After a week's hiatus, our "Classic Jurassic Meat-Eater Matchup," is back with a good one. This week's predator du jour is the Wash Comms (to go a little Myron Cope on you), Dante Fowler.
Fowler is a "quarterback hunter for hire." Over the course of his nine seasons in the NFL, Fowler must have gained an extensive helmet collection. He's a five-hat guy, having first entered the NFL with the Jaguars, followed by the Rams, then Falcons, the Cowboys and, finally, the Wash Comms.
Fowler career totals include 51.5 sacks, 64 tackles for loss, and 82 quarterback hits. He's still very athletic and enough of a force to be of considerable consequence. Just a couple weeks ago versus the Carolina Panthers, Fowler took an intercepted pass and ran it back for a pick six. Including in that was an impressive juke on quarterback Andy Dalton to cap off the 67-yard return.
Fowler is 6-foot-3 and 261 pounds. He is twitchy explosive, an excellent combo of a power player who can be as disruptive as a sugared-up 8-year-old at a sleepover. He can be used as a situational pass rusher, and as a matter of opinion, he probably operates best as a high-energy off-the-bench guy.
He'll stand up as the end man on the line of scrimmage, or he can put his hand on the ground and have a go. The Commanders will even line him up on the inside as a light 3-technique.
He's got a good burst off the snap and has 6.5 sacks to his credit already in nine games. He's a power player with heavy hands at the point of attack, and can square up with a lockout. Fowler plays with great effort and intensity.
Fowler has a high-motor RPM capacity, plays with a touch of the nasty and seems to enjoy the physicality of the trenches. Fowler will "trap the trapper," meaning he won't wait on the end of the line of scrimmage when a tight end or guard pulls and comes down the line. Fowler will close the gap and physically meet the trapper. He's definitely not afraid to scrap and turn the battle into a street fight on the edges.
When he's hunting QBs, Fowler is a power rusher off the edge. He will bull rush and use a one-arm stab to gain lockout leverage. He has added some trapping hands and used them effectively against the Giants with a strip sack.
However, he's more of a one-trick pony when he rushes the passer and doesn't seem to link moves together efficiently or have a counter move when his initial rush is shut down.
Regardless, Fowler is a force to be reckoned with, and keeping a hat on him is not going to be an easy job.
