Vic Beasley was selected with the eighth overall pick of the 2015 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons and posted four sacks during his rookie season. Despite that level of production, he's still on track to be an impact pass-rusher in the NFL.Most of the knocks on him are anecdotal. Early on in his college career at Clemson, he was a tight end after playing running back in high school. His size, listed at 6'3" and 235 pounds on the Tigers' official site, was a major reason for that. It slapped him with the "tweener" label and led some to question whether a non-blue blood defender was worth a top-10 pick.At the NFL combine, Beasley showed up at 246 pounds, over 10 pounds heavier than his Clemson projection, and he stole the show as an athlete. From there, doubters brought up the name Vernon Gholston, a one-time sixth overall pick who posted zero sacks in his professional career, as a singular data point as to why you can't trust "workout warriors."The factGholston was believed to be a "workout warrior" is more of a reflection on the average fan's knowledge of combine metrics more than anything else. The former Buckeyeran a good 40-yard dash, which is the only drill most fans and media members have a frame of reference for, but agility drills, the three-cone and short shuttle are much better in predicting an NFL prospect's success at pass-rushing positions.In the three-cone, Beasley ranked in the 90th percentile for defensive ends since 1999, per Mock Draftable, while Gholston fell in the 67th percentile. In the short shuttle, Beasley ranked in the 94th percentile, while Gholstonwas in the 54th percentile. The former New York Jetcovered 40 yards in a short amount a time, a function pass-rushers are almost never in a position to display, but he was average in his ability to bend corners or change directions, tested by agility drills, which edge defenders are asked to do on every play they attack quarterbacks against an open offensive tackle.Gholston, along with players such asAaron Maybin, who ranked in the 11th percentile in the three-cone drill in 2009, are miscast as superior athletes because of the way we pick and choose which combine drills matter in pre-draft conversations despite what data or common sense suggests.Beasley, at least on paper, was an elite athlete by any form of measurement. This was after he earned two seasons of consensus All-American and All-ACC honors as a starter. Still, the labels "tweener" and "workout warrior" stuck.After 16 games, those who opposed Beasley as a top-end prospect might be feeling good about themselves, but you have to put his rookie year in context. According to Pro Football Focus, Beasley ranked seventh in terms of snaps for the Falcons in 2015 with 547 reps. He earned a plus-5.9 grade for the year, ranking fifth on that defense, and a plus-10.0 grade in pass-rushing, which put him second on the team.As far as rookies were concerned, he ranked only behind Markus Golden, who is two years older than Beasley, in hurries. Beasley's four sacks may not seem stellar, but he ranked fourth in the NFL in rookie sacks by edge defenders in 2015. Only Preston Smith of the Washington Redskins posted more than six sacks in his rookie year league-wide. Overall, fans' disappointment in Beasley's rookie campaign is more about realistic expectations for NFL rookies than his failure to meet the standards of a first-round pas-rusher.It should be noted all of Beasley's rookie production came despite the fact he played with a torn labrum for his entire rookie year, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Michael Cunningham. This was all on a team that finished dead last in the NFL with 19 sacks in 2015 despite Beasley's four-sack contribution.Because of the circumstances in Beasley's past, which would suggest he is an easy target, along with his rookie season, which was tainted by both injury and his supporting cast, it's too early to pass judgement on the pass-rusher. Heading into 2016, though, what should be expected of him'In 2015, Khalil Mack, a sophomore first-rounder, made the jump from a four-sack total to a 15-sack total, earning him All-Pro honors. Based off of Beasley's pedigree and athleticism, don't be shocked of seeing similar results from the former Clemson Tiger.By looking at his 6.91-second three-cone time, he is in good company in terms of career projection. Here are all of the first-round edge defender