STRENGTHS
Andre is a playmaking defensive back. He has the ability to track the ball in the air like a center fielder. He has excellent hands to make the interception and the speed, vision, and enough change of direction skills to take it to the house. Andre is very smart and calculating and knows exactly the right time, to leave his zone responsibilities to make the interception or make an impact tackle. He seems to always be around the ball and will support the run as quickly as any linebacker in the draft. He shows excellent foot quickness, speed, and burst to the ball, and is an intimidating tackler. Andre shows leadership skills through his play on the field but what he brings with him to the next level is the ability to take the ball away from his opponents with unique skills to intercepting the ball.
CONCERNS
In the film I have, Andre played in a lot of zone coverages, and let me tell you in zone, this kid is outstanding. In coverage and when used up close to the line of scrimmage I saw a player who is a little light and struggles, to handle plays right at him. He was solid in short area coverages but I believe the question for most teams will be his pure speed and how good he actually is in single coverage in the slot against bigger receivers. Also, Andre had a knee injury (ACL Tear) this year and between that and no combine, the evaluation on his pure speed might be difficult to access.
BOTTOM LINE 2.17
In 2018 Andre had 7 interceptions and 9 pass defenses in 13 games. In 2019 in 9 games he had 5 interceptions and 5 pass defenses. Watching him on film and appreciating his athleticism, it’s a good bet his coverage skills are solid. I know his zone skills are outstanding but he does play light up near the line of scrimmage and that means most teams will look at him as a free safety if he has the speed to go sideline to sideline. Teams that play a lot of 2 deep some won’t give a dam because Andre is a ball hawk, and he was made to play in that style of defense. That being said, he does have some concerns that will affect how every team views him in their defense system and that will affect his draft status but it won’t affect how he plays the game once he gets on the field. The facts are, Andre is an intimidating tackler who can fool quarterbacks into making mistakes and interceptions. The type of defensive back quarterbacks and offensive coordinators have to be careful when game planning and calling plays. Most safeties with these concerns are selected later than I would (3rd, 4th, 5th Rd’s) but trust me, once he gets on the field he will be considered by most, as one of the steals of this draft.
