I haven't seen Dupree show the ability to shed blockers any more so than Beasley. He weighs 20 pounds more, but he isn't any stronger, and in my opinion Beasley is a better hand fighter. I was okay with either one of them personally, but Beasley is better IMO. I really wanted them to try and trade back 5-6 spots, get a 2nd/3rd round pick from someone and then grab one of them at that later 1st round spot, but either they didn't try that, or no one was interested in moving up from the 12-15 spot, which is where I would've tried to move to in order to get either one of them. It would've been nice to have that extra pick to use to possibly move up in the second round to get Collins or Gregory, even though he is a risk.
Dupree does get in trouble by using his body to get into blockers as opposed using his hands...but that's something that can be worked on. What I find more attractive about Dupree is he was ultra productive on a Kentucky defense where he was the key defender getting the most attention. As
@Sean311 mentions, you can't say the same thing about Beasley who benefitted from playing on a STACKED defense and wasn't the main focus of other teams. Over the last 3 years playing in the SEC, Dupree AVERAGED 76 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and 7 sacks. You compare that to Beasley who averaged under 40 total tackles, BUT did have some nasty numbers for tackles for losses (20+) and sacks (12+) the last two years. It confirms what we've said...Dupree is the better overall defender at a premium position, and Beasley is the better pass rushing specialist. To me, the advantage goes to Dupree because of his ability to play on every down, yet have the same kind of impact that Beasley has.
As scouts have mentioned, Dupree was probably hurt by the fact that he was asked to do too much at Kentucky. Athletically, he can play almost anywhere on the front 7 which UK asked him to do, so he never really developed a "specialty" skillset at any one position. He won't be asked to do that in the NFL so he can focus on technique (like using his hands against blockers). Vic Beasley ran a 4.53 forty...but Dupree was right there with him with a 4.57 forty.
I think it comes down to preference. At the pick Atlanta has, I just want to see an impact guy who is more versatile and can play on every down and doesn't need to be protected in situations.
