STRENGTHS
Tremaine might be the most pure athletic linebacker in this draft. He has good speed and is a potential three down linebacker because of his potential to cover and defend in the passing game. He has those long arms and legs that make it easy for him to cover ground quickly but don’t think that’s all he brings to his position. Tremaine is strong and will meet and greet offensive lineman in the whole, slip the block and make the tackle. He can be physical and he can be used at more than one position for you on the defensive front seven because of his unique size and athleticism. Tremaine has the size and athletic talent to be used in coverage or on the outside rushing the passer or as an inside linebacker in a 3/4 defense or 4/3 defense. He is stout against the run and this ability to play multiple positions will make Tremaine very attractive to all 32 teams in this draft.

CONCERNS
Tremaine struggles mentally on the field and this suggest that he doesn’t do a lot of film work or…he struggles to bring what he does in practice to the game. He really looks lost out there at times and does not show leadership skills because of this issue. That being said he might look lost because he went to class and studied and that means it might take some time for Tremaine to catch up on the field mentally but when he does he will impact big time. The talent, size, speed, and unique cover skills say so.

BOTTOM LINE
You have to wonder with all of this talent and size why Tremaine isn’t being considered as one of the top five players in this draft. Well sometimes you have to look harder into why a player struggles and guesses and relies only on athletic talent to be successful at the college level. The reason just might be that the kid takes his studies seriously. I don’t know if that’s the case but I do know that if it is, Tremaine will be one of the top 15 picks in this draft. If he has not taken college seriously than all I can say is Tremaine’s talent and skills will make him just an average linebacker in the NFL and that does not warrant being selected in the first round. On the day of the draft… you must draft players with the information that you have in front of you and only that information. My information on Tremaine is that he has the talent, size, speed and the physical strength of the modern day linebacker who can stay on the field for all three downs but mentally he guesses, takes false steps, struggles to find the ball, and hesitates to engage along with having poor habits when being used in coverage. This is a player who could easily be considered in the first round because when he starts to work out most teams will be checking off all those boxes very quickly. But for me personally, the box that says “how well he plays in the game and impacts” is the box in question and… to be a first round selection that box can never be in question.

Drew Boylhart   FEB.2018