Dallas Cowboys Draft: 10 Edge Rushers for the Cowboys

Jachai Polite, Florida

What’s Good: Burst, Improvement, QB Hurries

What Ain’t Good: Arm Length, Run Defense, Creativity, Maturity

Before the combine, Polite was in the mix to land himself in the First Round. After his combine, he probably won’t be selected until the middle of the second round. During his Combine Press Conference, he went on record to say teams were watching film with him and that they were bashing him. (In specific the Packers and 49ers)

Then in his workout, after gaining an unhealthy 14 pounds, he ran a puzzling 4.84 second 40 yard dash and jumped 32.5 inches in the vertical jump. After his poor first two measurements, he ended his porous day of events with a “hamstring cramp.”

Fact of the matter, Polite’s combine did the opposite of boost his draft stock. This showing is accompanied with his noticeably short arms and raw pass rushing ability. Polite only measured in at 32 5/8″ arms, which coupled with his 6’2″ and 244 pound range makes Polite a relatively small edge rusher. (The arm length was from NFL.com)

His short arms are a noticeable problem when trying to stop the run. When engaging with his blocker, he can’t get out of his hold because his arms aren’t long enough. This could be attributed to strength but Polite was responsible for 38 quarterback pressures according to PFF. (I found the statistic on this 247sports article)

I think I’ve done enough bashing on Polite though. Polite has some noticeable parts to his game that defensive line coaches will drool over. For any defensive end with a second to third round grade, Polite has an extremely explosive first step on the line. When he wants to speed rush, he can do so extremely effectively because he’s already running past the tackle when the tackle gets out of his stance.

Polite was a starter for Florida only this past season and while that may be a concern to some teams, there was a noticeable improvement from his earlier games to the Peach Bowl against Michigan. He doesn’t have the pass rushing arsenal of a Josh Allen or Nick Bosa but it’s developing.

Polite has the ability to be productive at the next level because of his burst if he can develop some creativity as a rusher. He has overcome his shorter arms with his speed and some bull rushing, but he can become even better if he learns to develop a more effective spin move. I don’t expect him to learn how to swipe effectively at the next level, but I could definitely be wrong.

Of course, his maturity factors into his development, but if he ends up in a good situation with a defensive line coach who is more patient he could make for an intriguing addition. Which leads me to my next point…

Where does he fit?:

He played left defensive end at Florida, coincidentally where DeMarcus Lawrence plays. It’s largely unknown how things will shape up now that the Cowboys are without Gregory and maybe Crawford for the foreseeable future. That leaves Lawrence, Taco, and Dorance Armstrong as the only defensive ends who are for sure available to play come September.

More than maturity, the Cowboys might not feel compelled to select the Florida product because of alignment. The Cowboys are in need of a plug and play type defensive lineman, and while Polite could do that, he’d be buried behind Lawrence from an alignment perspective.

There are players in this draft with similar production to Polite that play a bigger position of need for the Cowboys, hence it might not make the most sense for the Cowboys to go in this direction. If they did, there is some upside to work with.