LB Darryl Sharpton, Round 4, #102 Overall

[Keith]

Sharpton hails from the U so he'll find plenty of friends on the roster.

5'11" 236 makes him a little undersized. Has played all three spots in a 4-3 though, so good depth, special teams.

[Roy P]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/p...;pageContainer

Read & React: Reacts aggressively to attack the line of scrimmage to stop the run, but is fooled by play-action. Lags when diagnosing the action, bouncing laterally before making the correct read and flowing to the ball. While slow to diagnose, Sharpton does have an explosive burst and very good acceleration to close.

Run defense: Inconsistent diagnosing the action, but has an explosive burst to close once he locates the football. Questionable angles to the ball, but has very good speed for the inside linebacker position and can get away with taking poor angles. Not as fast on the field as he is in workouts, though he can beat the back to the sideline and catch ballcarriers from behind. Undersized and lacks the explosive upper-body strength and use of hands to take on and discard blocks from offensive linemen and is too often engulfed by bigger blockers in close quarters. Relies on his good lateral agility to elude blocks, but will pick a side and attempt to fight through blocks, exposing cutback lanes. Doesn't have the balance to break down in space to make tackles against elusive backs. Doesn't protect his knees well enough for a player with his experience.

[HPF Bob]

Sounds like a guy with UDFA written all over him. He better be a special teams stud or this looks to be a wasted pick.

If he was better in coverage, I might see him as a SS but he seems too small to be a starter in a front seven and not dependable enough as a tackler. Throw in knee/ankle injury history and I just don't see what was worth using a fourth on him. Guess we'll learn when he comes to camp.

[Roy P]

I agree Bob, this guy doesn't project well to the next level in my opinion. There was some very good talent left on the board at positions of need, so, I'm not quite sure what this is all about. Maybe he's just a 'good guy' that the ST squad could use.

[Blitzwood]

It's hard to get excited about this pick when Jamar Chaney, Alterraun Verner, Ricky Sapp, and Darrell Stuckey were still available.....

Oh well, with that said, Sharpton does bring some hard hitting and toughness to the team. His speed, size, and cover skills are below average though.

[painekiller]

I really do not get this pick. Using a 4th on this guy when they could have taken
Edds. Who is good in coverage.

[Nconroe]

According to Texans site, LB coach, he is versatile, physical, explosive, smart, quick, glad to get him in fourth round. guess we will know more during training camp and in a couple of years.

We needed LB's on the roster, only 6 on roster now, usually 8 to training camp.