Apr 30, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Dante Fowler, Jr (Florida) greets NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the number three overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Surprise!
Not really.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Dante Fowler with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. It has been the consensus all along that Fowler would be the one the Jaguars ended up with. Having a good team is all about having great personnel that fits the scheme of your team.
And Fowler has been looked at as the best edge rusher in the draft this year. And to go with it, he fits head coach Gus Bradley’s elephant scheme defense about as much as any player could fit any scheme. At 6’3″, 260 pounds, running a 4.6 40, Fowler has the size and speed of a 4-3 end.
And at Florida, Fowler played in the 3-4 as a stand-up outside linebacker that dropped in coverage. In the elelphant scheme, the Leo or defensive end on the right side, has linebacker responsibility on some plays and defenisive end responsibility on others. Fowler has moved all over the place on his defense in college so there are no problems there.
The Jaguars were actually pretty good rushing the passer last year so adding Fowler is going to make that front-seven a handful. Put that together with the additions they made in the secondary and the offense in free agency and Jaguars are on their way up the standings in 2015.