To follow up on the Jefferson discussion, I figured I'd put in some clips of plays I thought showed some potential. Now, to be clear, he definitely has technique issues to clean up, so don't think I'm overselling him. He's very much a tier below Smith, Edmunds, Evans, LVE, etc. That doesn't mean he's a bad prospect, though; it just means he's probably not ready to be a day one starter, and thus doesn't earn a 1st round grade. The upside is there, however, and with the proper coaching I think he could emerge as a quality player. If he reaches his ceiling, he will be just as good as some of the players listed above, and potentially even better.
Negatives: sometimes his tackling isn't very secure (and other times it looks great). He gives up some big plays on occasion just by overshooting his spot. Too often finds himself covering grass rather than people, and doesn't disrupt throwing lanes -- even in a zone drop, players should pick up the threat in their zone, and not just drop to a landmark regardless of what's happening. The good news is that it looks like he's just trying to be careful to do what he's supposed to do within the scheme. He's not a big freelancer.
Nothing terribly special here, but this is what I mean about not freelancing too much. He's the spy against Mayfield. I like his patience not to overcommit and open up holes in the defense, as well as his ability to get back outside after a false step when he thinks Mayfield is going to run up the middle. He's controlled but still has solid closing speed.
Here he flows well to meet the running back before he can get north / south.
I like the blitz call. Nothing fancy, but you can see his closing speed on a designed blitz. I also clipped the next play, because I think it does a very good job of showing his plus range to the sidelines. Although it's true that his film leaves something to be desired, one of the positives is that tackles for short / no gain abound.
While he's not the biggest LB, he does a good job of evading blockers altogether. Nice work securing the tackle here. He does miss more tackles than I'd like, but usually it's when his form breaks down. Generally he's a secure tackler when he gets hands on a player.
Lastly, he doesn't really do much in terms of affecting this play, but the clip does highlight his quick, fluid backpedal. He's far more gifted laterally and in space than our current linebackers. Could be special with time.
