The Washington Redskins could find themselves having to decide between a player at a position of need and the best player available when they select with the No. 15 overall pick on April 25.

In the final edition of our series of Redskins draft debates, we compare Clemson edge rusher Clelin Ferrell and Michigan linebacker Devin Bush. An edge rusher is the most pressing defensive need for Washington, whereas inside linebacker is a position of relative strength, but Bush is the higher-ranked player according to many draft experts.

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The case for Ferrell

Ferrell could have entered the draft last year, but he returned for the chance to win a national championship with Clemson. Mission accomplished. He also showed consistency and improvement, leading the ACC with 11 1/2 sacks, up from 9 1/2 in 2017.

“One of the things that I love about Ferrell is he never stops,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “And that to me is the most underrated trait in a pass rusher, is persistence. You can talk about speed and power and hands and their ability to bend, all that stuff, but there’s also, every year when you watch a sack tape of the top pass rushers, they collect four or five that are just pure effort and just never stopping. I think you’re going to get some of those from Ferrell.

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“I don’t think he’s going to be a 14-, 15-, 16-sack guy, but I think he can be a really, really good 10- to 12-sack guy who’s going to also hold up in the run and not going to have to come off the field, and to me that’s pretty valuable.”

The 6-foot-4, 264-pounder is believed to have a high floor, but not elite potential. The Redskins lost starter Preston Smith when he signed a $52 million deal with the Packers in free agency, and there are questions about whether former second-round pick Ryan Anderson is ready to succeed in that role. Either way, the Redskins could use another player in their edge-rush rotation.

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Ferrell fills a need, but he has commonly been rated between the fifth- and seventh-best edge rusher in the draft.

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“Clelin’s just a really good football player,” ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said. “You look at his numbers and he doesn’t have the elite explosiveness, but he got better every year. His production was outstanding. Did he benefit from having two other potential first-rounders on the defensive line at Clemson? Sure. But he still had to produce and he did week in and week out.

“The thing that stands out to me about Clelin is, he learned how to use his hands and get off of blocks. And he’s going to show up. He loves the game. The coaching staff loves him and what he brings to the locker room. He’s just going to be a team guy.”

The case for Bush

Bush is considered the second-best inside linebacker in this year’s class, behind LSU’s Devin White. He was the Big Ten defensive player of the year and an all-American last season, starring as a true sideline-to-sideline linebacker for one of the nation’s best defenses. He could be selected anywhere from the top 10 to the early 20s, according to most mock drafts.

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The 5-foot-11, 234-pounder put on a show at the NFL combine, where his 4.43-second 40-yard dash ranked second among linebackers. He was also in the top five in the vertical jump, broad jump and three-cone drill. Bush posted 161 tackles, including 18 1/2 for loss, and 10 sacks in 25 games over his last two seasons at Michigan.

In past years, Bush’s modest size might be a concern, but the big, bruising, run-stopping middle linebacker is no longer a necessity in today’s pass-happy NFL.

“Everyone in the league is playing the middle now small,” Fox analyst Charles Davis said. “Kwon Alexander, Deion Jones, we can go on all day. They’re all little people. Those middle linebackers I grew up with don’t exist anymore.”

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Those same questions about his size followed Bush to Michigan as an undersized high schooler moving from Florida to play in the physical Big Ten. That was never an issue. Bush said he looks up to NFL veterans with builds similar to his, such as Lavonte David, Jones and former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier.

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“I’m a twitchy linebacker,” Bush said at the combine. “I can cover. I can blitz. I can play the run. I can do it all. . . . I can go sideline to sideline, so it plays into my favor.”

The Redskins, however, don’t necessarily need a starter at inside linebacker. Alabama’s Shaun Dion Hamilton slipped to the sixth round last year because of injury concerns, but he finished his rookie year as a starter. The team picked up 2017 first-round pick Reuben Foster off waivers after he was cut by the San Francisco 49ers last season. He was taken off the commissioner’s exempt list last week and is fully available to play. That pair could be the long-term future for the organization on the inside, and three-year starter Mason Foster is still under contract through 2019.

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The conclusion

The draft experts were split on whether Ferrell or Bush would be the better decision with the 15th overall pick. McShay acknowledged that pass rushers are considered a higher priority when building a roster, but he believes Bush has more upside.

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“I just trust [Bush]. You get a leader. A guy who plays fast, a three-down linebacker,” McShay said. “Ferrell is a good player. Bush has a chance to be one of your premier players.”

NFL Network analyst and former Redskins general manager Charley Casserly said he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a good pass rusher, particularly with Smith gone. He downplayed the concern of Ferrell transitioning from a 4-3 defensive end in college to an outside linebacker in the Redskins’ 3-4 base defense, given how often NFL teams play nickel defense.

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“Bush is a good player, but I think I’d take Ferrell,” Casserly said. "[Ryan] Kerrigan was a 4-3 defensive end, but most of your outside linebackers in this draft are going to be 4-3 defensive ends. . . . Coaches will tell you they’re going to be in nickel the vast majority of the time, so they’re not going to have [an edge rusher drop into pass coverage]. They kind of look past that part and just look at the pass rushing part of it.”