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YSU Penguin Athletics => YSU Penguin Athletics => Topic started by: ytownchief22 on January 25, 2017, 03:47:50 PM
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So far after 2 days of practice at the Senior Bowl, Derek is getting A LOT of praise from NFL people. Scouts, GM's and team personnel raving about him. NFL Network even featured him. He's putting on quite a show and is shooting himself right up the draft board.
Many have him projected to be drafted anywhere from 2nd-5th round. They have him as a stand up pass rusher. He weighed in at 6-4, 250 and is even doing pretty well in pass coverage.
Way to go Mr. Rivers! Making Youngstown proud!
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ditto to what Chief says!
Great job Derek. Too bad Avery's ankle is still bad. I think he can play as well.
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I've been watching the practices on NFL network. I see him going in the 4th as a sleeper pick.
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I've been watching the practices on NFL network. I see him going in the 4th as a sleeper pick.
Pretty high for a "tweener" but we'll see on April 29-30th
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Rivers getting great penetration on multiple plays, and one leading to a pic. Lots of mentions of Rivers as well as YSU from the color commentator. North 3-0 Q1.
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Rivers looks very good in the Senior Bowl, the last play he was held and a no call. The South QB hits the receiver with a long TD pass. If Derek wasn't held it would have been a QB sack.
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Two nice plays in a row by rivers. Nice sack
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He played great. Definitely rising up the draft boards quickly.
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I think it is his ability to play at LB that will attract the most attention. So many DE's do not make the adjustment to LB according to what one of the Bengal's coaches said about him. He went on to say that Rivers transition back into coverage is almost flawless. This coach was visiting Rivers at his training camp that is actually in Cinci. I will try to find the story and post the link.
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I think Derek will be a early to middle pick in the 3rd round. He probably moved up a full round by his performance yesterday and the good week he had in practice https://www.google.com/amp/www.fanragsports.com/nfl/derek-rivers-draft-stock-continues-climb-senior-bowl/amp/
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Fox Sports has him listed as 1 of the 7 players that improved draft stock yesterday.
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The Cleveland Browns need to add players on defense who know how to rush the passer. Could they look at Youngstown State’s Derek Rivers to help solve the problem?
Story on Derek Rivers
The Cleveland Browns had multiple issues on defense during the 2016 NFL season and near the top of the list was the team’s inability to consistently pressure the passer.
That is a problem no matter who the Browns are playing, but it is magnified by facing Ben Roethlisberger (21-2 in his career vs. Cleveland), Joe Flacco (15-2) and Andy Dalton (9-3) six times a year in division games.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams knows this – “we are going to play defense as much as we can in an attacking way” he said at his introductory news conference – as does left tackle Joe Thomas – he went on record this week saying he wants the team to draft a pass rusher.
The front office and head coach Hue Jackson are likely listening and the Browns have been linked to Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett for weeks now. But even if the Browns decide to make Garrett the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, they may not be done looking for players who can make life miserable for opposing quarterbacks.
If the Browns decide to add more defensive playmakers in the draft they may only have to look about 75 miles to the east, where they will find Youngstown State outside linebacker Derek Rivers, who is catching the attention of a lot of people during practices for Saturday’s Senior Bowl.
A four-year starter for the Penguins, Rivers was a three-time first-team All-MVFC honoree who finished his collegiate career with 173 career tackles, including 56.5 tackles for loss. The numbers that really jump out are his 48 quarterback hurries and school record 41 sacks in 49 career games.
Rivers also had an impressive day of during the second practice session this week, according to firstcoastnews.com:
Derek Rivers had himself quite the day. He owned his matchups during 1-on-1 drills and was a consistent presence in the backfield during team sessions. He had at least one “sack” and displayed impressive quickness on a pass breakup in redzone drills.
The 6-foot-5 and 250-pounds Rivers has also caught the attention of the Cincinnati Bengals as he is preparing for the draft at Ignition Sports in Cincinnati, with Clif Marshall, who has close ties to Bengals strength and conditioning coach Chip Morton.
Marshall compares him to Connor Barwin of the Philadelphia Eagles, who has 50.5 career sacks since entering the league in 2010.
“He’s the same size, same weight and has similar arm length and he has the athletic ability Connor Barwin had,” Marshall told the Bengals website. “I think teams are going to be intrigued by how strong he is on the bench press, as well as the long arms.
“He’s big enough and strong enough that he can play a 4-3 end … More and more you’re seeing in the league 4-3 defensive ends in college and could even be productive but don’t have the size and they’re moved to 3-4 linebacker and it’s hard to learn how to drop into coverage and come out of their breaks. But when you have a guy like Derek who can do both, he’s attractive to every team.”
A player who knows how to get after the quarterback, who can also drop into coverage and has been described as a high-character person? That definitely sounds like someone the Browns should be interested in come draft weekend.