David

Long Jr.

The Dolphins signed LB Tyrel Dodson earlier this week, likely expecting to release Long afterward. Long remains a capable run defender but can be successfully picked on in coverage.

Long started 26 of 50 career games in Tennessee after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 draft. The bigger picture here is that the Dolphins continue to be extremely active at the start of free agency after signing CB Jalen Ramsey. Long had been a staple of the Tennessee run defense over the previous two seasons. General manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel clearly see an opportunity in the declining AFC East.

Long left Week 13’s game with the injury and was quickly ruled out. He did not practice at any point this week. He’s likely questionable for Week 15 already. Long’s absence will be good news for Jacksonville’s running game.

Long has been excellent for the Titans this year, playing 95% of their defensive snaps with 85 tackles. The IDP force was quickly ruled out. This does not bode well for his chances of playing in Week 14 against Jacksonville. Mike Vrabel had no further update after the game.

Long (5’11/227) turned pro as a redshirt junior after making 31 starts in the Mountaineers’ linebacker corps, tallying 40 career tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and ten pass breakups and earning 2018 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors. On tape, Long plays with his hair on fire as an attacking downhill striker to compensate for his substandard size. He profiles on the Jon Bostic-Lavonte David spectrum as a chase-and-hit off-ball linebacker who manned the weak side at WVU.

Long (5’11/227) turned pro as a redshirt junior after making 31 starts in the Mountaineers’ linebacker corps, tallying 40 career tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and ten pass breakups and earning 2018 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors. On tape, Long plays with his hair on fire as an attacking downhill striker to compensate for his substandard size. He profiles on the Jon Bostic-Lavonte David spectrum as a chase-and-hit off-ball linebacker who manned the weak side at WVU.

Miller believes Long (5'11/227) is one of the “most aggressive” players in this year’s class and “plays with his hair on fire.” Long hasn’t performed any athletic testing but racked up a lot of counting stats in his final season at West Virginia including 108 tackles with 18.5 tackles for loss. He was named the Big 12 defensive player of the year but hasn’t gotten a ton of hype as a draft prospect so far. Miller gave him a 3rd round grade and believes he’s a future starter.

Jeremiah is scouting linebackers right now, and he hasn’t been impressed with this year’s linebacker class. In fact, he said he went hours before finding a linebacker he liked. At West Virginia, Long picked up 108 tackles (18.5 TFL) and made 7.5 sacks, which led to being named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. After declaring, Long went to the Senior Bowl, but he didn’t make a lot of noise so he’s been flying under the radar during #DraftSZN.

Long declared for the draft on Sunday, and because he was a four-year player, he’s able to play in events like this. He made 108 tackles for the Mountaineers in 2018 while being named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and 19.5 of those were for loss with 7.5 sacks. Without question, he’ll be one of the most watched linebackers in Mobile this January.

Although shorter than the typical linebacker prospect, Long (5'11/230) makes it up with toughness and motor. Long was described by his coaches as “easily the toughest dude in their program” and he was very productive in 2018. As a redshirt junior, Long made 108 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, and seven sacks.