Dante Fowler Jr.
Dante Fowler Jr. reminds me of a typical Oakland Raiders first round draft pick in the mid to late 2000’s. He was picked way higher than expected and only had some flashes of solid production. Fowler hasn’t performed anywhere close to what his draft slot says.
Other than a decent eight sack total season in 2017, Fowler has been a disappointment. The one lone bright side about him is that he’s only 24-years old. That factor alone will assuredly find himself a team with some good cash. That team, however, should not be the Raiders. It’s strictly based on how much he would cost, which isn’t worth it at all.
The Los Angeles Rams traded a third round pick for Fowler for half a season. That’s an indicator of how much he could cost on the open market on top of the fact that he is young. Both are definitely going to be selling points for Fowler to gaining a big pay day.
However, that alone is not enough for a guy that has hardly shown anything. Signing Dante Fowler Jr. is a huge gamble. He wasn’t a significant factor on that vaunted Jaguars defense in 2017 and barely made an impact with the Rams this past season.
Whatever hype there is surrounding Fowler is strictly from his name and is invalid. He hasn’t been consistent in any manner of his game. He’s not a crucial third down sack guy nor is he proficient in stopping the run.
With the Rams, Fowler finally recorded an above average grade season (60.0-plus) for Pro Football Focus. Much like with the Jaguars, he couldn’t impact as heavily as he should considering the vast amount of talent around him. If Fowler had shown any real consistent strides, then bringing him in wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Unless his market value is low, then the Raiders should not have him as a target in free agency.