JKent82
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I've mostly dimissed Nkemdiche offhand, but he sounds like the sort of player Pete would love and would fit into the Seahawks culture. This of course is just one side, but an interesting look nonetheless. Selected quotes and thoughts below, I suggest reading both these articles.
The Invasiveness of the NFL Draft Process and Robert Nkemdiche’s Talent
The Robert Nkemdiche Prophecy
The Invasiveness of the NFL Draft Process and Robert Nkemdiche’s Talent
The Robert Nkemdiche Prophecy
Each team will have a different character grade on Nkemdiche. Some will view him as the next Tyrann Mathieu or Bruce Irvin, while others will be wary of trusting him to the point that they won’t draft him. If one of those teams does take a chance on the defender, they will be adding a supremely talented piece to their defensive line.
Sounds the sort Pete would enjoy working with and a totally different sounding personality than I would have expected for a red-flagged player. Michael Bennett seems like the perfect influence for him not only as a interior rusher but as a an outside the box sorta guy.Turns out he discovered life beyond football. In high school, his best friends were teammates. In college, he ran with a different crew. One of his good friends is a nurse; another wants to help abused children after graduating. Nkemdiche read The Celestine Prophecy, a novel about Eastern traditions. It felt like an awakening. He began referring to himself as spiritual rather than religious. He thinks often now about interconnectivity, about "centering myself" to put his "soul at ease." He's writing a science fiction book about a meeting of the "thoughts of the human mind and the conscious." He wants to start a fashion line. He uses the word majestic to describe everything. "I evolved."
Nkemdiche wishes scouts would ask him actual football questions. When one team did ask, he rose to the whiteboard and drew defensive assignments for every position, even the secondary. "Very smart, football-wise," says a scout who witnessed it.
As is a frequent discussion around Seahawks draft chatter, the Seahawks gather athletic interior offensive lineman while much of the league stays traditional. The Seahawks need to continue finding extremely athletic interior rushers to take advantage of that. Interior rusher is still a huge need for us and as Frank Clark is (seemingly) shifted outside, could Nkemdiche be the target take his interior role?...the quality of line play and the athleticism on the inside appears to be declining every season. If Nkemdiche is doing this to college players he should be able to easily manipulate and knock back NFL guards and centers.
Not in Seattle.Robert Nkemdiche is 21 years old, jacked, polite and hardworking. But he's a creative spirit entering a world where creative spirits are looked upon with suspicion and disdain. He was once considered a top-five pick. Now nobody knows.
Nkemdiche has a lot going against him. Players with issues taking them off the field have been in the headlines all offseason, and as one writer points out, this includes players that aren't particularly terrible people (read: Josh Gordon). Von Miller, Mathieu, Irvin all made it with different personal issues. It'd be a risk, but the sort that Pete and John seem willing and excited to take, at a position of paramount importance.As much as the NFL researches and investigates, they have no clue whether he or anyone else in this class will stay out of trouble. Teams that understand that should be willing to spend a late first or early second-round pick on him.