STRENGTHS
Kool-Aid has the size and length teams are looking for in the draft. He has solid athleticism and is well-coached to play in any style of defense. He has a high football IQ and techniques to play press coverage and communicates very well with his teammates when playing in zone coverages. Kool-Aid shows on film, the work ethic and attention to detail that most players at the college level lack. He is smart and understands down-and-distance situations, leverages, and the tendencies of an opponent’s offense during a game, very much like a safety. That is Kool-Aid’s strength, understanding during a game, an opponent’s offense’s tendencies, and capitalizing on those tendencies to make plays. He can play multiple positions in your defensive backfield and looks to be a potential excellent slot cover defensive back.
CONCERNS
Kool-Aid doesn’t have that extra gear to cover on the deep ball and against double moves to recover, without being physical. In the red zone, he is extremely “Handsy” and physical. This is not a good thing or a bad thing but he will have to learn to play to the referees and what they will call or he becomes a liability for his team. If Kool-Aid becomes more consistent, using good tackling techniques, then using him in the slot, in zone/matchup converges, or… moving him to a cover safety position would most likely be the best use of his intellect and athletic talents.
BOTTOM LINE: 1.83
If you use Kool-Aid, in press coverage on the outside he will get beat and struggle. If you use him on the outside in a multi-fascinate defensive scheme, then you limit those big, and small, but fast and quick, receivers from taking advantage of him because of a lack of top-end speed and quickness to recover. Relying on Kool Aids’ high football IQ and using him in different ways during a game is the best way to get impact from his athletic talents and his ability to make plays on the ball. If I’m a defensive coordinator who uses many different coverages depending on the down and distance I’m rating Kool-Aid higher on my board than a team that might use more press coverages and man-to-man single coverages. But that’s just me, just telling you what I think. His workouts will be important especially that 40-time and ten-yard split. His late-yard split will tell teams if he has the second gear that so many teams look for in a pure cover corner.
