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Harrison Smith

Notre Dame

Ht. 6-2 Wt. 213

Pass Coverage:  Harrison Smith is an underrated athlete that has the skills to play centerfield, line up over tight ends, and could play the slot.  He played in man coverage at times at ND which gave NFL personnel a chance to check out his man skills.  Smith is tight-hipped and plays high but makes up for it with excellent instincts in the pass game.

Tackling:  Smith is one of many big hitters in this draft class from the secondary.  Unfortunately, he struggles at times to wrap and ensure the tackle is made.  He drops his head too often. Read the rest of this entry » «Harrison Smith Scouting Report»

Mark Barron     

Alabama

Ht. 6-1 Wt. 213

Pass Coverage:  Mark Barron wasn’t used a lot in man coverage at Alabama.  Primarily a box safety he has the attributes to line up over the TE’s and cover man-to-man.  Barron is a linear athlete that excels with the play in front of him making him an ideal zone-heavy safety.  He was the leader of a very good Alabama defense and has the football IQ to be the QB of the secondary.  He will need to work on his change of direction skills to stay with more athletic TE’s and slot receivers in the NFL.

Tackling:  For all intents and purposes, Barron is a strong tackler.  He delivers big hits that are capable of changing possession.  That said, he has a tendency to be overaggressive which causes him to miss some tackles.  Barron will have to remain more disciplined in his tackling technique to be worthy of where he will be drafted. Read the rest of this entry » «Mark Barron Scouting Report»

Dwight “Bill” Bentley

Louisiana-Lafayette

Ht. 5-11 1/2 Wt. 182

Man Coverage: Dwight Bentley is feisty and aggressive in press man coverage. He really attacks the receiver with gusto, though bigger receivers have shown they can overpower him and shake free. Bentley likes to jam and run with inside technique, trying to use his body to force the receiver further outside. His hips tend to get a little too open when he turns, but he takes very quick steps to compensate. Stays on his toes nicely and does a great job adjusting speeds to stay in a receiver’s pocket. Has consistently shown he can run deep routes with any receiver and has excellent longer speed. Savvy receivers with enough speed can take advantage of his aggressiveness and toast him on occasion.

Zone Coverage. The Rajun Cajuns played a lot of off zone in college, with Bentley primarily playing the wide side corner in a 3-deep zone. He did a good job of keeping plays in front of him, showing good route recognition and spatial awareness. Has a quick enough burst and reactions to play tighter zones but is not the playmaker that most teams using that schematic prefer to deploy at the next level. Played better when lined up closer to the line, where he was able to react quicker and transition into sticking on his man. Bentley tends to get drifty and impatient when giving a bigger cushion, and he often proved he didn’t need it due to his quickness. Looks like a more natural inside/slot corner at the next level. Read the rest of this entry » «Dwight Bentley Scouting Report»

Stephon Gilmore

South Carolina

Ht. 6 0 1/2 Wt. 190

Man Coverage: Gilmore played some off man coverage, primarily with an 8-yard cushion. He has excellent length and he knows how to use it to his benefit in man coverage, shading his man and using subtle hands and forearm tricks to push the receiver off the desired path. Enthusiastic in press man coverage, though he isn’t as good at jamming as you would expect for a corner with his size and length. Tends to rise up and place his hands too high in his jam. Gilmore will get grabby coming out of his break on faster receivers. Reads routes quickly and knows how to counter the attack. Gilmore lacks great long speed to stay with the fastest receivers down the field. He does have fluid movement and shoulder/hip coordination.

Zone Coverage. The Gamecocks spent most of Gilmore’s tenure in a zone shell. He reads the receiver and keys very quickly and accurately, anticipating breaks and route adjustments. Gilmore has decent quickness though he will often take an extra step to break, particularly to the inside of the field. He can capably transition receivers from zone to zone and readjust quickly, a critical skill for teams in Cover 2. Lacks great suddenness in his burst and change of direction and he will overcompensate at times by taking a false step, which can be exploited by quicker receivers. He often benefitted from a very good pass rush that didn’t force him to stay in coverage long and allowed him to get away with gambling at jumping routes. He generally sees the field well and closes in on the play with controlled quickness. His length increases his range and can take away throwing angles. Will get caught napping on occasion and can get caught jumping on the slant and getting beat over the top to the outside (see East Carolina and Auburn games). Overconfidence appears to plague Gilmore at times. Read the rest of this entry » «Stephon Gilmore Scouting Report»

Janoris Jenkins

North Alabama

Ht. 5-10 Wt. 191

Man Coverage:  Janoris Jenkins three seasons at Florida and one at North Alabama were primarily spent in man coverage.  He has fluid hips with quick feet and excellent short area quickness.  He may have the “prettiest” backpedal of any CB in this draft, his ability to stay low throughout the backpedal and drive on the football is impressive.  He’s a quick twitch athlete with enough recovery speed to gamble.  Jenkins trusts his eyes and does an excellent job of staying in the hip pocket of receivers.  He will get overly aggressive in press man on the jam and takes a lot of risks which sometimes don’t pay off.  He played at his best against top competition while at Florida.

