Yesterday we examined Marcus McGraw, an inside linebacker from Houston that many outlets have reported is only 5'10" in height. Obviously, because of his size, he will have difficulty making an NFL roster. But today, we will look at a pass rusher that is slightly bigger.
Zach Nash is coming out of Sacramento State, a small school that still plays Division I football in the Big Sky Conference. Get some more information, as well as an outlook on Nash's chances of making the roster after the jump.
According to the Arizona Cardinals press release, Nash is 6'4" and 260 pounds. He is listed as a linebacker, but he played defensive end in college. Coming into the Cardinals 3-4 scheme, he will need to make that transition and learn how to play in space, as most collegiate defensive ends do. Here is some more info from the press release:
Linebacker ZACK NASH (6-4, 260) from Sacramento State set a school record with 29.5 career sacks and a single-season record with 13 sacks as a junior in 2010 while playing defensive end. He led the Hornets with 10.5 sacks as a senior in 2011 after playing in all 11 games and collecting 51 tackles (27 solos), a team leading 15 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, and two passes defensed. He was selected first-team All-Big Sky in consecutive years (2010-11) and finished fifth in school history with 40.5 tackles for loss while playing in and starting 42 games.
We can see that the production is there with Mr. Nash. He has prototypical OLB size and he has a knack for getting to the opposing quarterback. At his pro day, he ran a 4.88 second 40-yard dash and his 3 cone drill time came in the neighborhood of 7.08 seconds. He only put up 18 reps of 225 pounds on the bench, but that is something that is not overly concerning to me.
With Joey Porter gone and Clark Haggans still without a contract, the Cardinals are in need of some pass rushing assistance. Whether or not Nash can be that guy is another question. I think he is the type of athlete that if he has a good training camp, he could make the practice squad.
Here is a good highlight reel of some of Nash's time at Sacramento State. Fast forward to around the 2:30 mark to see him:
What do you think? Will Zach Nash make the roster at all?
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