Players who have stood out in NFL preseason

#8 Duke Ejiofor, Edge, Texans

I thought Ejiofor was an absolute steal for Houston back in April. The Texans grabbed the Wake Forest product in the sixth round, while I had him as my 93rd overall prospect in the draft, and he has stood out in training camp and the preseason.

Ejiofor was borderline unblockable versus Chiefs in week one, as he consistently got the angle rushing off the left end. He won with a basic speed rush and dip, club-swim and spin move. He might not have shown up on the stat sheet, but his tape was highly impressive.

In week two versus San Francisco, he stayed hot, making the tackle on the opening kickoff and staying home on an end-around on the first play from scrimmage, where he showed excellent closing speed and cost the Niners six yards.

Ejiofor has set a physical edge and provided constant pressure throughout the first three weeks of preseason, despite not recording a single sack during that stretch. The Texans run a base 3-4 defense, but with Jadeveon Clowney putting his hand in the dirt on the majority of snaps and NFL teams using sub-packages on about 70 percent overall, this is a hybrid front anyway. J.J. Watt likes to slide inside and expose guards with quickness and last year the coaches moved around Clowney all over the line.

Whitney Mercilus is coming back as their designated edge rusher, but Ejiofor could see plenty of action on the opposite end. Plus, I thought he had some upside as an interior rusher on sub-packages anyway based on what I saw on tape. This Houston front looks loaded on paper, but you could have argued that they are a little slim on the edge. If Ejiofor can keep this up in the regular season, that argument is over.