STRENGTHS
Bryan reminds me a lot of former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison or for you, young Draftniks think a bigger Buda Baker. He loves to tackle and will fight through blocks to make tackles behind the line of scrimmage on those pesky sweeps and screens to his side of the field. He is a pure safety/hybrid type of player who will excel in the new 4/2/5 defenses. He has the size and athletic talent to be used up near the line of scrimmage or back in a two-deep zone. Bryan has good zone coverage skills because he is smart and instinctive and understands down and distance situations. He shows leadership skills through his intimidating style of play on the field. Bryan is the type of player who can be lineup deep and still make the tackle behind the line of scrimmage. When you need a tackle or an interception or someone to cause a drop pass, on third downs, Bryan will be the player on your defense that will make that all-important, impact play.
CONCERNS
Bryan is very good at not getting a lot of helmet-to-helmet hits, called against him but he will get “defenseless player” penalties called against him. (That is until the playoffs when the referees don’t call those penalties). He also needs the play in front of him to impact so expecting him to cover like a cornerback is asking a little too much of him. Bryan does cover very well in short zones and in matchup zone coverage but asking him to go down the field and cover like a corner is not his strength so I suggest you COACH BETTER.
BOTTOM LINE 2.17
Teams running a 4/2/5 defense should have Bryan high on their draft board. Bryan will make your defense better because as a safety/hybrid player he will make plays all over the field and behind the line of scrimmage. On passing downs, line him up deep, and believe me the middle of the field will be off-limits because of his intimidating hits. Bryan will make interceptions and he will cause players to fumble and he will scare the bejeebers out of any receiver coming into his area causing them to drop passes. If you want to give up selecting that type of playmaking talent because he can’t cover like a cornerback…I feel for you…I can’t reach you but… I do feel for you and your “average can’t get the offense off the field on third down”, defense.
