Then he fell to the fourth round<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI thank God for humbling me in that way,\u201d Louis said on being selected 138th overall. \u201cI\u2019m going to come in hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n No person express more effusive praise than ESPN NFL and college football analyst Louis Riddick. Sure, Riddick and Louis share an alma mater in Pitt yet his evaluation extends<\/a> more than their shared history.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the guy that\u2019s your quintessential will linebacker,\u201d Riddick said on the ACC Football Podcast, comparing Louis to Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks<\/a>. His projections for the All-American \u2014 \u201cDay 1 starter\u201d and \u201cPro Bowl, All-Pro caliber potential\u201d \u2014 are sky-high to the say the least. \u201cHe is just a baller, man, and he\u2019s made for today\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n What makes Louis particularly dynamic is unique ability in coverage. His 1-on-1 drills<\/a> during Senior Bowl practices should not only one day hang in the Louvre but also showed a sliced of what he could bring to franchise.<\/p>\n \u201cI take pride in coverage,\u201d Louis said. \u201cI grew up always doing 1-v-1s, so I always used to take pride in not losing \u2014 even though it\u2019s obviously an advantage for the offense.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s actually one of the very reasons that the Dolphins selected him.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see his third-down value in coverage,\u201d Dolphins assistant general manger Kyle Smith said, even calling Louis a \u201ctackling machine.\u201d \u201cVery athletic guy. Can run, play man coverage, can align as a big nickel, dime linebacker; as he keeps developing in stack alignments which he\u2019s done at Pitt.\u201d<\/p>\n The Senior Bowl performance certainly played a role as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he went there, what really jumps out with Kyle is the athleticism, his ability to move laterally, bend, change direction, man coverage ability,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThat really showed up at the Senior Bowl. Then you combine that with the tape. He showed that on tape as well, but when you see it live, and you see those guys moving, it\u2019s a little bit different. At Pitt, he was a guy that\u2019s all over the field.\u201d<\/p>\n All the talk about his coverage yielded a question: can Louis play safety?<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be necessarily new for him as he lined up in the secondary during high school before switching to inside linebacker at Pitt. He certainly can take the ball away \u2014 Louis recorded six interceptions and two forced fumbles to go along with 24 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and six pass breakups across his final two seasons \u2014among other attributes. It\u2019s no wonder coach Jeff Hafley spent some time tinkering with packages in the draft room.<\/p>\n \u201cIt excites me,\u201d Hafley said, bragging about \u201cdrawing up different things different guys can do like that\u201d because it\u2019s \u201cfun for me.\u201d \u201cI think anytime you can draft a player who can do multiple things, it\u2019s our job as coaches to have a vision for him and figure out where to play him or play him in multiple spots.\u201d<\/p>\n Hafley, however, has a bit of different vision.<\/p>\n \u201cCan he play outside backer?\u201d he continued. \u201cCan he play inside backer? Can you insert him in different spots on the field?\u201d<\/p>\n Louis knows where he would ideally play.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ideal role for me is playing the will linebacker spot and having different coverage responsibilities,\u201d Louis said.<\/p>\n Regardless of how someone might grade the Dolphins draft in general, Louis could certainly end up as one of the biggest steals \u2014 even if he manages to live up to just half of Riddick\u2019s predictions.<\/p>\n
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