2016 Defensive Backs

[TwentyTwo]

Nate Gerry (Sr.) -Nebraska....6'-2" 220...Thorpe & Bednarik Watch List...9 career INT's...1st or 2nd Round Draft pick?

Weston Steelhammer (Sr.) Air Force.... 6'-2" 201...Thorpe Watch List should be an NFL Draft Pick (waiver like Reynolds)

Zach Hoffpauir (Sr.) Stanford ...6'-0 202....NFL hopeful returns after one year minor-league baseball hiatus

Taylor Barton (Sr.) Illinois ....6'-1 215...Big 10 Honorable Mention two years in a row

Dylan Haines (Sr.) Texas ....6'-1 194 ....former walk-on 23 career starts; 200 INT yards ranks 2nd UT History

Nate Holley (Sr.) Kent State...5'-11" 208...Bednarik Watch List...315 career tackles(lead MAC 141 Jr. year)

Andrew Wingard (Soph.) Wyoming ....6'-0 207...Freshman All American already on NFL Radar

Will try to add some more DB prospects ASAP

 

[celticdb15]

Hell yeah!! Some solid prospects with size and of course underrated athleticism.

-Really happy Hoffpauier is back on the gridiron !

- Didn't realize Dylan Haines is that much of a ballhawk!

-Nate Holley and Weston Steelhammer are the 2best safeties playing outside of power 5 conferences and severely underrated nationally.

- With a good year I could easily see Gerry being picked in rds 1-2. Next Harrison Smith!

 

[Leonardfan]

Anthony Cioffi (Senior) Rutgers - 6'1 203 started off as a CB before the caste system moved him to Safety. Has 6 career INTs

 

[Leonardfan]

Parker Henry (Senior) Washington St. - 5'11" 206lbs listed as nickleback. Started as a walk on and now as a senior is in his second year as a starter for Wazzu.

 

[celticdb15]

Good article on CMU Safety Tony Annese !


http://www.cmuchippewas.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/082316aaa.html

 

[TwentyTwo]

Nice article Celticdb15!

Tony Annese (Sr.) 6'1" 215....Central Michigan....Thorpe Award Watch List

Dallas Lloyd (Sr.) 6'-3" 213 Stanford...ex QB has John Lynch as a mentor

Casey DeAndrade (Sr.) 5'-11" 212 New Hampshire...Sporting News News FCS 1st Team AA as a Corner Back! of course projects as a Free Safety at next level..broke his hand early last season

Drue Tranquill (Jr.)6'-1 1/2 225 Notre Dame ..Fighting Irish Newcomer of the Year in 14'...missed 15' with freak ACL injury

Leo Musso (Sr.) 5'10" 194 Wisconsin

Brandon Leston (Sr.) 6'-3" 205 Western Kentucky...former walk-on led the Secondary in tackles Starting 13 games last season

Jacob Warner (Sr.) 6'-0 205 South Dakota

Sean Ahern (Sr.) 6'-1" 190 Harvard...1st Team All Ivy League...plays Corner Back

 

[Leonardfan]

True Freshman CB Brenden Schooler #43 is listed on the team's Two Deep depth chart! A white CB in a major conference playing as a freshman is unheard of. Really hoping he makes an impact with the time he plays this season.

 

[TwentyTwo]

Nice find! Not ready to put the white Corner Back in the dinosaur category yet....

Micah Hanneman (Jr.) 6'-0 205 BYU....was a starting Corner Back last season; was moved to Strong Safety this season

Justin Tranquill ( Fr./Medical redshirt) 5'-11" 185 Western Michigan... highly acclaimed Corner Back out of HS but moved to Safety; tore ACL last season

Chase Dutra (Jr) 6'-1" 200 Indiana.....Free Safety ; solid player if he can stay healthy...teams 5th Leading Tackler despite missing 5 games

 

[celticdb15]

Great article on Dylan Haines!

http://www.campusrush.com/dylan-haines-texas-longhorns-football-walk-on-1993545423.html

 

[Leonardfan]

Former BYU and current Utah St. DB Dallin Leavitt having solid start to the year with 14 Tackles, 2 tfl and 2 INTs through three games.

 

[celticdb15]

Good article on overlooked HS prepster and current Air Force star Safety, Weston Steelhammer! He's on Senior Bowl watch list he better get an invite.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/stor...air-forces-steelhammer-great-person/92396116/

 

[celticdb15]

Good article on Dartmouth Safety Charlie Miller. Minneapolis native ends up in the Ivy League. 6 foot 190lbs Reportedly runs in 4.4 range!!

http://www.vnews.com/Dartmouth-football-notebook-5445902

 

[Leonardfan]

When watching Stanford I have noticed that Zach Hoffpauir seems to be playing more of a nickleback/cb type role in coverage rather than the traditional safety position. He has displayed good coverage ability over the course of his career but also has the ability to make plays behind the line of scrimmage as well as open field tackles. He is a great athlete having played minor league baseball for a season before returning to the gridiron.

 

[TwentyTwo]

Glad Hoffpauir stepped away from baseball....wonder what happened to his pic i had posted above??

Keep an Eye on....Iowa Safety Brandon Snyder...soph. 6'-1" 210 (former walk-on) having a solid season so far...a couple INT's & forced fumbles...plenty of tackles...and some hard hitting slobberknockers

 

[ximasa]

How about Chase Hansen(6-3 216) from Utah ? dual-threat QB in high school and now plays SS/LB, he did have the instinct of the ball.
Here's the article about him

This weekend he had a good game too, a very good season so far.

 

[Leonardfan]

How about Chase Hansen(6-3 216) from Utah ? dual-threat QB in high school and now plays SS/LB, he did have the instinct of the ball.
Here's the article about him

This weekend he had a good game too, a very good season so far.

