2016 Buccaneers’ Draft Profile: DL Sheldon Rankins
By Zach Sauers
The Buccaneers have obvious needs across the defensive line. Could they look to add the stud, Louisville defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins, to lineup next to Gerald McCoy?
The Buccaneers’ defensive line is in desperate need of reinforcements, and most people believe with the ninth overall selection they will target a multitude of prospects that could help. Joey Bosa and DeForest Buckner are the two superior defensive linemen in this year’s draft, but based upon the needs of teams in front of them, there is a great chance that they both will already be selected. This now leaves the Bucs in an awkward situation. The Bucs could easily turn in the card and reach for a player like Shaq Lawson, who is one of the best edge rushers in this year’s draft, or they could look to solidify the inside of that defensive line.
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Sheldon Rankins is a highly thought of defensive prospect in this year’s draft. He stands at around 6’1″ and weighs in at 300 pounds. Rankins had a dominant presence in college totaling 18 sacks, 133 tackles, and 32 tackles for a loss. His disruption in the trenches left teams frustrated and forced them to game plan on how to deal with him. Rankins saw his stock rise tremendously from an absolutely outstanding outing at this year’s Senior Bowl. What stood out to teams was Rankins’ ability to dominate opposing linemen like it was nothing.
Here is what an expert had to say in Rankins’ draft profile
"StrengthsPowerfully built lower half with very good strength. Is extremely compact, but still flexible and very athletic. Everything he does is explosive. Fires into blockers and can jolt and displace them with a combination of leverage and power. Strong base provides excellent balance to battle against double teams or down blocks. At times, will absolutely own finesse blockers. Elite foot quickness for interior defender. Will be difficult to hook or crossface for NFL offensive linemen because of his lateral quickness. Plays with powerful, violent hands. Can play in 2-gap or 1-gap scheme and did just that at Louisville. Plays through the blocker reading and shedding on time to make tackles against the run. Loose, explosive hips that allow him to win edge battles and turn the corner as pass rusher and potentially excel in twist game. Highly productive pass rusher in each of the last two season. Bloodhound with great instincts to diagnose and shutdown screens.WeaknessesUndersized for full-time interior position by NFL standards. Flashes quite a bit on tape, but many of his victims lacked the strength that he’ll see from NFL guards. Despite having decent arm length, is hardly long-levered and could struggle to turn the corner against an NFL redirect block once he gets on a guard’s edge. Average secondary rush when his initial charge is stymied. Scouts believe he could lose some quickness if he tries to bulk up to prepare for rigors of NFL interior play. Some teams are concerned about his lack of overall size which could hurt his stock."
You’ll see from the tape here what kind of player the Bucs could be getting:
Experts believe that because of Sheldon Rankins’s size he is smaller than what is wanted as an interior defensive lineman. Although, when looking at Rankins, his size is very similar to that of Geno Atkins of the Cincinnati Bengals. Their height and weight are exactly to the same, and just imagine if Jay Hayes has some pull in this year’s draft. Hayes was Atkins’s coach in Cincinnati, where Atkins was arguably one of the top interior lineman in the NFL. Selecting Rankins could give Hayes a younger version of Atkins, leaving him to mold the Bucs’ defensive line exactly how he likes it.
Imagine a defensive line with Gerald McCoy and Sheldon Rankins anchoring the interior. These two require double teams constantly, which leaves the edge rushers with one-on-one blocks. This could be a tremendous help for the Bucs considering their lack of talented edge rushers.
The Bucs passed on Aaron Donald a couple of years back, so imagine the shape the Bucs could be in with both Donald and McCoy in the trenches. Once again there is a chance to have two elite interior defensive lineman on the Bucs, but are they willing to take one this high in a deep draft full of them? If an edge rusher like Joey Bosa isn’t there I believe it to be the best option. A corner would be another ideal choice, but with the Bucs’ secondary having three starting quality corners on the roster, I just don’t believe it’s a need.
Rankins has already been linked to the Bucs and has had a pre-draft visit. His impressions on the Bucs’ media has been heavily felt and his name also been featured on PewterReport and JoeBucsFan. There is a lot of sense and pull for Rankins to be the Bucs’ selection this year, but will Jason Licht pull that trigger? Rankins lets his play talk itself and Mr. Boring is exactly what the Bucs’ need!