Do the Detroit Lions already have the next great pass rusher on their roster?
During last year's draft, they quietly took -- and stashed -- a fourth-round prospect out of D-II Bloomsburg (Pa.) named Larry Webster III.
He led the Huskies in sacks (13.5) and tackles for a loss (15) in his only season playing football. He was a basketball standout, and opted to use his final year of eligibility playing another sport.
And based on early reports out of Lions camp this year, the game is coming pretty naturally to Larry Webster III, too.
Per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the 6-foot-6, 252-pound pass rusher got "noticeably bigger" during his NFL redshirt season and may be in line to replace George Johnson, who was traded to the Bucs this week. Johnson averaged about 30 snaps per game last year.
"Don't be surprised," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said of Webster in December. "He has made leaps and bounds in terms of strides in his ability to rush the passer. He's tough. The (coaches) do some extra work with him after practice and they've been raving about what he's been able to accomplish and just watching him kind of grow and develop. So at some point in time, he's going to play and play well for us."
At Bloomsburg, Webster was split out wide and played a little tight end as well, demonstrating his freakish athleticism. He supplanted that with a 4.6-second 40-yard dash time, leaving some to believe he could actually play tight end at the next level.
If Birkett is right, and Webster added some weight to his frame, imagine pairing Ezekiel Ansah and Jason Jones with another 6-foot-6 end who has elite speed and some developed pass rushing moves.
Perhaps there was a reason the team was so relaxed about Ndamukong Suh leaving town.
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