types who have ran a sub-seven-second three-cone time since 2005:Jerry Hughes: 6.99-secondsKamerion Wimbley: 6.98-secondsVic Beasley: 6.91-secondsManny Lawson: 6.9-secondsClay Matthews: 6.9-secondsJoey Bosa: 6.89-secondsJamaal Anderson: 6.88-secondsJ.J. Watt: 6.88-secondsDavid Pollack: 6.87-secondsDeMarcus Ware: 6.85-secondsBarkevious Mingo: 6.84-secondsMelvin Ingram: 6.83-secondsAnthony Barr: 6.82-secondsVon Miller: 6.7-secondsBruce Irvin: 6.7-secondsSome of those names aren't fair to judge. As mentioned previously, both the three-cone and short shuttle have value, and two players, Kamerion Wimbley and Barkevious Mingo, are significantly behind the pack in the shuttle. For reference, Beasley ran a 4.15-second short shuttle,Wimbley posted a 4.48-second effort and Mingo finished the drill in 4.39 seconds.Three others pass-rushers on the list, Anthony Barr, Manny Lawson and Bruce Irvin, were moved to off-the-ball roles early on in their careers, with Barr never truly playing on the edge in the first place. David Pollack's NFL career ended after one full season because of a medical retirement. Joey Bosa, a 2016 first-round pick, has yet to suit up for the San Diego Chargers.Looking at the remaining names on the list, the long-term pass-rushers have similar three-cone times and don't possess out-of-character short shuttle marks. Six of the seven first-round prospects posted 10 or more sacks during their best year to date in terms of production.J.J. Watt: 20.5 sacksDeMarcus Ware: 19.5 sacksVon Miller: 18.5 sacksClay Matthews 13.5 sacksMelvin Ingram: 10.5 sacksJerry Hughes: 10 sacksJamaal Anderson: three sacksThough Beasley's four-sack year in 2015, while injured, doesn't seem ideal when isolated without context, his long-term prospects aren't altered by a gimpy season. Mack isn't the only athletic pass-rusher who started his career slowly before breaking out. In the seven-name list alone, J.J. Watt only posted 5.5 sacks during his rookie year to go along Melvin Ingram's one sack and Jerry Hughes' lack of sacks altogether. Remember that in this juxtaposition, they were all healthy during their rookie seasons.The 2016 sports climate isn't big on nuance. Everything must be fast and hyperbolic. Beasley didn't hit the expectations fans had set for him in 2015, sure, but expecting a double-digit sack season from a rookie is an out-of-line goal in the first place.Beasley is a tweener who has grown since his college days. He's an elite athlete at a position that doesn't have many "workout warrior" failures when you look at the right measurements. Athletically, he should be great, and his production, thoughhinderedby age, injury and teammates in 2015, doesn't disqualify him one bit from a long-term peak as a 10-sack player.There are too many narratives swirling around Beasley that simply don't matter, down to not trusting Clemson pass-rushers, instead of looking at what numbers over a decade of time claim he should be in the near future. Beasley has more in common with DeMarcus Ware, Von Miller and Clay Matthews than Da'Quan Bowers, who was recruited under a different staff at Clemson and played at nearly 50 pounds heavier than the 2015 draftee during their college years.One of the biggest mistakes you can make in the NFL is give up on an athletic edge defender too early. Sometimes, it takes time, but these players almost always hit. The San Diego Chargers didn't give up on Ingram when he didn't see his first full offseason and regular season with the team until 2015, his fourth year in the NFL, with only six sacks to his name. They picked up his fifth-year option, and the following regular season, he posted double-digit sacks for the first time as the NFL's breakout pass-rusher.On the other hand, the Indianapolis Colts trading Hughes on a rookie contract for a third-round linebacker, Kelvin Sheppard, who only played with the team for one season, is one of the biggest mistakes that the franchise has made in its history.Falcons fans may be frustrated with Beasley's 2015 results, but patience is incredibly important for draft-and-develop teams, especially ones trying to rebuild an entire defensive line in one fell swoop. If the second seasons of players such as Mack and Watt, who had similar rookie production as Beasley, are any indication, he may reach high-impact status in this coming season. If not, it's coming shortly after.
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