Zone Coverage:  I can’t say I saw enough of Jenkins in zone to give an accurate assessment.  What I know about him would lend itself to be an effective zone corner.  He has the receiver awareness and instincts to be at home in zone coverage. Read the rest of this entry » «Janoris Jenkins Scouting Report»

Dre Kirkpatrick

Alabama

Ht. 6-2 Wt. 193

Man Coverage:  The tale of two tapes for Dre Kirkpatrick.  He’s a physical corner that excels in press man coverage.  He uses his long arms and strong frame to dominate receivers physically at the line of scrimmage.  His problems come in off man and missing on the jam at the line.  He’s not the most fluid athlete with tighter hips.  He struggles to flip his hips and run with faster receivers as evidenced by Andre Debose running up the field vertically on him all game.  He struggles to find the football with his back to the play because of a lack of recovery speed.

Zone Coverage:  Kirkpatrick is a much better fit with a zone-heavy team.  He has terrific instincts with superior route recognition skills.  He was at his best this season sitting in zone and baiting the QB to throw underneath.  He’s a really good playmaker with the play in front of him. Read the rest of this entry » «Dre Kirkpatrick Scouting Report»

Cam Johnson

Virginia

Ht. 6-4 Wt. 270

Pass Rush:  Cam Johnson has a solid first step but not elite.  He can get by blockers with his quickness.  He moves laterally well and has developed some pass rush moves in 2011.  Enough power to bull rush opponents and uses his hands well to fight off blockers.  He plays a little high and gets upright on contact.  He will need to work on staying low through contact in order to be an effective pass rusher in the NFL.

Against the run:  Johnson’s hands placement and ability to gain leverage on opponents in the run game is a major plus.  He is violent with his hands which makes it tough to get into his body.  He’s a slippery guy in the run game and has good awareness.  He plays a little high in run game as well and isn’t as explosive against the run as you would like. Read the rest of this entry » «Cam Johnson Scouting Report»

Chandler Jones

Syracuse

Ht. 6-5 Wt. 265

Pass Rush:  Chandler Jones is a tall, lean guy with the body to fill out without losing speed.  He is raw but the abilities are there as a pass rusher.  He doesn’t have elite get off but enough to get the edge on most NFL tackles.  As I said, he’s raw so there’s a ton of downside to his game.  First and foremost, he plays high and drops his head into contact.  When I say high, it’s all 6’5 high.  He has to learn to drop his pad level because he’s not strong enough to rely on his bull rush against NFL OT’s.  He doesn’t move well laterally and really struggled in tight spaces.

Against the run:  Jones can stack and shed blocks.  He uses his long arms to extend into contact and shows solid hand placement.  His combination of length and strength makes it tough for blockers to stay engaged.  Once again, he struggles to keep his pads down.  He is a tall target and needs to work on lowering his base.  He struggles to anchor because of his length despite being a naturally strong athlete. Read the rest of this entry » «Chandler Jones Scouting Report»

Andre Branch

Clemson

Ht. 6-5 Wt. 260

Pass Rush:  Andre Branch is a long-limbed, linear athlete.  He can eat up space quickly and uses his length to fend off tackles and bring down the QB.  If he gets a step on the blocker, it’s pretty much over.  He a straight line guy that runs well.  Very good with his hands and excels turning outside speed into inside power.  He plays a little high, although he worked on this from 2010 to 2011.  He can get upright through contact and lose power and balance.  He’s not overly powerful and could stand to add at least 10 more pounds to his frame.

Against the run:  Branch anchors surprisingly well for a taller athlete.  Branch plays the run as he’s surging up field to the quarterback.  He’s got excellent eyes and good instincts.  He uses his arm length and active hands to stack and shed.  He has violent hands and uses his long frame to control blocks through contact.  High football IQ as he rarely is caught giving outside contain.  He will need to work on not popping upright on the snap.  Branch, as a run defender, may be able to set himself apart from other DE’s in this draft.  I was more impressed than I thought I would be. Read the rest of this entry » «Andre Branch Scouting Report»

Morris Claiborne

LSU

Ht. 6-0 Wt. 188

Man Coverage:  Morris Claiborne is widely considered the top cover corner in this draft.  He is fluid in his backpedal and opens his hips and runs better than anyone in this draft.  He has few peers in terms of receiver awareness.  Claiborne’s ability to wall off the receiver using the sideline is unparalled.  He’s as good as anyone with his back to the ball and snaps his head around to find the ball quickly avoiding pass interference.  He possesses long arms which makes it tough for receivers to separate off the line of scrimmage.  Equally adept in press man versus off man.  He will need to learn to keep his hands off receivers after five yards in the NFL.  He loves to remain physical down the field which will be penalized in the NFL.  Elite man coverage skills.

Zone Coverage:  LSU played primarily man coverage with Claiborne and Mathieu manning the CB positions.  His natural instincts would lend themselves to be an efficient zone corner.  In rare instances, Claiborne was disciplined in zone.  He has to be considered elite from a route recognition standpoint.  I could see Claiborne excelling in a zone heavy pass defense in the NFL. Read the rest of this entry » «Morris Claiborne Scouting Report»