Jets Showing A Lot Of Interest In Michael Sam

A while ago I wrote a scouting report on Michael Sam, a player that I fully respect for what he can do on the field, especially rushing the QB. Obviously you can't talk about Sam without mentioning the fact that he will soon be the first openly homosexual player in the NFL. Some see this as a negative, based on the media attention it will draw. However I'm not one of them and we're talking about Michael Sam the football player, nothing else.

The Baltimore Sun had a good article today in relation to the teams showing the most interest in the Southeastern conference defensive player of the year:

The Ravens are among the teams that have displayed the most interest in Sam since the NFL scouting combine along with the Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, according to league sources.

Sam will likely go between the 4th round and the 7th round and potentially could be a UDFA, although his talent warrants a draft selection. He underperformed at the combine in Indy, but managed to ease some fears by improving nearly all of his numbers at his pro-day.

During his Pro Day, Sam ran the 40-yard dash in 4.72 seconds, had a 30-inch vertical leap and bench pressed 225 pounds 19 times.

As a senior, Sam had 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles for losses and was named a first-team All-American and a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection.

I really like Sam, I think he has a lot of ability. However his strength is coming from a defensive end position in a 4-3 defense where he can get his hand in the dirt. We saw at the senior bowl how much he struggled in the open field playing as an OLB in a 3-4 defense. So as such, I don't think he'll be a good fit with the Jets. He has natural pass rush ability however, and Rex can always get the best out of these guys, so even if he doesn't quite fit what we are doing, he may still be worth a selection, especially for a team like the Jets who have a lot of picks between rounds 4-7.