Defensive Back Film Notes: East-West Shrine Game

The following notes of note are snippets that were taken at live practices, practice tape and game tape. Ourlads NFL Scouting Services studied over 600 players from seven college all-star games. The East-West Shrine Game: Justin Bethel (Presbyterian) – 5111, 196. Has good speed and short area quickness. Needs technique work and skills refinement but has some interesting tools to work with. Robert Blanton (Notre Dame) – 6003, 197. A wrap up tackler who plays corner but projects to safety for many teams. Struggled early in the week at practice with off-man, but looked at home when he worked on press man on Wednesday’s practice. Charles Brown (North Carolina) – 5091, 209. Was the Tar Heels’ defensive back of the year. Plays the ball in the air. Aggressive and confident. Was beat in game deep, but recovered and looked for ball. Emanuel Davis (East Carolina) – 5100, 186. Plays high with inconsistent knee bend in his back pedal. He struggles to pattern read at times. Better in zone coverage. Gary Gray (Notre Dame) – 5104, 191. Missed the game with a groin injury. Tysyn Hartman (Kansas State) – 6025, 208. Plays better closer to the line of scrimmage. Inconsistent wrap tackler. Tries to shoulder hit a back down. He does possess good field awareness and instincts. Has lower body tightness. Did not play in game due to concussion symptoms.

Josh Norman (Coastal Carolina) – 6003, 203. Started out Monday practices impressing the scouts and continued through Saturday. Plays with confidence but Jarius Wright took him to school a couple of times on game day with double moves. Norman will peek into the backfield at times. Dale Moss, a raw receiver from South Dakota State, broke to the post and back outside and would have scored a touchdown if it was not overthrown. Norman needs more discipline. Talented however. Micah Pellerin (Hampton) – 6003, 195. Can stick his foot in the ground and drive quickly on the ball. Gets high at times in his pedal. Must work to drop his butt and bend his knees. Nick Sukay (Penn State) – 6007, 211. Possesses good ball skills for a run support player. Plays the ball in the air. Christian Thompson (South Carolina State) – 6003, 213. Is a big and athletic free safety who is green in technique, but has some interesting tools. Instincts are questionable. Jerrell Young (South Florida) – 6007, 207. A hitter who is up quickly on run support. Austin Cassidy (Nebraska) – 6003, 210. A former walk-on who is a try hard player with good instincts and limited athletic ability. Blake Gideon (Texas) – 6001, 208. Started 52 games for the Longhorns. Struggled during the week and in the game taking bad angles to the ball. Smart, will hit on run support. Chris Greenwood (Albion) – 6013, 196. Has good size for a cornerback and was active both in practice in the game. Raw in his technique and skills. Developmental project. Brandon Hardin (Oregon State) – 6025, 222. Played corner for the Beavers but lined up at safety for the West team. Has corner skills for a big man. He missed his senior year with a shoulder injury. Good effort on special teams. Aaron Henry (Wisconsin) – 5116, 208. Is a former corner who is playing safety. His corner skills come in handy when covering deep. Plays the ball in the air. Duke Ihenacho (San Jose State) – 6000, 212. Is a long armed and rangy safety. Long strider. Tackles high around the shoulders. Doesn’t consistently break down to tackle. Rodney McLeod (Virginia) – 5095, 185, hands 10 1/ 8”. Overall he had a good week of practice and most of the game, but had a glaring missed tackle on a touchdown by BJ Cunningham. He broke down well and played with a good base to wrap up most skilled players. Demonstrated good short area and lateral quickness. Showed his long speed when he ran down Chad Ford to save a touchdown.

– 5101, 185. Will contribute on all special teams’ coverage. Quick feet and ball reactions. Tough and reactive corner. Physical despite size. Very competitive supporting the run. Keith Tandy (West Virginia) – 5100, 202. Is a physical corner who throws his body at a ball carrier on run support or can wrap up. Has courage to hit. A sticky corner who will go for the strip. Can break on the ball quickly with no false steps. He will also be an asset on punt and kickoff coverage teams. Trevin Wade (Arizona) – 5100, 192. Is a corner who is smooth in transition from his pedal to his ability to turn and run. Good week of practice. Plays the ball in the air with good ball reactions and skills. Matt Daniels (Duke) – 6001, 215. A big strong safety who struggles to change direction in the open field. Has some lower body stiffness. Plays the best in short zone coverage areas. Has questionable long speed.