Dion Jordan

[NATI BENGALS]

I know there are quite a few Dion Jordan fans on this board. I have been pretty adamant that a 6'7" LB is about as rare as a unicorn and that he would most likely be a DE. But this little snippet came out about him today that worries me even more than making such a tall player play LB.

"Oregon OLB Dion Jordan's weight dipped to 226 pounds during the 2012 season, but the Duck is already up to 234 after working out.
Jordan hopes to weigh 250 pounds at the Combine in February. Multiple factors played into the senior's drop in weight this season, including a shoulder injury and the notorious pace of Chip Kelly's practices. Regardless, Jordan remained active and strong with his hands. His comfort and space likely projects best to a strongside linebacker position."

http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/cfb/131332/dion-jordan

This reminds me a whole lot of the recent bust Aaron Maybin who had trouble keeping weight on and was similarly a tweener prospect. Speaking of which he is a free agent.

I just can't put a guy coming off a shoulder injury who can't keep his weight up high on my wish list. For supposedly being a pass rushing presence I am not even close to being impressed by the 5 sacks he had this year. And if he doesn't get his weight up and his shoulder doesn't get healthy quick he could be in for a draft day slide.

I'd take a look at him maybe with our 2B, definitely our 3rd. He is definitely a project pick.

[ibengals]

I'd hate this pick to be honest. It's similar to the Michael Johnson pick where he wasn't heavy enough to be a defensive end, and wasn't agile enough to be a linebacker. He also had issues keeping his weight up, and our coaches moved him from DE to LB to DE to LB and finally back to DE. Now in his 4th season, his weight is up and he's playing fantastic, but it took a while for him to finally grow into his frame.

If we were a 3-4, he'd be a great guy to groom as an edge rusher much like Aldon Smith, but I don't see where he'd fit in our scheme right now.

[bfine32]

Did anyone ever find out why Dion didn't play in the 2nd half of thier Bowl game? Was looking forward to watching him and really didn't se him after he made the 2 point conversion.

[NATI BENGALS]

Originally Posted by bfine32

Did anyone ever find out why Dion didn't play in the 2nd half of thier Bowl game? Was looking forward to watching him and really didn't se him after he made the 2 point conversion.

Pretty sure he aggravated the shoulder. They called it a recurring problem. I don't know if he was going to require surgery before the game but he needs it now.

[HellMarine]

Originally Posted by NATI BENGALS

I know there are quite a few Dion Jordan fans on this board. I have been pretty adamant that a 6'7" LB is about as rare as a unicorn and that he would most likely be a DE. But this little snippet came out about him today that worries me even more than making such a tall player play LB.

"Oregon OLB Dion Jordan's weight dipped to 226 pounds during the 2012 season, but the Duck is already up to 234 after working out.
Jordan hopes to weigh 250 pounds at the Combine in February. Multiple factors played into the senior's drop in weight this season, including a shoulder injury and the notorious pace of Chip Kelly's practices. Regardless, Jordan remained active and strong with his hands. His comfort and space likely projects best to a strongside linebacker position."

http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/cfb/131332/dion-jordan

This reminds me a whole lot of the recent bust Aaron Maybin who had trouble keeping weight on and was similarly a tweener prospect. Speaking of which he is a free agent.

I just can't put a guy coming off a shoulder injury who can't keep his weight up high on my wish list. For supposedly being a pass rushing presence I am not even close to being impressed by the 5 sacks he had this year. And if he doesn't get his weight up and his shoulder doesn't get healthy quick he could be in for a draft day slide.

I'd take a look at him maybe with our 2B, definitely our 3rd. He is definitely a project pick.

Everywhere I've seen him he has been mocked in the first, I've even seen him in the Top 5. Won't be a project the Bengals take on.

[JungleRock85]

He wouldn't fit as an OLB in 4-3 system anyways would he? I am going to assume he would be a DE all the way for us then. With that said there seems to be a lot of other good DE prospects in the 1st or 2nd round if we go that route. Guys like Okafor, Jones, Montgomery, and Ansah all jump out to me in that area. As you guys are saying though a guy that is 6'7" and weighing 230 pounds doesn't seem like a guy that is going to necessarily set the world on fire in the NFL.

[NATI BENGALS]

Originally Posted by ibengals

I'd hate this pick to be honest. It's similar to the Michael Johnson pick where he wasn't heavy enough to be a defensive end, and wasn't agile enough to be a linebacker. He also had issues keeping his weight up, and our coaches moved him from DE to LB to DE to LB and finally back to DE. Now in his 4th season, his weight is up and he's playing fantastic, but it took a while for him to finally grow into his frame.

If we were a 3-4, he'd be a great guy to groom as an edge rusher much like Aldon Smith, but I don't see where he'd fit in our scheme right now.

I'd say MJ is a good comparison. But MJ never got that lite and he was much more productive. That is one of the reasons I think Dion could slide. MJ had a lot of 1st round projections. Dion does have the fact that he only played defense for 2 years though.

[D's Nuts and Bolts]

Originally Posted by JungleRock85

He wouldn't fit as an OLB in 4-3 system anyways would he? I am going to assume he would be a DE all the way for us then. With that said there seems to be a lot of other good DE prospects in the 1st or 2nd round if we go that route. Guys like Okafor, Jones, Montgomery, and Ansah all jump out to me in that area. As you guys are saying though a guy that is 6'7" and weighing 230 pounds doesn't seem like a guy that is going to necessarily set the world on fire in the NFL.

I was really high on this guy but have kind of backed off some because of all the under classmen that came out. There are a lot of DE's, I think CIN would be looking at him as a SLB. I don't know if he can come in and start right away though. It would be nice to have a LB that could rush the passer. He could also be a nickle rush guy as well IMO. Hey maybe he could run some routes on the goal line!
If he fell to that 2B pick I would be ok with it.