I am travelling back to the UK so wanted to post something quickly (although I will do some work on a couple of articles on the plane).

Following on from yesterday’s piece, where we briefly touched on Zion Young again, I wanted to lay out the comparisons below. This scares me:

Darius Robinson (2024 first round pick)

9 sacks
17% win percentage
27.5% wins in true pass sets
10-yard: 1.73 (at 285lbs)
Run defense grade — 81.4
Good Senior Bowl
Max GPS speed at the Senior Bowl: 14.31mph

Zion Young (possible top-50 pick in 2026)

8 sacks
17.4% win percentage
25.6% wins in true pass sets
10-yard: 1.72 (at 267lbs)
Run defense grade — 86.6
Good Senior Bowl
Max GPS speed at the Senior Bowl: 15.04mph

LJ Collier (2019 first round pick)

6 sacks
17.1% win percentage
21.8% wins in true pass sets
10-yard: 1.68 (at 283lbs)
Run defense grade — 79.4
Good Senior Bowl
Max GPS speed at the Senior Bowl: 15.24mph

It’s worth remembering that LJ Collier went in round one for a reason. His pass-rushing tape in his final year at TCU was impressive at his size. He was able to attack the edge far better than you’d expect for someone weighing 283lbs. He had a dominant Senior Bowl and was seen as an ‘alpha’ during the week in Mobile.

But it didn’t translate to the NFL. His lack of burst was too much of an issue. He couldn’t win in the same way he did at TCU.

Darius Robinson similarly has failed to make any impact in the NFL despite having all of the same positives as Collier. Both players, despite poor athletic testing numbers, were able to persuade teams to take them in the late first round.

Young’s speed numbers are concerningly similar and yet he’s considerably lighter than the other two. He too is now being touted as a possible late first round pick. I feel like we’ve been here before.

I can understand the Seahawks potentially wanting to add power and alpha energy to their defensive line given DeMarcus Lawrence is, at the absolute most, giving you one more season. Yet Lawrence is 254lbs and has always played in that range. He ran an impressive 4.31 short shuttle. He isn’t just a physical force, he has some athletic quality too.

If the Seahawks want to truly replace Lawrence, it can’t just be about power and aggression. There needs to be some burst and agility.