Alvin Dupree's Versatility Could Make UK DE the 2015 NFL Draft's Top Edge-Rusher

In the National Football League, you can never have too many talented pass-rushers. Teams that don't have them desperately seek them. The teams that do have them are always looking for more.

There's no shortage of talented young edge-rushers set to enter the league in 2015, from Nebraska's Randy Gregory to Clemson's Vic Beasley.

However, while size concerns with Gregory (6'5", 235 lbs) and Beasley (6'3", 246 lbs) raise questions about scheme fits at the professional level, Kentucky's Alvin "Bud" Dupree offers the best of both worlds.

And that just might make Dupree the most interesting prospect of the bunch.

Mind you, you won't find Dupree atop many lists of edge-rushers heading into the 2015 NFL draft. In fact, on the vast majority of "big boards" this year, both Gregory and Beasley are ranked higher than the 6'4", 269-pound Dupree.

Rank	Player	School	Height	Weight
1.	Dante Fowler	Florida	6'3"	261
2.	Randy Gregory	Nebraska	6'5"	235
3.	Shane Ray	Missouri	6'3"	245
4.	Vic Beasley	Clemson	6'3"	246
5.	Alvin Dupree	Kentucky	6'4"	269

There's a reason for that.

For starters, while Dupree was a productive player in Lexington, he wasn't wildly so. The youngster was consistent, logging between 6.5 and 7.5 sacks in each of his three years as a starter, but NFL teams about to spend a top-15 pick on a player want to see dominance. They want to see quarterbacks fleeing in terror.

That just wasn't the case with Dupree in college.

Year	G	Tackles	TFL	Sacks	INT	FF
2011	12	21	2.5	2.5	0	0
2012	12	91	12.5	6.5	0	0
2013	11	61	9.5	7.0	0	2
2014	12	74	12.5	7.5	1	2

That isn't the only knock on Dupree. As Lance Zierlein of NFL.com pointed out, Dupree sometimes hesitated at the snap—if only for a moment. Unfortunately, that moment is all an NFL tackle needs to get set, and it's led some to question Dupree's instincts:

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Wins with athleticism over skill at this point. Some scouts believe his instincts are below average, leading to hesitation. Will get caught taking bad angles to the ball. Needs to improve hand fighting. Still raw rushing the passer. Doesn't possess a go-to pass-rush move. Appears to lack urgency in-game.

"

Also, while Dupree (along with Florida's Dante Fowler) is one of the larger of this year's "tweener" prospects, CBSSports.com's Rob Rang wrote that Dupree needs to get stronger at the NFL level:

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Lacks functional football strength. Struggles to rip free once engaged. Relies on his agility and savvy to slip by would-be blockers. Rarely physically breaks the grasp of blockers once engaged. Rarely gets his hands up to cloud the vision of quarterbacks. Sometimes takes wide angles in pursuit, giving up extra yardage.

"

So given that, what's all the hoopla about? Why does Rang predict that Dupree won't make it out of the top 10, forecasting that he will be selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth overall pick on April 30?

One word. A word that both tantalizes and terrifies NFL teams.

Potential.

That potential was on display at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. Dupree didn't participate in all the drills in Indy, but he fared very well in the drills he did participate in. In fact, while Beasley's 4.53-second 40-yard dash garnered headlines, Dupree's time was nearly as fast.

Drill	Result	Rank
40-yard dash	4.56 seconds	4th
Vertical leap	42 inches	2nd
Broad jump	138 inches	1st

And he did that while carrying over 20 more pounds than Beasley was.

Dupree's performance at Lucas Oil Stadium caught the eye of Mark Bullock of The Washington Post:

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Dupree might be the most athletic pass rusher in this entire draft class. Vic Beasley stole the headlines at the combine, but Dupree was just as, if not more impressive. Dupree is an inch taller, at 6 feet 4, and 23 pounds heavier, at 269 pounds, than Beasley. Yet his vertical and broad jumps were better. Dupree also ran nearly as fast, despite the extra weight, with a 40 time of 4.56, only 0.03 seconds slower than Beasley.

"

That speed and athleticism also allowed the Wildcats to utilize Dupree in a number of different roles. He rushed the passer from both two- and three-point stances at Kentucky. He even dropped back into coverage, notching a game-sealing pick-six against South Carolina last year.

That versatility may be an even bigger boon to Dupree's draft-day prospects than his potential.

Sure, it's possible for an undersized end to be a successful 4-3 edge-rusher in the NFL. DeMarcus Ware of the Denver Broncos and Elvis Dumervil of the Baltimore Ravens have both enjoyed long and storied careers despite checking in at fewer than 260 pounds.

Still, they're more exception than rule.

Most NFL teams running the 4-3 prefer their ends closer to 270 than 250 pounds, and Dupree's showing in Indy demonstrated the ability to carry additional weight without sacrificing speed.

Meanwhile, Dupree has shown the quickness in space necessary to succeed as a stand-up outside linebacker at the NFL level. Better yet, Dupree's versatility could afford 3-4 NFL clubs the luxury of lining up Dupree at outside linebacker in base sets and defensive end in the nickel.

Given how much time NFL teams spend in sub-packages nowadays—for more than a few NFL teams, the nickel is essentially their base defense—that's plenty appealing.

As Bullock wrote, however, it's rather unlikely that Dupree is going to make a huge impact for his new team in 2015:

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Dupree is a project at this point, certainly as a pass rusher. There will be teams that love his athleticism and believe their coaches can get the best out of him. There will be others that think he’s a workout warrior and it doesn’t translate on the field.

I don’t expect Dupree to be particularly productive as a pass rusher in his rookie season. Whichever team drafts him will need to be patient and willing to spend the time to coach him up. But if he responds to good coaching, then his athleticism could help him become a top pass rusher down the line.

"

Still, the fact that Dupree could stand to get stronger and improve his technique doesn't make him an aberration. It makes him just like the vast majority of first-year pass-rushers, most of whom struggle a fair amount as rookies.

It's going to take some time and coaching, but in today's NFL of "multiple" defensive fronts, often it isn't the "one-trick pony" types who go on to find success as pros.

It's the high-ceiling types who do a number of things well who, once they've been coached up a bit, wind up making NFL general managers look good.

Dupree fits that bill.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter at @IDPManor.