Despite speculation that the Kansas City Chiefs would pick a receiver to put pressure on franchised player Dwayne Bowe, they went with a defensive player. With the 11th overall pick, they took Dontari Poe, a defensive lineman from Memphis. Here's what our scouting reports had to say about Poe:
On the surface, Poe would seem to be the ultimate personification of Bill Parcells' "Planet Theory" -- that there are just a few men on the planet big enough to play at a dominant level in the NFL, and that's why size matters. However, there are also several men on the planet adept enough at blocking in the NFL to negate the rudimentary efforts of the Big Meanies. That's where technique comes in, because no matter how big Poe is, he's going to have to up his game from a technical perspective before his mountainous build means a lot in an every-down sense.
The Bryant comparison is more about where I think Poe might best fit in the NFL than a reflection of his specific abilities. There just aren't too many guys this size, and I am NOT going to compare Poe to Haloti Ngata, because that makes no sense at all. Ngata plays on an entirely different planet. Bryant also had legitimate "old-man strength" at Texas A&M; he was drafted by Seattle as a defensive tackle in a different Seahawks regime, and he just had to find the right role as a dominant run-stopping end in Pete Carroll's defensive concepts.
The challenges for the NFL team drafting Poe will be two: First, to get him up to speed on the strength and technique required to stand up to the rigors of the NFL. Second, to find the right place for him. That could be anything from defensive tackle to end in different base or hybrid fronts; the appeal of Poe is that he's an interesting vessel into which several different projections could be poured. It's just always important to note that a great combine performance doesn't make a player any more ready for the NFL.
Pro Comparison: Red Bryant, Seattle Seahawks
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