Senior Bowl Linebackers

Donald Butler (Washington) – 6011, 244. Explosive first step. Uses hands well and takes good downhill angles. Tracks well when moving forward and in space. Some hesitation in initial read but when he “sees it” he is quick to the ball. Runs well and is a willing hitter, but lacks power at the point of attack. Does not hold up well working against a lead block or a lineman working to the second level. Gets bounced around inside and lacks lower body power. Solid in coverage. Takes good drops and is athletic in transition. Good zone awareness. Good motor. Struggles in the physical part of linebacker play, but has some tools. Justin Cole (San Jose State) – 6031, 245. Slow in initial read but will go hard downhill. Very raw in technique. Takes a long first step and does not track well. Does not use his hands well and struggles when backed off the ball. Gets caught in the traffic during pursuit. Has some pop attacking blockers. Can play over a tight end and will use his hands in that situation and can be physical. Will get caught on the wrong side of a block at times. Is easily hooked by a zone block and has trouble reacting on the edge. Coaches pulled him in practice after going back door versus a hook block. Takes decent drops in coverage, but lacks awareness in a zone. Very poor in space. Missed tackles in space tackle drill. Will struggle to make the transition to NFL linebacker. Phillip Dillard (Nebraska) – 6001, 242. Sluggish in movements, shows some stiffness. Powerful and physical hitter that is a solid tackler. Somewhat slow reacting and does not play well in space. Did a poor job in tackling drills designed to work on space tackling. Good pass drop technique and understands zone coverage. Does not always take good angles and will under run in backside pursuit. Generally plays with good technique and decent movement skills. Tough physical player that is a marginal athlete. AJ Edds (Iowa) – 6035, 245. Decent initial read and react but takes false steps. Good technique, does a nice job taking on blocks and using his hands well. Will play high at times and attack high, losing leverage on a block. Physical taking on blocks, strong when play is at him. Will stutter step occasionally in transition and get out of position. Shows some blitz ability and bull rush but lacks the great first step. Takes good drops but is inconsistent reacting to the throw. Physical tackler but has some stiffness. Koa Misi (Utah) – 6025, 244. Conversion project that is extremely raw as a linebacker. Has some athletic ability and was impressive at times in some of the drills. He struggles with reads and linebacker technique. He does not react well when the play is away and tends to float instead of attacking downhill. Does not play well in space as he is out of control and will over or under run the ball. He was consistently out leveraged in practice. Struggled with space tackling drills. He is aggressive and will play hard, but lack of linebacker experience causes some hesitation in read and react. Played OK over a tight end and attacks with his hands. Showed some shed ability but tends to get caught on the edge and struggles to redirect into the play. Will open up a running lane by not staying stout on a block. Struggled with pass coverage as he lacks zone awareness and is hesitant. Drop technique improved as the week went on, but he struggled to react on the throw and tended to get lost in coverage. Decent pass rush and showed a quick first step as a blitzer. Has some athletic ability, but is a major project. Daryl Washington (Texas Christian) – 6016, 226, arms – 33 ¾”. Shows good overall athletic ability. Not great on his initial read as he will false step at times. Leads with his hands taking on blocks but is inconsistent to shed block. Tends to bend at the waist, taking on block and lacks power to hold up. Will get locked on occasionally and taken out of the play. At his best in pursuit. Takes good angles and does a nice job on the backside when the play is away. Good range in pursuit and can be sudden in change of direction. Does a good job wading through the traffic. Shows coverage tools and takes good drops and breaks well on the ball. He recovers well and covers a lot of ground in zone coverage. Sean Weatherspoon (Missouri) – 6007, 241, shorter arms than ideal – 30 1/8”, hands – 10”. Three down linebacker that hustles sideline to sideline. Consistently won the pass rush drills in practice against the running backs. Instinctive. Shows good athletic ability. Very active in pursuit. Has some power but is not the best taking on a block. Lacks great shed ability as he will get locked on a block