Safety

Nebraska

6-0 212

40 time: 4.63

Draft board overall prospect rank: NR

Draft board offensive tackle rank: NR

Overall rating: 55*

            3/29/10: I am not a huge fan of Taylor Mays, but I think hands down Larry Asante is the most overrated safety in this draft class, as hard as it is for a safety to be overrated. He’s a strong hitter, but he doesn’t have amazing size. He really struggles in coverage. His backpedal and instincts are very poor and he lacks good speed, both in backpedal and in recovery. His hands aren’t great and he doesn’t play the ball in the air very often. Unless Taylor Mays, and prospects in the past like Roy Williams, he doesn’t have the natural speed or athleticism to be able to improve in coverage. His upside is not very high. I am not saying his slow just because of his 40 time, but he looked slow on the field last year all the time. I’ll admit, he’s plus against the run and was very plus against the run last year, but because of his size, I am not sure he will be the same in the NFL against bigger ball carriers, ball carriers bigger than him and he’s not an amazing tackler, so that could be an issue as well. At the very best, I think this is a guy who should be drafted as a depth strong safety and a special teamer, but he’ll probably be drafted in the 3^rd or 4^th round, rather than the 5^th where he belongs. I think he’ll probably be a waste of a draft pick for someone.

NFL Comparison: Dawan Landry

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here