pick, but the talent may be worth the gamble.

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Tematy: Football, NFL, Cleveland, Cleveland Browns, Wisconsin

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