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With all the mock drafts and projections there have been been, many players have been associated with the 20th pick overall, where the Arizona Cardinals will select on May 8. One player is Auburn's Dee Ford.
Ford had 10.5 sacks, 14.5 tackles for losses and 17 hurries in 12 games, missing the first two of the season with a knee injury, that kept him about about 75 percent the whole season.
SB Nation's Dan Kadar was able to sit down and talk with him and wrote a feature on him and his "pass rush plan."
Ford said that he "perfected" a set of pass rushing moves.
"I'm naturally fast for my size. As far as what I do with my game, you have to have a plan as a pass rusher," Ford said. "I picked two or three moves that I really love to do, and I perfected them. I really perfected them."
He describes one as "chop, rip and dip."
A second move he calls a "two-piece."
"Once you have that tackle kicking, you just one-two and stick inside and beat him to the inside," Ford said. "I had a sack in the national championship game like that. The guy was overset and so afraid of the speed that he was oversetting so I beat him inside."
Ford is not built like a lot of 3-4 edge rushers. He is 6-2, 250. John Abraham is 6-4, 263. Aldon Smith is 6-4, 265. Ford is built more like Von Miller, who is 6-3, 250.
Ford has matched up well against some of the best offensive line prospects of this draft class and had success. While that is not the same as matching up against NFL linemen, the fact that he has a repertoire of moves and the fact that he did it while not being completely healthy means that he should make an impact on Sundays.
He has learned moves from DeMarcus Ware. John Abraham would most certainly teach him a thing or two.
Some call him a one-trick pony. The same could be said about Von Miller and Aldon Smith. There is no denying the impact they have on the field.
Even if he were a situational pass rusher, if he were able to produce 8-10 sacks in a season, even in his rookie year, would he be worth a first round pick? Would he be a good fit for Arizona, especially considering the fact that Abraham is on the final year of his contract with Arizona.
What would you think of Ford at number 20?
