In making a case to be the No. 2 overall draft choice \u2014 and first with any degree of drama after Fernando Mendoza goes with the top pick \u2014 David Bailey needs to do no more than point to the stat sheet.<\/p>\n
No one in the country had more sacks than Bailey, an edge defender from Texas Tech. His 14 1\/2 sacks as a senior gave him 29 for a college career that began at Stanford and ended with him helping the Red Raiders win the Big 12 title and get to the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n
As NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah put it, Bailey\u2019s track record provides prospective teams \u201ca little more certainty\u201d because \u201cyou\u2019ve seen him play out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve seen the production,\u201d Jeremiah said during a conference call with media. \u201cI think it\u2019s pretty easy to see how that translates.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the team that drafts Bailey \u2014 and that is widely expected to be one who holds a top-five choice \u2014 his college production is believed to be translatable into NFL pass rushing ability.<\/p>\n
Bailey has an explosive burst and slippery instincts to make his way past opposing offensive linemen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing comes with \u2026 being athletic,\u201d Bailey said of accumulating a wide array of pass rush moves. \u201cI had a great strength staff at Stanford (and) great strength (staff) at Tech that just helped me become the best athlete I can.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, I just watched a lot of just edge rushes. So I tried to emulate my game after (three-time All-Pro) Von Miller, watched a lot of (four-time All-Pro) DeMarcus Ware, (young two-time Pro Bowl selection) Aidan Hutchinson. So, just watching different pass rushers getting a little bit different, like tips and tricks from them. And then, obviously, I play my own game. I have a unique game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unique enough that Bailey is the odds-on favorite to be drafted No. 3 overall by the Arizona Cardinals. That is, of course, if the New York Jets do not take him with the second pick.<\/p>\n
The Jets, though, are thought to be leaning toward Ohio State\u2019s Arvell Reese, who some see as an inside linebacker but has a consensus believing he will be an edge defender at the next level.<\/p>\n
In part because he was often playing \u201coff-ball\u201d linebacker and part because he lasted only three years in college, Reese has a mere seven career sacks. Fellow junior and projected first-round pick Keldric Faulk of LSU also is going to be a first-round pick with only 10 career sacks, just two this past season.<\/p>\n
While the athletic traits of Reese and Faulk project far better production in the NFL, with Bailey there is no need to project. He\u2019s been a terror for opposing quarterbacks in the Pac-12, ACC and Big 12 the past three seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m just a little bit more explosive,\u201d Bailey said when asked what separates him from other top pass rushers in this draft. \u201cI think I have a great first step, I think I have a whole bunch of moves. And also, I\u2019ve been in different positions as a football player, like I played, played off the ball, off the ball linebacker, dropping in the flat. So I think I have a diverse set of tools.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team that drafts the 6-foot-4, 251-pound Bailey also is getting a player with a high football IQ in addition to an individual smart enough to earn an economics degree from Stanford in three years.<\/p>\n
Discussing his approach to that surely worked to impress NFL team personnel he met with.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like if I want something, and I put my mind to it, I feel like I\u2019m able to achieve that,\u201d Bailey said at the NFL Combine earlier this offseason. \u201cMy goal of graduating in three years, I really didn\u2019t think about it until after freshman year. So really, it was after that where I started taking, like, community courses and online courses try to get some more credits and graduate. So as soon as I knew that\u2019s what I wanted to do, man, I put my mind to it, and I was able to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In making a case to be the No. 2 overall draft choice \u2014 and first with any degree…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-255633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-texas","9":"tag-texas-headlines","10":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}