Troy Dye | LB | Oregon
Elevator Pitch
Dye is a lengthy, rangy and intelligent linebacker with three-down potential at the next level. His play strength is questionable at best, so he’ll likely have to see a majority of his reps come on special teams in his rookie year. However, the tools are place for him to develop into a starter.
Vitals
Height | 6-3
Weight | 231
Strengths
One look at the stat sheet will show how impactful Dye was for Oregon’s defense during his time there.
A four-year starter, Dye tallied a whopping 391 career tackles with the Ducks, topping 100 tackles in a season twice. Part of why he was so productive had to do with the athleticism he brought to the table for their defense. He is a sideline-to-sideline linebacker with very good straight-line speed and the ability to beat ball-carriers to the edge in runs to the outside. He is a fluid mover in space who can go with the flow of the play before bursting downhill and pouncing on his opponents. He takes calculated angles to the ball and has plenty of range as a tackler due to his athleticism and his impressive length for the linebacker position.
Dye is an intelligent player whose instincts have progressively gotten better over time. His processing abilities have progressed, as he’s able to diagnose plays and act upon his reads much quicker than he did early on in his career. His 13 career sacks make him a dangerous blitzer when schemed correctly, and with 13 pass deflections over the past three seasons and 5 interceptions overall, he has solid production in coverage.
Weaknesses
The big concern with Dye is his frame. Length is far from an issue, but he doesn’t have much bulk on a lanky frame. His frame can likely afford to add on some weight, but as it stands right now, he doesn’t have the raw power to be an immediate starter at the next level. He struggles with taking blocks head-on and doesn’t pack much of a punch at the point of attack, hence limiting his schematic versatility on blitz plays. He doesn’t deliver powerful hits as a tackler, and the lack of weight he carries in his lower body could provide some issues against powerful NFL backs.
Dye is athletic, but he isn’t as sound in coverage as one would expect yet. His footwork in man coverage isn’t all that polished, and his feel for backpedaling and dropping back could be smoother. He also can do a better job of predicting which gap to shoot up as a run defender.
Projection: 3rd-4th Round
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