STRENGTHS
Nate is a talented defensive back with excellent potential to become an impact corner or safety for the team that selects him. He started out as a wide receiver and has only played on the defensive side of the ball for one year but trust me when I tell you that Nate has the talent, mental strength and stamina to become a sleeper impact defensive player in the very near future. He has the quickness and speed you look for in a defensive back and is a fearless head up, wrap up, squeeze and drive tackler. He has the hands to make the interception and is a physical defensive back that is already learning to read receivers and to make plays on the ball. Nate will be an impact player, and while he learns and improves he can help right away in nickel/dime situations because of his tackling and strong physical style of play. Nate reminds me a lot of former Panthers/Redskins Josh Norman when he came out.

CONCERNS
Nate is little “handsy” at this stage of his development and this can get him in trouble with penalties. He has good overall coverage skills and in zone defense and certain match up zones he will be very effective. In single coverage he might not have the quickness and recovery speed to play in that style although he is still developing and those talents may just need some time to show up.

BOTTOM LINE
Nate is an exciting player to watch on film. His willingness to support the run, physical nature in coverage and his excellent tackling make him have the potential to become an impact player for the team that selects him. You can see so much improvement from one game to the next and in just one year of playing on the defensive side. He is very smart and already has discovered how to use his offensive receiver knowledge to his advantage covering receivers on the defensive side of the ball. His size and quickness to identify and come up to support the run speaks of his ability to learn quickly and this sponge like learning talent will do him well at the next level. Like I said Nate reminds me a lot of Josh Norman when he came out. If the team that selects him uses that same style of defense that Josh was in early in his career than Nate could become as successful at the next level as Josh has become. Nate is your sleeper Defensive Back in this very talented group of defensive backs. I expect because he has only one year playing defense it will affect his draft status but it won’t affect his ability to become an impact defensive back at either corner or safety. It’s just a matter of time. As of this writing Nate looks to be a late round selection and if that’s right and if I’m right, that means he will be a steal.

Drew Boylhart  APR.2017