Mike Green- 5 Things To Know About Eagles Draft Prospect
With just 4 Edge Rushers currently on the Eagles roster, including Bryce Huff and the recently signed Josh Uche, the Eagles could certainly use some help at Edge Rusher in the draft. Is Mike Green out of Marshall the right fit? Or will off-the-field concerns take him off the Eagles’ board entirely?
Here Are 5 Things You Should Know About Mike Green
The Most Productive Edge Rusher In College
No one had more sacks than Mike Green last year. He got to the QB 17 times. He also racked up 59 QB pressures, 32 Hurries, and a shiny Pass Rush Win Rate of 20.2%. But it was not just as a pass rusher, he also led all Edge Defenders with 32 stops and 42 tackles.
All of this is a continuation of 2023, where he put up similar production, albiet in a smaller role. He played 341 snaps, compared to 719 this past season, but still racked up 6 sacks, 21 Hurries, 30 pressures, and 26 stops.
PFF has him graded as the best run defender among the Edge Rushers in this draft, and the 4th best pass rusher, behind Abdul Carter, Josaiah Stewart, and Princely Umanmielen.
Only Had Success After He Transferred To A Smaller School
Having success at a small school is one thing to be concerned about. At Marshall, he very rarely faced Offensive Linemen with NFL potential. But we have seen players come from small schools and kill it in the NFL, see Quinyon Mitchell last year.
But another thing to consider is the fact Mike Green did not start at a small school. He started at Virginia. Virginia is not exactly Georgia, Alabama, or Ohio State, but it is a Power 5 School, and he had offers from other Power 5 Schools.
As we will discuss, there were other reasons for him transferring. However, he did not transfer to another Power 5 school, and it was not until he got to Marshall that he became the player he is now. He was an okay recruit going into college, hardly saw the field in his 1 year at Virginia, and only became a star when he got to that small school
That makes him slightly different than a Quinyon Mitchell. Does it mean he can’t work? Of course not. But it is something to consider.
Made A Big Impression At The Senior Bowl
That said, one good way to judge a small school prospect is based on what they do at the Senior Bowl. And few people made as big of an impression there as Mike Green. Not just because his speed off the Edge was clear, but because of one viral moment that put him on everyone’s radar.
That is not some no-name OT he just ran over. Josh Connerly could be a 1st round pick himself. But he got bulldozed by a small school prospect.
Green also flashed that he has multiple ways to win, speed, power, and finesse. If a team is worried about whether he can hang with tougher competition, his performance at the Senior Bowl is something that could assuage those fears.
Related: Walter Nolen- 6 Things To Know About Eagles Draft Prospect
Accused Twice Of Sexual Assault
There is something about Mike Green that is impossible to ignore. He has been accused twice of sexual assault. Once while in High School, and once while he was in Virginia. An accusation that led to him transferring from Virginia to Marshall.
Green maintains his innocence on both counts. Neither accusation led to charges. Nonetheless, they exist. Green had a chance to address the accusations at the NFL Combine.
“There’s accusations out there. I’ve never been questioned. I’ve never been asked. You know what I’m saying? Like, nobody ever asked me a question about what happened before I departed from Virginia. It was just accusations that caused me to leave from there.”
So do the accusations have any merit? That is what teams will have to decide. The fact is the accusations are there. Every team will have to consider them when deciding whether or not to put him on their boards. If teams find they have any merit, or that Green has character concerns, he might be someone you remove from your board no matter how good you think he is.
This is not like the “character concerns” people have about Walter Nolen. These concerns can be defined. Someone is going to take a chance on him. Eagles just have to ask themselves if they want to be the team that takes that chance.
Eagles Take These Things More Serious Than Other Teams
We know that some teams will overlook accusations like that for a talented player. Fresh off over a dozen accusations, the Browns mortgaged their future by not only giving up a haul of picks for Deshaun Watson but giving him a fully guaranteed contract. The Cowboys signed Greg Hardy when there were photos of what he allegedly did to his ex-girlfriend.
But the Eagles, at least until now, have been a team that claims to care about this and have mostly backed it up. They have usually not been a team that overlooks sexual assault allegations.
Howie Roseman spoke about this two weeks ago on The McShay Show, hosted by Todd McShay.
“We have some objective things that I can’t even overrule. For one, violence against women. I won’t even watch them, I don’t want to talk about it. It is a dealbreaker for us. So I can’t go, he is really good and he did it 10 years ago, and he learned from it. It just doesn’t work for us.
I have 4 kids. I want them to be able to walk into the locker room and for me to not have to go skip over that locker.”
That is pretty definitive. Like he said, he can’t even overrule that. Which tells you it comes from the owner. Eagles do not want to associate themselves with domestic violence. So if they look into Green, and find there is any validity to the accusations, it sounds like he is completely off the board.
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