Ryan Shazier- LB Ohio State
Ryan led the Big Ten in tackles (134 TOT, 94 UA) and was a first team All-American and Big Ten player. He was constantly behind the opposing line of scrimmage, racking up 39.5 tackles for loss over the last two seasons. He completed his career at Ohio sixth all time in solo tackles and tackles for loss.
Shazier is extremely productive and has incredible ability to get to the gaps with his sub 4.4 speed. He has a quick first step and opens up fluidly to make his open field movement extremely quick and reliable. The only fear I have is over aggressiveness and his lack of diagnosing plays earlier enough to prevent getting gobbled up by larger defenders. Each of those will get better with time though.
I was a bit confused by the idea of an edge rusher in the first round, mainly because of last year's first round pick Jarvis Jones and our 2013 sack leader Jason Worilds. Word is though that they are going to move him inside and as long as our DL holds up like the lines of old, he should be able to use that speed to improve our run stopping.
Projection: Week One Starter
