Miles Burris a ‘diamond in the rough'

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Miles Burris wasnt exactly a cant miss player in the 2012NFL Draft. In fact, NFL teams elected to pass on him 128 times. Greg Cosell thinks they missed something.The NFL Films and ESPN NFL analyst told Yahoo Sports heconsiders Burris a diamond in the rough and one of my favorite players.The Raiders selected Burris, an outside linebacker from San Diego State, in the fourth round. Burrisexcelled with the Aztecs last season, leading them with 78 tackles, eight sacksand three fumble recoveries. Burris play helped lead San Diego Stateto an 8-4 record and a berth in the New Orleans Bowl.Cosell said he likes Burris versatility and even thought hecould play middle linebacker. However, Cosell admitted Burris will need toadapt one of his greatest strengths at the college level to succeed in the NFL.The issue he faces is that he rushed the quarterback a lot,and he did that very well at SanDiego State,but he was a relentless kind of rusher who showed some power, Cosell said. Hewasnt a bend-the-edge and get low kind of rusher. So I dont know if hes apure pass rusher in the NFL.For an example of a successful NFL pass-rushing linebacker,Burris need only look around the locker room. Rolando McClain recorded fivesacks for the Raiders last season, just his second in the NFL, and his 99tackles were second most on the team.

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