Overrated 2016 NFL Draft Prospects
By jonfox
Su’a Cravens, OLB, Southern Cal
Cravens is probably a strong safety or Joker LB in the NFL. He’s far too small and not quick enough to be an OLB either in a 3-4 or 4-3 defense.
But thats the not the main problem with him. Here’s the tape of him against Notre Dame: Link.
The problem is the pattern you see with him: he freelances, even if that means blowing his assignment. He’s a bad tackler and who doesn’t put much effort in his tackling.
What can you do with this? Strong safeties who can’t tackle and freelance don’t last long in the NFL. Even if he moves to Joker LB, these flaws still are a big problem for him
He gets compared to former Trojan LB/S Troy Polamalu, but that seems like a stretch at best.
Cravens might hit like Polamalu, but the former Steelers legend didn’t blow his tackles or assignments like Cravens consistently does. Polamalu, when he was a superstar for the Steelers’ defense, had such great instincts that he knew where the ball was usually going.
Cravens guesses wrong far too often and this puts him out of position far too much. He needs discipline to harness his big hit ability and to be taught how to tackle properly.