STRENGTHS
Blake has the talent to be a solid linebacker in the right system. He has good size and speed and does a good job playing within the game plan of the defensive system his college team uses. He has made impact players and has shown leadership skills that are needed to be a coach on the field and that makes him more valuable. Blake has the enough change of direction skills, to be used off the line in zone coverages with the play in front of him. He does a good job recognizing and reacting and has a good burst to the play, making tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Blake in the right defensive system will make impact plays and can become a core player and a fan favorite for the team that selects him.
CONCERNS
Blake does not have the elite athleticism or size and length to make him the type of player who can be used in multiple styles of defenses. Blake also losses leverage when tackling because once he engages he stops his feet and then tries to muscle the player down to the ground. He must learn to tackle “through” the player and not “at” the player. He also has to gain better strength in his hands to make the sure tackle. Blake has to play with more passion and commitment to what he sees in front of him. His initial reaction is quick but than his follow up reaction is too careful and lacks conviction. Blake also doesn’t meet blocks and shed them and make tackles, he goes around the blocks and at the next level that will not work.
TALENT BOARD ROUND 4.39
Blake has been an impact player for his college team because he is in the right defense that keeps big bodies off of him so that he can roam free and make tackles. If he is in that system at the next level he can impact for the team that selects him too. That being said that doesn’t change Blake’s ability to make tackles with better passion and aggressiveness and form. He still has to get stronger and tackle better. He still has to get better in coverage so that he can be used in man to man coverages or, Blake will bounce around the NFL. Now profiling linebackers is very difficult for me because linebackers in most cases are what I call, “system related”. This means that player fits a certain system and when that defensive coordinator is fired, in most cases that linebacker will be let go also. When that DC gets hired, that LB will be signed once again, to run that system on the field for that DC. Blake will be that type of linebacker and that doesn’t mean he won’t succeed, it just means as long as that defense is good and that DC is on the team and Blake doesn’t carry to big a salary, he can have a very productive and long career.
