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One prospect who the Broncos are considering taking in the first-round of the 2016 NFL Draft is former Ole Miss defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche. In fact, the Broncos hosted the talented defensive lineman on Thursday. He is a 6'3", 294lb defensive lineman who is considered one of the riskier picks in the draft. Nkemdiche is ranked as the 25th overall prospect in the 2016 NFL Draft according to CBS Sports, and the 5th overall defensive tackle in this year's draft.
During Nkemdiche's three-year career at Ole Miss he totaled 81 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, and 6 sacks. This past season he totaled 26 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, and 3 sacks.
Robert Nkemdiche, Junior, Ole Miss
Height: 6'3 Weight: 294lbs 40 time: 4.87 seconds
Arm Length: 33 7/8" Hands: 10 3/4"
Bench Press: 28 reps Vertical Jump: 35.0 inches
Broad Jump: 116.0 inches
Film Room:
Scouting Report:
Strengths:
- He looks the part, size, frame, thickness, and carries his size well
- Powerful
- Explosive off the line
- Moves well for a man that big
- Unblockable in one on one situations
- Shows elite lateral quickness for a man of his size
- Clogs running lanes
- Showed improvement as a pass rusher
- Has a nice spin move
- Penetrator
- Pushes the pocket
- Plays low to the ground and gets good leverage
- Top 5 talent
- So many red flags
- Character questions
- Work ethic is questioned
- Arrested for marijuana possession after taking a fall from an Atlanta area hotel room
- Multiple run-ins with the law
- Tons of talent but does he want to be great?
- He was suspended from Ole Miss's bowl game after the incident
- Admitted to being lazy
- Inconsistent effort on the field
- Doesn't have the production you would expect, but was double and triple teamed
- Needs to develop more pass rush moves
- Plays out of control
- Needs to improve his on the field discipline
Does Robert Nkemdiche fit with the Broncos?
Hard to say.
If you watch the tape, his talent and athleticism jump out to you. When he is giving it his 100%, he is unstoppable. He has the size, speed, power, explosiveness, and just elite talent you look for in a defensive lineman. He should be a top 5 talent in this year's draft.
However, there are so many red flags. Top 5 talent, but fifth round character.
He has drug problems, character questions, his work ethic is questioned, and some even question if he wants to be great. Does he have the fire inside of him that the great ones do?
I know the Broncos have a strong locker room and defensive line coach Bill Kollar is probably the best in the business, but it takes effort from both ends.
The Broncos environment could change him, or he could be suspended and be a huge bust. He is probably the biggest boom or bust in this year's draft.
If he falls to pick 31, I think the Broncos should consider him, but I would mich rather go with a Vernon Butler, Jihad Ward, or Chris Jones. This draft is so deep at this position where I don't think the risk is worth it.
I know some of you will point to Shane Ray and Bradley Roby as instances where the Broncos took a chance on a character risk, but it's not even comparable. Ray and Roby had minor off the field issues, Nkemdiche's are so much more concerning, at least to me.
I talked myself into and out of Nkemdiche like three or four times while writing this up. I get both sides of the argument, but ultimately I would pass on Nkemdiche in the first round. Now if he fell into the second round? That would be a different story.