<
        >

          NFL Nation

          Fowler is McShay's pick, but would Gregory be better option?

          • Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 26, 2015, 03:00 PM ET
            Close
              Michael DiRocco is an NFL reporter at ESPN. DiRocco covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN.com and Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner. You can follow DiRocco on Twitter at @ESPNdirocco.
            Follow on X

          JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Todd McShay has changed his mind.

          ESPN's draft expert now has the Jacksonville Jaguars taking Florida defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. with the third overall pick in his mock 3.0 that was released Thursday morning. That's a switch from his previous mock, when he had the Jaguars taking Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory. In each case, McShay has Tennessee taking USC defensive end Leonard Williams at No. 2.

          McShay's reasoning for his switch is that the 261-pound Fowler is a more versatile player than the 235-pound Gregory.

          That may be true right away, but there are people -- myself included -- that believe Gregory has more upside than Fowler and could become a monster pass rusher.

          Gregory is already a freak athletically, and his combine numbers compare favorably to Fowler. They have roughly the same size hands (9.5 inches for Fowler, 10.0 for Gregory), arm length (33.8 for Fowler, 34.0 for Gregory), and 40-yard dash time (4.6 for Fowler, 4.64 for Gregory). Surprisingly, Gregory out-performed Fowler on the bench, lifting 225 pounds 24 times to Fowler's 19 despite weighing nearly 30 pounds less.

          Granted, combine numbers are often over-emphasized and can skew people's perceptions of a player, but consider that Gregory is 6-5 and has a frame that would easily support 10-20 more pounds and he should get bigger once he gets into an NFL training regimen. If he doesn't lose any of his explosiveness, he would be hard for offensive tackles to handle.

          The Jaguars wouldn't go wrong by taking Fowler, who could play the otto (strongside) linebacker spot as well as some snaps inside. Gregory's upside is intriguing, though, and general manager David Caldwell will have to decide if he wants to take Gregory and get less of an impact than he would from Fowler immediately. But with Gregory, he would get a bigger payoff two or three years later.

          One factor that could play into Caldwell's decision: The Jaguars aren't going to be a playoff team in 2015 but they could be in 2016, which would fit nicely with Gregory's potential growth curve.