STRENGTHS
Damone is a long-armed, long-legged linebacker with the size and athletic talent teams are looking for in this modern NFL. He shows good speed to run players down and the ability to be used to attack the line of scrimmage in schemes that allow him to make plays and tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He is a sure tackler in open space. Damone shows some leadership skills and might have the ability in the future to become a coach on the field for the team that elects him.
CONCERNS
There is not much on film, of Damone being used in single coverage but his body type sends the signal that he could be. At the senior bowl, he did show athletic talent but he still will need time to develop those skills. He does struggle to process if there is too much happening in front of him and that makes him hesitate and take wrong angles to the play. At the college level, his athletic talent made it easy for him to recover but at the next level, unless he can process and find the ball quicker, he will struggle to be consistent. Damone also struggles to get off blocks and make the tackle. Damone doesn’t make plays, plays are manufactured for him to make. There’s a big difference.
BOTTOM LINE: 3.44
My guess is if he is an OLB in a 4/3 defense that he should be pretty good but use him in the middle or in a 4-2-5 defensive system and he will struggle. Do not mistake thinking the word “process” means that Damone is not smart. There is nothing wrong with his intelligence. It just means if he sees too much in front of him he will struggle to analyze it and think quick enough to react. That’s why I’m suggesting that if he plays on the outside he will see less and have less to process. This will allow for his athleticism to work for him better. Put him on the whiteboard and there is no problem, so intelligence has nothing to do with how quickly a person can process. For the purposes of this draft, I think Damone will be a good player for the team that selects him but he is limited to a certain position in a certain style of defense and for me, that affects his draft status and talent level.
