PLAYER PROFILE
Height: 6-1
Weight: 236
College: Georgia
Class: Junior
TRAITS BREAKDOWN
INSTINCTS/RECOGNITION (19/20)
- Very instinctive — always around the ball
- Great play recognition — reads his keys and diagnoses plays quickly
- Disciplined defender — doesn’t bite on RPOs and play-action fakes; knows assignment and maintains run fits
- Makes defensive calls and helps teammates get set
SPEED/RANGE (20/20)
- Fantastic sideline-to-sideline range (4.51 speed)
- Covers a ton of ground in a short amount of time
- Great at chasing down plays to the perimeter
- Fluid hips allow for easy change-of-direction
BLOCK-SHEDDING/TAKE-ON SKILLS/BLOCK EVASION (15/20)
- Less-than-ideal take-on skills — lacks strength at the point of attack to defend against inside runs when blockers get their hands on him
- Can get engulfed/overwhelmed by bigger, stronger offensive linemen
- Can get pushed around by tight ends in the run game
- Great at avoiding blockers and slipping blocks, especially on outside runs
- Better fit for 4-3 WILL as opposed to 4-3 MIKE?
TACKLING (15/15)
- Very sound and sure tackler (137 total tackles with just 1 missed tackle in 2017 per PFF)
- Typically breaks down and secures tackles
- Takes great pursuit angles to the ball-carrier
COVERAGE ABILITY (12/15)
- Good feel in zone coverage
- Small sample size vs. man coverage, but showed he could cover tight ends up the seam and RBs on swing patterns out of the backfield
BLITZ (4/5)
- Great at shooting gaps or blitzing off the edge
- Doesn’t have knockback power to bull rush offensive linemen
MOTOR (5/5)
- Consistently displays great hustle to the ball-carrier whether plays get to the side of him or behind him
VERDICT
NFL COMPARISON: Lavonte David
GRADE: 90.00/100.00 — TOP 10 — ELITE; perennial Pro Bowler with All-Pro potential