| AllSaints |
04-28-2007 09:00 PM |
Usama Young
Positives: Long-limbed athlete with a frame that can carry at least another 10 pounds of bulk without it affecting his excellent timed speed … Has a tight abdomen and lean muscle tone, showing good hip flip and suddenness coming out of his breaks … Hard worker in practices and games, putting forth the extra hours for game preparation … Needs to be more aggressive attacking the ball carrier and ball in flight, but is a smart player with the instincts to make quick reads and instantly react to the play (used to be slow in his reads, but showed marked improvement as a senior) … Shows proper timing moves to make plays on the ball, but needs to be more aggressive … Maintains position on the receiver in man coverage, whether playing, trailing, covering or allowing cushion on the pass, despite having long legs and being high-cut … Compensates when beaten long with good recovery speed and gets out of his turns with precision … Has adequate ball reaction skills, displaying decent timing in attempts to break up the play … Not really a ball hawk, but shows efficient hands for the interception, doing a nice job of snatching the ball outside the frame … Has the burst to cover ground quickly and, even though he is just a marginal tackler, he will get into position and drop his pads in attempts to stall the ball carrier in run support … Has great special teams potential, as he shows the quick closing burst to get downfield and break up the wedge … Well-balanced through transition, showing the plant-and-drive agility to come out of his breaks cleanly … Has a good feel for route progression and does a nice job of getting his head turned to track the ball in flight … Effective at keeping plays in front of him playing in the zone and explodes out of his breaks to stay tight on the receiver's hip.
Negatives: Needs to develop better lower-body strength … Legs are too skinny for him to hold ground working near the pile … Willing tackler, but lacks strength to explode into the ball carrier … Also needs to play with more aggression, especially when competing for the ball in a crowd … Gets bounced around too much at the line of scrimmage to lend any type of run support … Will generally take a side or ankle bite in attempts to make the tackle.
Compares To: Chris Gamble, Carolina -- Young has the quickness to stay with any receiver throughout the route and is starting to develop better read-and-react skills … However, like Gamble, he lacks strength and aggressiveness to be a forceful tackler and needs to do a better job competing for jump balls … His speed is his best asset, but he will have to develop a mean streak and start showing better authority with his tackles if he hopes to be anything more than a situational cover corner.
Campus: 4.39 in the 40-yard dash … Bench pressed 225 pounds 14 times … 43-inch vertical jump … 10-foot-11 broad jump … 4.31 20-yard shuttle … 6.65 three-cone drill … 30¼-inch arm length … 9 3/8-inch hands … Right-handed.
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