Nice find on Hansen. I was going to post about him after seeing he had an INT vs. the Huskies last night. Beat me to it! Welcome to the site!

 

[TwentyTwo]

Good job on the video; he has some good size(have been looking for the next John Lynch to wreck havoc on the NFL)..pretty soon they will be playing flag football at this rate..glad they overturned that prefect hit!

Actually Hansen & others were considered..going on the next round of pics after Snyder..just been busy

Others to watch for...

Jake Schlager (Jr.) Colorado State... had an INT in his most recent game...been solid w 55 tackles in 8 games so far

Ryan Moeller (Jr.) Colorado 6'-1" 215.... has been a steady performer for the Buffalo's..still waiting for 1st INT this season..Good RB in HS...athletic to play some Corner Back...got into moped accident last year

Parker Baldwin (soph.) San Diego State...6'-2" 215.. recruited as WR out of Arkansas...athletic hard hitting Safety is raw & full of upside; just S.D. St & UNLV offered

Carter Jacobs... (Jr.) Cincinnati 6'-1" 199 from FL...was coming into his own but has been injured since 3rd game

 

[TwentyTwo]

During the Pre-season Clemson preview made sure to mention the athletic(young back-up) redshirt Freshman DB Tanner Muse 6'-2" 220 ...already excelling on special teams...got some playing time last week and responded with a 64 yard INT for a TD...where his Running Back skills were on display!

Have been scanning the land for the next big time impact DB like Harrison Smith was a former 1st Rounder; Eric Weddle a 2nd Rounder; John Lynch went in the 3rd.....

The 2017 NFL Draft should have Nate Gerry go in the early rounds; after him only a handful are projected to go in the later rounds......

BUT in 18' & beyond it looks more promising where..... Andrew Wingard, Chase Hansen, Dru Tranquil all have high ceilings /potential early round picks...could Tanner Muse be added to the list?

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/sto...upward-muse-showing-knack-big-plays/93579604/

Last night Ex QB Chase Hansen 6'-3" 216 had a Pick Six vs Arizona State...once quoted he "wanted to be the run stuffing hitter of Kam Chancellor & the Coverage Skills of Eric Weddle"

 

[Leonardfan]

Good article on Charlotte DB Ben DeLuca:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/article109910447.html

 

[ximasa]

Last night Ex QB Chase Hansen 6'-3" 216 had a Pick Six vs Arizona State...once quoted he "wanted to be the run stuffing hitter of Kam Chancellor & the Coverage Skills of Eric Weddle"

When lined up in the slot, Utah's Chase Hansen has allowed a 22.3 passer rating on throws into his coverage, best of any Power-5 DB. [PFF College football]
Utah D-Line is incredible, Hunter Dimick is great and now Chase Hansen plays like Harrison Smith (no.1 SS in NFL).

 

[celticdb15]

Good article on Charlotte DB Ben DeLuca:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/article109910447.html

Great tackling form, or do scouts even care about this basic but fundamental skill?!

 

[Heretic]

White Cornerback alert! The Ohio Bobcats played one tonight. I missed the first half, so I don't know if he started. Solich has no problem playing a black quarterback, but in fairness he's also played White RBs and apparently is not adverse to playing a White CB, either. Perhaps someone else has already mentioned him in another thread, but I didn't see him mentioned in this one.

 

[Shadowlight]

CB Bradd Ellis has gotten more playing time lately and he has been fantastic the last two games. Had a key interception last night and Ohio almost pulled off the upset which would have been nice since WM has the "pro" WR that has scouts drooling. Ellis will be a senior next year but I figure he will finally get to start.

 

[Leonardfan]

Weston Steelhammer Third Team All American yet no reported invites to the Senior Bowl or Shrine Game to continue his career in the NFL.

http://gazette.com/air-forces-westo...th-the-many-boxes-hes-checked/article/1592125

 

[TwentyTwo]

Steelhammer has some company on the 3rd Team All American....Nebraska's Nate Gerry also made 3rd team & PFF Gerry made 1st Team!

Seeing Keenan Reynolds drafted in the NFL 6th round last season...would expect Steelhammer to be a 6th or 7th round selection like the article states...
Gerry should be a 2nd or 3rd Round pick...however i call BS on CBS Sports 6th round projection

Nebraska Football: Nate Gerry Named Third-Team AP All-American

http://huskercorner.com/2016/12/12/nebraska-football-nate-gerry-named-third-team-ap-american/
Safety Nate Gerry has been named to the third-team bunch of this year’s AP All-American squad along with Weston Steelhammer of the Air Force Academy.

He was also named to Pro Football Focus’ All-America team as a first-team member. PFF had the following to say about Gerry when he was named to its mid-season All-American crew:
Nebraska Football: Nate Gerry Named First-Team by Pro Football Focus
PFF said of the senior Nebraska safety, “Gerry keeps his place here from mid-season, excelling in coverage with a PFF grade of 88.7, coming away with four interceptions and six pass breakups and impressing against the run too.”
No. 25 for the Huskers tallied 74 tackles (47 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups and four interceptions despite missing the first game of the season
The site also listed him as one of the top NFL draft prospects at his position. His inclusion was justified by PFF by saying , “One of the top-graded coverage safeties in 2014, Gerry does a nice job of working downhill when the play is in front of him and he’s a good fit for a two-high safety team. His playmaking skills have led to nine interceptions and five passes defensed over the last two years.”

http://nflmocks.com/2016/07/11/nfl-draft-prospect-watch-nebraska-s-nate-gerry/

This article compares his build to Adrian Peterson