Cosell: Watching Dion Jordan move was "a revelation"

Greg Cosell is not only the son nephew of broadcasting legend Howard Cosell, he's also a fixture at NFL films and probably watches as much tape as any media pundit there is. Outside of guys who actually work for NFL teams, I would daresay there's no one who watches the amount of actual game tape that Cosell does.

So for that reason, it's notable for me when he releases a mock draft. I'm not going to post his whole mock here because frankly I have a bit of mock draft fatigue... but I do want to highlight his Eagles selection for the great scouting report that comes with it.

He's got the Eagles taking Oregon LB Dion Jordan.

This is where the defensive player that intrigues me the most comes off the board. That's Oregon DE/OLB Dion Jordan. I was fortunate to be on the field at the Scouting Combine, and to watch this 6-foot-6, 250-pounder move was a revelation. He looked like a wide receiver. On film, he was naturally athletic, very smooth and fluid, and surprisingly explosive given his length. At Oregon this past season, he primarily played in space, which he did exceptionally well. I had to study a lot of games to get a feel for his pass rush skills. They were impressive, and I believe he will become a very good edge rusher in the NFL. He showed the ability to get low and bend the edge with the needed flexibility to succeed against quality NFL offensive tackles. There's much to like about Jordan, and he's just scratching the surface. Want a comparison? How about Jason Taylor.

Jason Taylor is 6th on the NFL's all time sack list and will almost certainly be in the hall of fame one day, so it's high praise to use him as a comparison for Jordan. Body wise, they're nearly identical. Both check in around 6-6, 240 and both were DE/LB tweeners coming out of college. For Taylor, that was probably seen as more of knock against him at the time because the 3-4 defense wasn't as pervasive as it is today. It's probably part of the reason he fell to the 3rd round. In today's NFL however, it's a big part of why Jordan could very well be a top 5 pick.

Obviously comparing Jordan to Taylor isn't projecting that he'll be as good as Taylor, rather it's more reflective of his skill set and possible ceiling.

So has Cosell changed your mind at all? Is Jason Taylor a fair comparison for Dion's game?