FanPost

Draft Profile - Lavonte David

Lavonte-david_medium

via www.giantsgab.com

College Career Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HWkphKWaQdE

Measureables:

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 233 lbs.
Arm Length: 31 3/4"
Hand Size: 8 3/4"
40 Yard Dash: 4.66 sec.
20 Yard Shuttle: 4.22 sec.
3-Cone Drill: 7.22 sec.
Bench Press: 19 reps
Broad Jump: 119"
Vertical Jump: 36.5"

Career Stats:

(Nebraska)

(----------Tackles---------) Fum. QB
Year G/S UT AT TT TFL Sacks C-R BK PBU INT Hry.
2010 14/14 84 68 152 15-60 6.0-50 0-0 0 10 0 7
2011 13/12 65 68 133 13-64 5.5-46 3-2 0 2 2 3
Totals 27/27 149 136 285 28-124 11.5-96 3-2 0 12 2 10

Lavonte David played his first two seasons (2008 and 2009) at Fort Scott Community College after playing for renowned Miami Northwestern High School, and then transferred to Nebraska for his final two years. Below are some of the awards that he has been under consideration for or won.

" First-Team All-American (AFCA, CBS, Yahoo.com, ESPN.com, Phil Steele)
" Second-Team All-American (Walter Camp, Sports Illustrated)
" Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year
" First-Team All-Big Ten (Coaches, Media, ESPN.com, Yahoo.com, Phil Steele)
" Butkus Award Finalist (1 of 6)
" Chuck Bednarik Award Semifinalist (1 of 16)
" Lott Trophy Semifinalist (1 of 8)

Strengths:

First of all, watching the video, David is a very instinctual player with an explosive first step. Not only does he have a sense of where he needs to be, but he also has a great understanding of angles and leveraging himself off of blockers. He has great speed that allows him to pressure the quarterback from both the inside and outside, and can create turnovers, and big tackles for losses. He also has the strength needed to stand up and stop running backs, and is a very sure tackler. He can match up well in coverage against tight ends, and has the hip movement to be able to react well in zone coverage too.

Weaknesses:

Size. Lavonte David is considered by most scouts to be a bit undersized by NFL standards compared to a prototypical linebacker. This causes him to sometimes struggle with lineman that get their hands on him, though his hands are strong enough that he can still break free. David can also sometimes struggle covering tight ends particularly if they overpower him off the line in man coverage. What David lacks in size he is able to compensate with his speed and instincts, though he could be more exposed in the NFL.

Why the Browns should draft him:

With Scott Fujita getting another year older and possibly facing punishments due to the Bountygate scandal, outside linebacker is a need for the Browns. By putting Gocong on the strong side and David on the weak, we would be able to help shore up our run defense and add another player that has great instincts. His speed would also help us in pass coverage as we have seen that Fujita no longer has the speed needed to keep up with tight ends in the NFL.

Why the Browns should not draft him:

The past two years the Browns have been focusing on the defense, and as a result, our offense has been largely neglected. Even though David may be an overall better player than some of the offensive players we will be looking at, those needs at right tackle, running back, and wide receiver simply cannot be ignored. Also, with how tough and physical this division is, David might not have the size needed to be able to help stop the run and stay healthy.

What the Browns will do:

Personally, I believe that the Browns will take a long look at David if he is available at #37, but I do not think they will draft him here. The only way I can see him getting drafted by us is if we have some sort of trade down that gives us multiple picks in the second round since our needs on offense are just too great, otherwise they'll look to see if he is still available in the third round.

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