Denver's Pass Rush Gettting a Boost From Indiana Product Jammie Kirlew

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With the 232nd pick in the draft, the other pick the Broncos had acquired from Tampa Bay, Denver took Indiana defensive end Jammie Kirlew, a player who was very productive in college but took a slide on draft boards due to lack of ideal measurables. The Broncos may have gotten themselves a nice steal in the seventh round.

Kirlew has a similar uphill battle in terms of a lack of ideal size, but he has a two inch height advangate on Dumervil, as well as an extra ten pounds. Though one could make an argument that smaller defensive end hybrids should be shorter and more compact in size like Pittsburgh's James Harrison, the general thought is that players around 6'3" 260 pounds are around the ideal size for the position.

Kirlew has similarly long 32.5 inch arms, which will prove to be a very big part of his overall game. Despite his lack of great speed, the former Indiana star will have to use his initial quickness and long arms to gain leverage against bigger offensive tackles. It also helps defenders get sack-fumbles, which is quickly becoming one of the more common ways of turning the ball over in the NFL.

I suppose the crux of the argument here is simply that Kirlew and Dumervil have both had to overcome similar obstacles in order to find success at the NFL. Whether or not Kirlew can effectively transition remains to be seen, but he has a good veteran in front of him to learn from and observe.

One really intriguing factor for Kirlew is the fact that every scouting report of his out there indicates that he, like Dumervil, is an extremely high character, hard working player. Now, that doesn't always translate to success in the National Football League, but it can't hurt a guy. NFL Draft Scout had this much to say about the intangibles of Denver's new pass rusher:

Team captain. High effort and character player who is a leader in the locker room and the community. Named to the AFCA Good Works team and nominated for the Lowes Senior CLASS Award and the Wooden Cup, awarded to a college and professional athlete making the greatest positive influence on the lives of others.

In addition to being a good soul, Kirlew also has some serious talent on the gridiron. In his last two seasons at Indiana, he has been named the team's Most Valuable Player and has racked up 136 tackles, 35 tackles for loss, 16 sacks, and nine forced fumbles over the course of his career.

Here is another bit that caught my eye from NFL Draft Scout's report on Kirlew:

Although Kirlew isn't the biggest, fastest or most fluid defensive player in this draft, his motor and excellent character will endear him to scouts looking for a Robert Mathis-type pass rushing end for their team.

While Kirlew's speed is nothing to write home about (5.03 40 yard dash at Indiana pro day) his upper body strength (29 bench press reps at pro day) and quickness off the ball are other attributes that scouts rave about. Dumervil also happened to bench press 225 pounds 29 times but was quite a bit faster in the 40 yard dash, running reported times of 4.78 and 4.68 in offseason workouts.