Defensive lineman Yannick Ngakoue became the second former Maryland player taken in the NFL draft when the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him in the third round with the No. 69 overall pick on Friday night.
The Steelers selected former Maryland DB Sean Davis 11 picks earlier in the second round. Ngakoue visited the Jaguars in early April.
After the drafting of Davis and Ngakoue, Maryland has had multiple players selected in the draft for the second straight year, and it's the first time the Terps have had two players selected in the top 70 since Vernon Davis and D'Qwell Jackson were tabbed in 2006.
Ngakoue announced he was skipping his final season of eligibility in November and entered the NFL draft process. He stacked up well against other defensive linemen in a deep draft class at the NFL Scouting Combine in February and made an impression at Maryland's pro day in late March.
Bleacher Report NFL draft writer Matt Miller said an NFL scout called him after Ngakoue's pro day and told Miller to move the pass rusher up his draft board.
"A huge, huge thing is people love his traits," Miller said in a phone interview last week.
Ngakoue set the single-season sack record last fall with 13 1/2 sacks and finished his career with 21 1/2 sacks and 33 tackles for loss. Miller said Ngakoue significantly boosted his draft stock from November to now through testing and workouts.
"Sometimes when you look at what a guy can do as an edge rusher, sometimes you're just looking for those explosive qualities," Miller said. "I think at defensive end, kind of like wide receiver, you're almost looking for a guy who looks the part and has the size, has the speed and has a little bit of production, and then you can project it forward."
Ngakoue was a former four-star recruit out of Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington, and he chose the Terps in 2013 over a number of national powerhouses. He played outside linebacker in former Brian Stewart's 3-4 scheme for two seasons before moving to defensive end in Keith Dudzinski's 4-3 defense last fall. At pro day, Ngakoue said he didn't have a preference for whether he fit more into a 3-4 or 4-3 defense, and he had production in both in college.
"Just depends on who drafts me and what scheme I'm in," Ngakoue said. "Just to see how they'll use me. I feel like I'll be used in numerous ways — my hand in the dirt and standing up as well."
At 6-foot-2, 252 pounds, Ngakoue's size puts him as a bit of a "tweener" between a traditional 4-3 defensive end and standup 3-4 outside pass rusher. The combination of his sack numbers and what scouts were able to see from him in individual workouts made an Ngakoue an intriguing prospect for teams looking to add a pass rusher.
"Ngakoue is a tad undersized and best fits a 3-4 scheme where he can line up off the line and manipulate space to beat blocks," CBS Sports NFL draft analyst Dane Brugler wrote in an email last week. "He does his best work when he can catch blockers off balance, forcing them to mirror his start-stop moves. He will appeal to teams who value production (13.5 sacks in 2015) over the measureables."
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