STRENGTHS
Nick reminds me of a bigger version of Chiefs Safety Tyrann Mathieu. He has excellent athletic talent, speed, and agility to play multiple positions in your defensive backfield. Nick is a sure tackler and a very good tackler and if he gets his hands on you, in the open field he will bite your leg off to get you down if he needs to. Nick has the speed to play in a deep single safety position and still make plays on the ball, in the air, from sideline to sideline. That’s right he has the speed to go sideline to sideline not just hashmark to hashmark. Nick has solid cover skills, enough to be used in the slot on the bigger receivers. With his sure tackling skills, athletic talent, speed, and instincts, Nick could be used at more than one position all over the field, near the line of scrimmage or in deep zone coverages.
CONCERNS
Nick will need to get a little quicker with his footwork when he is used in coverage. He also needs to communicate more in the backfield.
BOTTOM LINE 1.97
Nick is not as flashy as some other safeties but he is a lot better. He can be used up near the line of scrimmage or in the backfield in a 4/2/5 defense. He can be used in a two-deep zone defense but what really scares the living crap out of quarterbacks is when Nick is used as a single deep safety. He can cover so much ground that if your favorite team doesn’t have a strong-armed quarterback throwing the ball, Nick will make them wish they did. On third and long passing downs he will make a quarterback double-clutch causing a quarterback’s rhythm be disrupted. Nick is so fast that he can intercept the ball coming from the other side of the field out of the quarterback’s vision. Nick is a multi-position and talented football player with a high football IQ and speed to burn. I would think there is not a team out there that could not use that type of talent on their defense. He has 1st round talent who most likely because of the position he plays, won’t be selected in the 1st round.
