Atlanta Falcons Potential First Round Pick: Ed Oliver

Strengths

Ed Oliver is a superior run defender as evidenced by his 53 career tackles for a loss. He has an incredible 22 tackles for a loss in his freshman season. He followed that up with 16.5 tackles for a loss in his sophomore year of 2017. Finally this season he had 14.5 tackles for a loss, despite facing constant double teams.

Oliver uses a combination of speed and strength to beat offensive lineman at the point of attack. He is a quick twitch athlete, who uses a quick get-off at the snap to get into the backfield. Yet he is also strong enough to push blockers into the backfield on a consistent basis.

Oliver has registered two of the three best run defense grades by Pro Football Focus, since they began keeping the stat in 2014. He was given a grade of 94.6 in 2017 and 93.7 for this past season, second and third all time.

Check out this video on Ed Oliver posted by Pro Football Focus on their YouTube Channel:

Ed Oliver is often compared to Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams. They have some similarities both being fast, strong, undersized defensive tackles. However the comparison is unfair as Donald is possibly the best player in the entire NFL.