In the last 2 years Dave Gettleman, general manager of the New York Giants, has drafted a pass rusher in the 3rd round. In most cases, the talent on the edge has dried up by the time the 3rd round comes along, given the demand for the position. Expecting both of the young defenders to break out might be greedy considering the hit-rate on 3rd round pass rushers. It’s certainly early yet but if only one had to be picked as the better bet to pan out, is it Lorenzo Carter or Oshane Ximines?
College Production:
Oshane Ximines was easily the better college pass rusher if you’re strictly looking at numbers. Ximines had 3 seasons with at least 7.5 sacks in his college career. Lorenzo Carter didn’t have one season reaching Ximines’ impressive floor in 3 of his 4 seasons (7.5). Lorenzo Carter’s best mark was 5 sacks in his junior year. Overall, Carter collected 14 sacks while Ximines was able to rack up 32.5 sacks in the same amount of college seasons as Carter (4). Their tackles for loss weren’t very close either, Ximines collected 51 and Carter only managed to get 21.5.
The trick with their large variance in pass-rushing production is the variance in the talent level of their opponents. Lorenzo Carter was a Georgia Bull Dog in the SEC which is largely considered the most physical and NFL-ready conference in college football. Oshane Ximines played college football at Old Dominion which is a very small school, he was actually their first player drafted. While Carter went up against plenty of NFL prospects, Ximines did not.
Player Profiles and Skill-Sets:
Lorenzo Carter is somewhat lanky considering the average build of a pass rusher. He added some good weight in the offseason and even looks stronger but has always struggled to play with leverage. At 6’5†tall and weighing 250 lbs he’s not a physically imposing player, he needs to win with speed to get around the edge. The good news is he has plenty of it (4.5 forty yard dash) but lacks the pass-rushing techniques to stay alive on plays when his speed is matched. So far in 2019, he only has half a sack and shares it with the other 3rd round pass-rusher, Oshane Ximines.
Oshane Ximines isn’t a very big pass-rusher either but at 6’3†and 252 lbs he is slightly stouter than Lorenzo Carter. He seems to play a little tougher than Carter too, he is much more of a hand-fighter than the 2nd-year pro. That could be partially why he has 1 more sack than Carter at this time, despite playing fewer snaps. The â€X-Man’s†overall speed is pretty average for an edge defender. He only ran a 4.78 forty yard dash but has displayed functional pass-rushing quickness with his 3-cone mark of 7.13 and a 4.57 20-yard shuttle.
Final Thoughts:
The two players couldn’t be much different from each other. Lorenzo Carter has super-human physical tools but hasn’t learned how to wield them. Oshane Ximines is somewhat limited physically but has a pass-rushing repertoire that makes up for his size. While it seems fair to somewhat neutralize Ximines’ lead in production due to differences in opponents he’s currently ahead of Lorenzo Carter in sack production in 2019 with less NFL experience and fewer snaps. While Oshane Ximines is less dynamic physically he is more of a complete package than Lorenzo Carter and a better bet to stick in the NFL at this time.