Pittsburgh Steelers Draft 2014: Jordan Zumwalt Reminds Me of a Hall-of-Famer

Sept. 22, 2012; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins linebacker Jordan Zumwalt (35) sacks Oregon State Beavers quarterback Sean Mannion (4) for a 9-yard loss in the first half of the game at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Jordan Zumwalt in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft, I had no idea who he was.  I asked my buddy who is a University of Arizona fan in the Pac-12 and he knew nothing.  I googled him and came across a CBS player profile of him and I saw the following two sentences:

“Lanky build and lacks ideal bulk for the position and needs to spend more time in the weight room…..Zumwalt has an intense on-field demeanor and to describe him as “violent” would be an understatement.”

Immediately, I thought of Jack Lambert who coincidentally was drafted exactly 40 years ago in the Steelers historic 1974 draft class, where he was one of four Hall-of-Famers drafted.  Lambert was famous for his tall, slender build (6’4″, 220 lbs.) and violent play style.

Zumwalt while slightly heavier (234 lbs.), is the same height and of similar build and play style.  His off-the-field demeanor is polite and well-spoken (and he has all of his visible teeth intact), as opposed to Lambert, who was just as aggressive outside of games as he was in them, but on-the-field the two are very similar.  Aggressive.

If Zumwalt can keep his play up in the NFL, avoid hurting himself due to his body-type, and show the coaches what he’s got, I can envision a scenario where he could start inside next to Lawrence Timmons, with Ryan Shazier and Jarvis Jones holding down the OLB slots after Jason Worilds’ one-year tender has ended.  If nothing else, he will be fun to watch laying the boom during the preseason and on special teams.

Here is a video of Jordan laying the wood on Logan Thomas, the quarterback from Virginia Tech, who was one of the biggest quarterback’s (6’6″, 248 lbs.) drafted in 2014:

And here is a video from the NFL Network’s Top 10 series of Jack Lambert as the “#8 Most Feared Tackler” for comparison (or entertainment) value:

Steeler Nation, what do you think about the chances of Jordan Zumwalt becoming the next Jack Lambert?