Before I start, I'll say that his measurables and production are solid (4.49 40, 38.5 VJ, 10'8" BJ,
2012 vs GA Tech (one of the better games I evaluated of his)
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0:00 - Fantastic play recognition to get TFL. Not the type of tackle you'll get away with often in the NFL. The results are good, showed good recognition and athleticism, but technique bothers me. (B)
0:09 - Good covg, but overthrown so badly it's hard to say how he'd play the ball. Still, that's an (A)
0:41 - Beet deep. Lucky for him, he was overthrown. Replay shows tight coverage, but WR had a chance to separate. A good NFL WR could have easily been gone. Still with tight covg and result of an incompletion I can't bee too critical. (B)
1:01 - Same poor tackling technique as first play, this time with a more expected result. Not a great angle and bad timing. (C-)
1:18 - Tight covg. Good work (A)
1:22 - Very tight covg, but here the WR wasn't overthrown by a mile, and this is where it starts to come apart for me with Fuller. When he actually gets tested. With the ball in the air, he mis-times his jump and give the WR a chance to not only make a play, but run away with it once he does. Now, the throw isn't perfect, and the receiver doesn't make the play, but it worries me how a play like that will translate. You gotta play the ball in the air! This is my #1 requirement of a CB. This is why I loved Sherman coming out of Stanford, and why he's an elite CB today. On a positive note, the route coverage was fantastic, and he really pushed him to the sideline --limiting not only the chances of making an inbounds catch, and reducing the QB's throwing window, but also reducing possible damage if the ball was caught. (A++). But the mis-timed jump on the ball scares the heck out of me, and gets a (D) from me. Overall (C-)
1:40 - Blocked out of the play (D)
1:50 - Same as above
1:58 - Beats poor block by a WR, makes a solid tackle by wrapping up the legs. Best play of the game in my opinion, and a pleasure to watch (A+)
2:04 - Got a gift INT. What the QB does here is a crime, and as such it's hard to judge Fuller's skillset on this play. Sure he gets an INT, but if you're not going to make a living off of plays like that in the NFL against Russel Wilson and Aaron Rodgers. (N/A). I simply won't evaluate him on this play. Although I have, over the years, changed my tune somewhat on gift INTs, as being in the right place at the right time is also a skill (ask Eric Weddle). Still, this was just hard to attribute much to.
Overall, I think he played a solid game against a WR with size, but very limited skill, and a bad QB. He showed some positive traits, but also showed concerning deficiencies. This is also a very short video, and one that makes it hard to draw strong conclusions on.
I'd grade this tape on par with his workout #s and production. No red flags, everything checks out, but nothing stands out. Solid 2nd/3rd round grade just based on this 1 video and measurables/production.
Please feel free to challenge my observations, or throw on another tape to discuss. Really excited for a civil, intelligent debate on a player being highly linked to us, so that I can either feel more confident in my evaluation, or see the light that so many others are seeing. (as a side note, I understand that scouting a CB or S without the all-22 is problematic, but I can only do what I can do).
Happy scouting!
[ Edited by RollinWith21n52 on Apr 5, 2014 at 1:50 PM ]