Quanterus Smith vs Alabama (2012) (via Aaron Aloysius)

Quanterus Smith vs Florida International (2012) (via Aaron Aloysius)

6-5, 250

2012 (10 games): 12.5 sacks, 18.5 tackles for loss

Before you go rolling your eyes and getting all "pfft" on me, know this... Dude notched 3 sacks against Bama. Not against garbage time scrubs either. He beat Fluker, Warmack and all them boys. I don't even have to say anything after that. That right there is legitimacy.

When I watched the tape I was expecting to be blown away by some flashy athlete that jumps off the screen. But that's not really his style. He seems to out-think and out-hustle his adversaries more so than he out-athletes them. Like a good pitcher, he changes speeds and changes zones. He's very good with his hands, and seems to have long arms, and seems to win first contact most of the time. And I think winning first contact is key in pass rushing. It lets you control the engagement. If you hit first, your opponent must react to YOU. But what I like about him most is his subtle quickness and his uncanny leverage. He reminds me of Aldon Smith in this way. He can engage, make an OL shift leverage to deal with him, and then he quickly shifts his weight and pushes right through him. He's really really good in tight quarters. He's not one to just speed rush the edge. He's gonna press the outside shoulder, then swim/rip to the inside as soon as you open to meet him. He's playing chess while you're playing checkers. He seems to like to use a lot of hesitation moves too, which I like. He never gives you an easy target. He's constantly shifting and pausing and exploding, while knocking hands away and using his arms to joust OLs and maintain space. I really like his style.

He sucks against the run, and he blew his ACL. But that should only make him more attainable in the mid to late rounds.