It was a significant surprise to nearly every NFL fan that paid even a small modicum of attention to the pre-draft process that former Ohio State defensive lineman Michael Bennett dropped all the way to the sixth-round.
Fortunately for Bennett, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Gus Bradley were there to break his fall, pairing the stout, pass-rushing tackle with the notoriously defensive-minded head coach and creating what was, presumably, a perfect marriage.
Only, according to the latest report, Jacksonville may not prove such a perfect landing spot for Bennett after all.
"The team paid a lot of money to Jared Odrick in free agency, and he rushes from the inside often," writes Charlie Campbell of Walter Football. "Defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks was Jacksonville's best player last year and is also a three-technique pass-rusher. Even though he went to Jacksonville, Bennett could have a hard time getting snaps as a Jaguar."
When it comes to scheme-fit, the Jaguars and Bennett are an absolute match. Bradley likes his interior pass-rush, especially from the three-technique, and that is Bennett's forte.
Unfortunately for Bennett, with Odrick and Marks in place as veteran three-technique defensive tackles, his path to the field may only be as a situational pass-rusher.
While that's acceptable for a rookie sixth-round pick, if he's unable to supplant Odrick or Marks in the near future, he may never get the opportunity to perform as more than a part-time player in Jacksonville.
In this day and age, a player who struggles to show positional versatility at the NFL level will be limited no matter how highly capable they happen to be at their single talent.
Bennett will need to show that he can use the quickness and surge off the snap that made him such a highly touted NFL prospect to bull his way into the starting lineup, or he might not be able to last with the Jaguars.
Of course, if there's any head coach in the NFL who can likely make use of a player with as specific and singular a skillset as Bennett, it's Bradley, the former defensive coordinator of the Seahawks who helped to build the original iteration of the vaunted Seattle defense off of ill-fitting pieces like Red Bryant and Chris Clemons.
