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NFL Draft Profile: Kyle Van Noy

Kyle Van Noy may be the first of the local players to be drafted. The question is, which team will pick him up?

Kyle Van Noy is a quarterbacks nightmare
Kyle Van Noy is a quarterbacks nightmare
Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

The last player that we are going to focus on in this draft special is Kyle Van Noy. If you are a BYU fan, or even live in the state of Utah. there is a good chance you have heard how good Kyle Van Noy is. Scouts love KVN for his work ethic and his determination to get better.

Most people may have forgotten that Van Noy was arrested for a DUI before his time at BYU. This endangered his scholarship to play for the Cougars, and after convincing BYU that was in the past they chose to let him keep his scholarship. However, a month later he was in trouble with the law again and was cited for eluding police. At this point Van Noy flew to Provo to meet with Mendenhall and admitted he needed help sorting out his life, and now the rest is history. These stories will show on scouting reports but they love seeing that he has matured over his college career and shouldn't be a problem.

Van Noy is expected to go fairly early in the draft and could go early as the second round. .Many teams like the Vikings and San Diego are looking into drafting him in the second round. Popular NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper, has fallen in love with Kyle Van Noy over time and now believes him to be one of the best at his position.

Pros: Kyle Van Noy is very quick off the ball and knows how to pressure quarterbacks. He has a very good football intellect and knows how to read offenses. In a league growing more and more fond of scrambling quarterbacks and running backs who love to bounce around the outside, KVNs stock is very valuable. He has the speed and capability to keep up with those offensive threats and can move quickly from sideline to sideline.

Cons: Despite being 6’3 and 243 lbs Van Noy doesn’t have the arm span that most teams are looking for in the NFL. Although NFL teams said the same thing about Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers and KVN has an identical build to him. Van Noy also has a bad habit of leaving his feet when making tackles which could be more costly in the NFL than at the college level.

NFL Comparison: There are a lot of linebackers in the NFL that you could compare Van Noy to but the most similar in style would be Chad Greenway of the Minnesota Vikings. They have similar builds and style. Greenway was dominant in his college days, but had a lot of mechanics to work on just like Van Noy. Now the Vikings have a solid linebacker that helps anchor their defense.

Kyle Van Noy will be a great addition to any NFL team that is running a 3-4 scheme that will put him on the outside spot. Teams that are looking for an OLB that could snag him would be Texans, Atlanta, Bills, Packers, Eagles and Broncos.

Make sure you tune into the NFL Draft and watch your favorite players and Cougars continue their football careers.