Detroit Lions draft prospect: Defensive lineman Kentavius Street

Pass rush inefficiency was a massive problem for the Detroit Lions in 2017. Outside of the three spectacular individual performances of Ziggy Ansah, there were few bright spots. Anthony Zettel showed moments of promise early but spent the second half of the year ineffectively running into his blocker. The Lions franchise tagged Ansah, but they need a long-term talent infusion on the edge. They could add to this group early and often.

NC State defensive end Kentavius Street is a powerful man. His spot in the NFL may be as an interior player. He lacks the desired height at 6’2″ and arm length at 32-7/8″ to play on the edge. It is also difficult to judge Street’s burst off the line. At NC State he was often asked to stop rushing after a single step and keep contain. He does not, however, appear to have a particularly great first step.

Street has poor technique as an edge rusher. He is not great with his hands, and he lets blockers get to his pads far too often. This makes it difficult to disengage. He holds the point of attack against the run but does not disengage well because he lost the hand fight. Against interior offensive linemen, the reach advantage is much less prevalent.

The problem is that while Street is strong enough to move inside, He can squat 700lbs, he weighs only 280 lbs. As a pass rushing specialist playing only on third downs and two-minute situations, that is a workable weight. He would need to add significant bulk to his already very thick frame to play a three-down role, however.

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Street would likely fit, as a rookie, into a short yardage defensive end and interior pass rush specialist. He met with the Lions at the NC State pro day. His draft slot is as a likely late-round pick or priority free agent.