THE PASS RUSH, BY HIPA.KANE (Aug 18)Add yourself to The HERD's Official Roster (guestbook), if you think you are man enough!
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The concern with Wistrom is not that he isn't going to be very good, but that he may not have the long-arms, quick-step and athletic ability of an excellent pass-rusher, who are so impossible to block. However, IMHO Wistrom could be an excellent run-stuffing DE and scrap DE (hustling for scraps from other DL penetration). He is very intense, hard working, excellent pursuit on the line and I think will prove Kiper wrong about being weak at the point of attack, but doesn't seem to have penetration skills on pass-rush.
However, the Rams have at least two players that have pass rushing ability, Leonard Little and Lionel Barnes. Little excels in space blitzing from OLB, the year he and Wistrom came out, draft pubs wonder why the Rams drafted him, since he was a "tweener" but no one questioned that he could get to the QB, better than anyone else in the draft! Unfortunately, he want be available to play for 8 games. Lionel Barnes seems to be what Lorenzo Bromell is on the Dolphins, a great penetrating pass-rusher that is a few year's (if ever) from shutting down the run. Before, Barnes got hurt, his quick penetration was the talk of mini-camp, if he has the special pass rush skills and Wistrom continue's to improve than I think there will be great skill at RDE. The pass rush will be very powerful with Little's return.