LEONHARD
JIM
WISCONSIN
LAST NAME
FIRST NAME
COLLEGE
HEIGHT
WEIGHT
40 SPEED
5093 V
181 V
DS
POSITION
J 6.0
FINAL GRADE
27 / 39
JERSEY #
SECTION GRADE:
6.0
ATHLETIC ABILITY
Q.A.B. – 6.0
Jim is a deceptive athlete whose size and lack of a blazing 40 time make you think he is a limited athlete, but he is no doubt a good athlete. He
very quick feet and can accelerate to full speed quickly – His quick acceleration and playing speed give him sideline range vs the run and
Quick Feet – 6.5 has
pass. His good flexibility combine with his agility and balance to let him bend his knees and tackle with a good wide base – He can break down
and tackle well out in space. While he is a good athlete for a safety, he lacks the hips and explosiveness to be effective when he lines up over
C.O.D. – 6.0
the slot receiver and has to cover him in M/M coverage – He lets the receiver get on top of him quickly and loses a step when he has to flip hips
Flexibility – 6.5 and turn and run with fast receivers. He is a coordinated athlete who stays under control and shows good body control adjusting to tackle out in
Coordination – 6.5
space. Additionally, he has good hands to reach out and make tough INT’s.
SECTION GRADE:
6.5
COMPETITIVENESS
is an extremely tough safety who consistently has shown a willingness to play thru pain and will make hard hits vs big ball carriers whenever he gets
Toughness – 6.5 Jim
the chance. He has consistently stepped up and made big plays for Wisconsin – He comes up and makes physical tackles in run support and can break
Clutch Play – 6.5 up passes and make INT’s on passes. Additionally, when Wisconsin was in a tight game fighting a field position battle, he consistently showed the ability
up and make a good punt return to give them the field position edge. Jim’s overall production was consistently good – He always plays to the limits
Production – 6.0 toof step
is ability. He will never to add some bulk/weight in order to consistently tackle big NFL running backs. He is no doubt a team player – Not many players
Consistency – 6.0 who are entering their 4 season as a starter also continue to return punts as a senior, but Jim has not only done it, but excelled at it. He has a lot of price
never quits as was evidenced by his being barely recruited out of high school and walking on at Wisconsin where he came in, earned a scholarship
Team Player – 6.5 and
and became one of the best safeties they have ever had.
th
Pride / Quit – 6.5
MENTAL
ALERTNESS
Learn / Retain- 6.5
Instincts/Reactions – 6.5
Concentration – 6.5
SECTION GRADE:
Jim is a very smart football player who consistently uses good technique tackling, makes the secondary calls/adjustments and did very well on
the Wonderlic. He has very good football instincts which combine with his very quick feet to consistently enable him to react fast to the ball – He
consistently has shown the ability to get outside vs deep outside passes and makes plays on the ball. From what I can tell from watching film,
Jim never loses focus/concentration which helps him to consistently end up in the middle of the play.
SECTION GRADE:
ST RE NG TH /
EXPLOS
EX PLOS IO N
Body Type -2.0
Durability – 4.0
Explosion – 6.0
Play Strength – 4.0
GDE
6.5
5.5
6.5
6.5
5.5
6.0
6.0
6.5
5.5
6.0
6.0
6.5
4.0
Jim is a tiny little safety at just over 5’9 and 180 pounds – He looks like a high school player on film. While he has been a very durable safety at
Wisconsin, it always concerns me when a player is so much smaller than ideal because most players that are so under-sized struggle to stay
healthy in the NFL. Despite not having premier playing speed, Jim’s instincts and very quick feet enable him close with an explosive burst to the
ball better than you expect – He gets outside, break up passes and make INT’s better than you expect. While he makes some hard hits as a
tackler, he is tiny for a safety and lacks the playing strength to tackle big ball carriers consistently – He gets dragged for extra yards by big,
physical runners.
CATAGORY
READ & REACT
M / M COVERAGE
ZONE COVERAGE
BREAK & CLOSE
HIPS / TURN ABILITY
TACKLING
HITTING ABILITY
HANDS - INT
HANDS – FGT. BLOCKER
DEEP SPEED
RETURN ABILITY
ERRORS
6.5
GAME S
COMMENTS / DE S CRIPTION
VIE W ED
Consistently reads and reacts very quickly to the play – Very good closing burst.
Can cover TE’s in M/M, but struggles vs tall TE’s and cannot cover WR’s.
Reads QB/Pass very fast, breaks and closes quickly and makes plays on ball consistently.
Purdue,
Arizona &
Penn State.
Lacks premier playing speed, but has a very good closing burst to ball.
Good enough hips to flip and stay with TE’s, but can’t stay with WR’s.
Usually uses good tackling technique, but will dive/lunge occasionally.
Despite lacking size, he closes quickly on ball and makes hard tackles.
He has very good hands to reach out and make INT’s easily.
He fights thru WR blocks well, but he struggles to get free from TE blocks.
COMBINE
NOTES
225 REPS VERT. JUMP BROAD JUMP 20 SHUTTLE 60 SHUTTLE -
3 CONE WONDERLIC -
CRITICAL FACTORS
Lacks premier playing speed, but definitely has good enough speed to help on deep outside passes.
ATH. ABILITY – 6.0
COVERAGE - 6.0
He is going to be a good NFL returner – Consistently gets more than expected.
TACKLING - 6.0
COMPETES – 6.5
Jim does not make mental errors, but will miss an occasional tackle.
PLAY SPEED – 6.0
INSTINCTS – 6.5
STRONG POINTS
Jim is a good athlete who consistently makes plays vs the run and pass.
He is a very instinctive player which helps him to close quickly on
passes in front of him to make hard hits to break up passes and can get
outside quick enough to make plays on the ball on deep over-the-top
passes. He is a very tough safety who consistently comes up
aggressively in run support and makes hard hits.
WEAKNESSES
Jim is a tiny little safety – There are some good safeties at 5’9, but at only
180 pounds his thin frame will hinder him in the NFL. His lack of size and
playing strength hinder his ability to tackle big ball carriers and this will be
even more of a problem in the NFL. Despite generally being a good
tackler, he will at times lunge/dive and misses some tackles he should
make. He lacks the AA, hips and playing speed to cover wide receivers in
tight M/M.
SUMMARY
Jim was a very enjoyable player to grade because he is consistently all over the field making plays vs the run and the pass. He is a very smart and instinctive player
which enables him to consistently read and react to the play fast. He consistently reads the QB fast and can break and close on the ball quickly – He can close on
passes in front of him to make the hard hit and can get outside to make plays on the ball on deep outside passes. He does a solid job in M/M coverage on TE’s, but
no doubt has trouble keeping tall TE’s from catching the high ball – Additionally, he lacks the AA, hips and playing speed to cover WR’s in M/M. There is no doubt he
is short and thinner than ideal to consistently tackle big NFL RB’s, but he does not lack for toughness and is willing to come up aggressively and make hard hits on
anyone. Overall, I am sure Jim is going to be drafted much lower than I rate him, but I am confident that he will eventually prove my evaluation right. He will end up
being a good starting free safety who makes a lot of plays vs the pass and in time he will bulk up to 195/200 pounds and will be able to do a solid job in run support.
Additionally, he is going to be able to make an impact early on as a punt returner – He will not be a big home run threat, but will be the type of returner who
consistently gains positive yardage, never fumbles the ball and will make some big returns when his team needs it most.