STRENGTHS
Malik has the size and athletic talent to play more than one position for you in the front seven of your defense. He is sneaky good and can play on or off the line because of his size and high football IQ. Malik has just enough speed and athletic agility to be used in coverage situations close to the line of scrimmage and in zone coverages with his condor like long arms and wingspan, he comes in very handy knocking down balls and intimidating QB’s into hesitating, setting them up for the pass rush to make sacks. He might be one of the smartest defensive players in this draft and a total team player because of his assignment savvy intelligence. Malik has this ghost like ability to sneak past offensive lineman and show up in the backfield, making offensive lineman look at each other and question who was supposed to block him. He is stout against the run and uses his sneaky skills to shed blocks and make tackles without much effort. He has that sneaky ability to all of a sudden appear in the QB’s passing lane when that QB was sure there was no one there. Malik is a ghost and he may disappear from view but he never disappears from being one of the best players on the field.
CONCERNS
Malik is big and tested well at the combine but not many noticed, typical for him. He has good speed but not outstanding speed. He might lack single coverage skills but even that could be debated. He has some hidden developmental talents to rush the passer as a DE in a 4/3 defense. That being said, his movement skills all tested in the high percentile of the LB group. What’s his biggest weakness? Malik is not explosive to the play but he is good and does make plays.
BOTTOM LINE 2.01
I bet you’re asking yourself, what does “assignment, savvy” mean. It means that Malik understands his assignment and his teammate’s assignments and the purpose of calling that particular defensive play at that time it is called in the game. He’s a little bit more than a coach on the field, he’s more like having a computer on the field helping his teammates to understand and accept the coaches call. You won’t see Malik moving players around on the field after a call and his teammates understand that and in not moving players they know that he knows, that the call and the defensive scheme are the keys to this defensive stop. Two players come to mind that had this talent in the past. The Giants LB Harry Carson and the Bills LB Daryl Tally. Both players were not the most athletically talented players on their defensives and yet both LB’s were key players and core players for good defenses that became Super Bowl defenses. As good and as productive as Malik has been as an LB, I can’t help seeing some hidden talent as a DE in a 4/3 defense as maybe, his impact position at the next level. Then again, I’m not a coach, just a profiler and I’m profiling Malik, as a top defensive player in this draft with the ability to impact at more than one position and be a computer on the field. My guess, look for Rob’s board to see what round Malik could be selected in and then, don’t forget where you saw him rated because he could even sneak into the 1st round. Like a ghost. Boo!
