There is not in my opinion a single player in this draft more perplexing to me than Darron Lee. I always write these profiles after the combine so I can put the raw test numbers up against the film, and Lee might be the perfect poster child for why that is. In a lot of ways he’s the hardest player to grade I’ve ever tried to do one of these for because there are so many areas where he is incredible, and yet there are also so many GAPING holes in his game. As the offseason process has continued Lee has started to become a favorite name brandied about by Saints fans, and many of them people who I respect a great deal. Even Saints Nation’s own Andrew Juge has mentioned a few times that he might be ok with the Saints taking Lee early in the draft. But why is that? Certainly part of it is due to the fact that the Saints only real weakside linebacker right now is Dannell Ellerbe is an injury waiting to happen and there is literally no NFL quality depth behind him. But it isn’t just as simple as “the Saints need a WLB and Darron Lee is a good one so take him”, no its much more than that. Let’s take a look at what make Lee so appealing.
Positives:
Lee is the quintessential ‘new-age’ weakside linebacker who is part safety and when you look at his 6’2″, 235lb frame you can really see an NFL caliber athlete on the field. Lee is quick, fluid, explosive, and is one of the best pure athletes in this years draft. He smoked this year’s combine producing some pretty impressive numbers for his position:
40 yard dash: 4.47
Vertical: 35.5 inches
broad jump: 133 inches
20-yard shuttle: 4.2 seconds
Lee was the top combine performer in ALL of those areas and if you watch his highlight tape above you can clearly see that the stats translate to game speed. He’s a hyper confident play maker who’s aggressive and played against top level competition without fear. Lee is a PHENOMENAL athlete with legit cover skills and the ability to make plays in space. When looking at Darron Lee’s strengths its impossible to ignore just how incredible of a fit he seems to be for what remains one of the Saints biggest needs.
Beyond just the need for depth behind ellerbe though, the Saints have the building block for an exceptionally talented young linebacking corp in Stephone Anthony, it would be an excellent idea to surround him with other young talents so that they can grow together. The logic of picking a player like Darron Lee isn’t just sound, it’s ideal….and that brings us to today’s question: Why don’t I like him for the Saints?
Negatives:
Darron Lee is actually an extremely similar player to another guy I fell in love with for the Saints last year, Shaq Thompson (and just for the record I was right in the Saints needing a player like that). However the single biggest difference between Lee and Thompson is their instincts. While Thompson is the type of player whose always around the ball and has a natural ability to react to plays, Less simply isn’t. Darron Lee is a freak athlete. He’s a not a freak football player. The more of his tape I watched the more I noticed that he’s incredibly hesitant at times. He doesn’t follow his instincts or trust his reads. That is a very bad sign for a linebacker, and worse when you consider how much talent was around him.
However, the biggest knock I have on Lee isn’t even his poor instincts or indecisiveness, its his balance. Lee is NOT a sure tackler and he often over pursues and takes away his own balance leaving him vulnerable to the offensive player. Lee might be fluid in coverage, but his poor balance when combined with his decision making and lack of elite instincts mean that often times he will get himself out of plays that should be routine. That issue is further exacerbated by the fact that Lee is not only undersized but ‘under-strong’. Weight might be an overblown stat (it is since everyone has a different musculature and thus carries weight differently), however functional strength isn’t subjective at all. Lee is light in the pads not only literally, but figuratively as he often can’t get off blocks and frequently makes shoe-string tackles on plays where a more authoritative linebacker would have put the defender down in the dirt.
The verdict: Thanks, but no thanks.
This isn’t to say that Lee is a BAD player, he isn’t. However, when I compare his film to his highlights and his combine stats I see two very different players. The reality is that Darron Lee is a gamble right now, and while his gifts could let him excel in the right place, his weaknesses would be a huge detriment to a team like the Saints right now. It’s my opinion, and you are welcome to disagree with it, but the Saints drafting Darron Lee at 12 would be an enormous mistake. Especially when there are better players further down the board who are also a better fit for the team’s needs. Fans might clamor for the freak athlete with great speed, but personally I’ll take the slightly less gifted guys who don’t have crippling weaknesses to balance it out.
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