I was reading Fox's mock and they have us taking him. He immediately caught my eye with the whole safety situation but I'm having mixed feelings. Here's a bit from the Fox profile on him:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/draft/pros ... &year=2007
Has very good timed speed and sudden quickness to close on the ball...Shows excellent agility and balance on the move with the hip flexibility to redirect and change direction suddenly...His natural explosion allows him to stay tight on the hip of the receivers in the deep secondary and he will deliver his hits with good pop...
Physical hitter who loves contact...Hard worker in the training room, the type who pushes other players...Is often around the ball, playing with reckless abandon...Has the foot speed and steady acceleration to close on the ball in a hurry... Does a good job of distributing his weight throughout his backpedal...Pedals with ease and shows the body control flexibility to quickly redirect...Usually in good position to make the hit, keeping the plays in front of him...Plays alert in the zone and shows good route awareness...Consistently attacks the ball and shows steady acceleration and timing in his leaps...Has the valid foot speed to play the two-deep and the burst needed to run the field...Makes plays on the ball in the air due to his big vertical jump and natural hands to pluck the ball outside his frame...Does a good job of attacking the gaps in run support and he shows good urgency to close, taking proper angles...
Can press and shadow well in the short area, allowing little separation on vertical routes...Breaks from his backpedal with no wasted motion...Short strider who runs hard to accelerate...Does a decent job of cutting off the lead blockers angles on perimeter runs...Has an explosive break to the ball, even on three-step throws...Has the burst and elevation in his leaps to excel as a kick blocker.
Instinctive player who is field smart, but has had academic difficulties and might struggle trying to digest a complicated playbook...Very good at making plays on the ball, but while he is a physical hitter he needs to improve his overall strength to prevent getting washed out by the bigger blockers working through trash...Times his leaps and has natural hands, but feels he is better served making plays on the ball rather than neutralizing the receiver (when he misses, he is slow to recover in attempts to get back into the play)...Shows good urgency to close, but must be more diligent of making the wrap tackle rather than colliding into his opponent (fails to reach out, grab and drag the ball carrier down)...Would like to see him attack the receiver to separate the ball carrier from the ball rather than try to make the big interception.
More strengths than weakness, which is always a good sign.
Weird to see that Dawkins comparison though. It's gotta be a watered-down Dawkins 'cause otherwise, wouln't he be at least top 10? Also, I find it odd that Nelson, who's allegedly not too bright, is being compared to a guy like Dawkins who eats playbooks like Cheerios.
So what then? Is it worth drafting a guy based on his athleticism and purported semblance of skill while ignoring his supposed lack of knowhow (how's he ever gonna understand zone blitz?
) and short college career? An important note is that his academics could've suffered while he was caring for his mother, who had cancer and died a few months ago. The article doesn't seem convinced that that's the case though.
I haven't actually seen the guy play (not watching NCAA is where I killed in this stuff). What do you guys think? Would he be a good fit? Is his head screwed on right?