at times. When he “sees it” he shows good downhill ability and generally takes good angles. A little stiff in transition and while he has good change of direction, he will get hung up occasionally. Has ability in coverage, takes good drops, and for the most part reacts well to the throw. A little stiff in transition in coverage. Out of position at times, but will recover with good pursuit. Shows good pass rush ability. Quick first step and can adjust working upfield. Has a burst in the pass rush and can be a quality blitzer. Can run and chase, but has some stiffness and inconsistency in his play. Enthusiastic and talks a lot. Does not always play up to his bravado. Jamar Chaney (Mississippi State) – 6006, 241, arms – 33”. Classic shuffle linebacker that moves with precision but not extremely fluid. Takes false steps on initial read and react and wastes movement in his deliberate reactions. Not a great take on guy. Does not use his hands well to take on blocks and lacks explosiveness. Lacks the bulk to hold up versus an offensive lineman getting to the second level or a lead blocker. Active in pursuit and covers a lot of ground. OK change of direction but lacks good balance and is not sudden in transition. Shows some cover skills and zone awareness. Good break and drive on the throw. Good range in coverage. Takes good angles in pursuit. Did not do well in man situations, but was OK in zone. Has some tools but not the elite athlete for a linebacker. Roddrick Muckelroy (Texas) – 6015, 236. Good initial read and react. Long strider who tends to lope. Lacks great balance and was on the ground some in pass rush and working against tight ends and backs in drills. Tends to play upright and get locked on blocks, losing leverage versus a hook and lead block. Good range in pursuit and generally takes good angles. Showed some blitz ability. Good cover skills as he took deep drops and could break on the ball. Demonstrated good zone awareness but was not great reacting in space. Did not show well in man coverage. Eric Norwood (South Carolina) – 6007, 246. Quick read and react. Gets downhill initially and shows good instincts. Change of direction is OK but he tends to long stride. Will round off instead of taking the straight line or shortest path to the ball. Has good bulk and will attack blockers using his hands well initially. Good range in pursuit and is very active. Around the ball a lot. Will over run at times as he is very aggressive in pursuit. Does not take good pass drops, tends to be too shallow and caught looking rather than reacting. Does not react well to the throw or to the receiver and ball. Man cover was very limited as he would not react well on a cut. Norwood has nice bulk and looks the part. Has some tools but does not play consistently. While he is around the ball he does not always make the play as he has some issues versus blocks and in angles. Productive high motor player that has enough ability to project as a make it guy in the league. Darryl Sharpton (Miami) – 5116, 229. Undersized linebacker that is a fringe athlete. Flashed quickness in reactions. When he “sees it” he shows good quicks and the ability to close in pursuit. Took a little hop step in his read at times which is a wasted movement. Inconsistent with angles in pursuit. Has shown good speed to chase. Struggled in man cover drills as he would occasionally get lost on a cut. Break and drive was good. Showed well reacting at times to the receiver and the ball. Quick as a blitzer. Covered up by blockers and lacked good shed ability. Cameron Sheffield (Troy) – 6025, 256, hands – 10”. Had a strip sack in the game. Athletic in his pass drops. Above average quickness in playing the run. Needs more bulk and strength to play off tackle run. Dekoda Watson (Florida State) – 6014, 232, small hands – 8 ¾”. Good initial read and react. Good technique for the most part, but struggles to use his hands as he tends to get locked up by blockers. He has some explosiveness and pop taking on a block, he just lacks the bulk to hold up. Looked athletic in limited exposure in pass rush drills. Quick off the edge and could close. Had some wasted movement in reactions but was quick downhill. Has a burst in pursuit. Covers a lot of ground in both coverage and in pursuit. Excellent range. The only South linebacker that showed well in man cover drills. Decent in zone drops and quick in break and drive on the throw. Recovers well when out of position. Good closing speed. Overall an undersized player that might have a chance as a situational and special teams guy. Has the athletic ability you look for, but lacks the power and size of an every down linebacker.