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(Source: Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports
Round Two – 54th Overall
Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE, Villanova (6-foot-7, 289 pounds)
I believe that waiting to the second round to target a pass rusher wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Villanova’s Tanoh Kpassagnon (pronounced Tawn-oh Pass-n-yo) is an intimidatingly built human – standing 6-foot-7 and weighing a shade under 300 pounds – and he’s an athletic unicorn with his 4.8 time in the 40.
Michigans’ Taco Charlton has consistently been given first round grades, however many scouts think that he’s not truly ready to be a year-one impact player. Waiting and taking Kpassagnon in the second round allows the Fins to address another position of need in the first round while still taking a physically gifted player that may or may not be ready to contribute as a rookie in 2017.
Even though he comes from FCS school Villanova, Kpassagnon’s production over the past two years is hard to ignore.
In 2015, he earned All-Colonial Athletic Association first-team honors by totaling 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Kpassagnon followed that up by recording 21.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in 2016 – garnering first-team Associated Press FCS All-American honors.
There’s still plenty for him to learn as a pass rusher and there may be a bit of learning curve since he played against FCS-level on a weekly basis.
Miami’s year-one plan for Kpassagnon should be for him to learn under Cam Wake and the coaching staff and be a situational pass rusher as well as special teams weapon used for blocking kicks with his vertical leap and extremely long arms.
