Scooter's Day 3 Prospects to Know - Defense

By Scooter_McG

I've gone through some day 3 offensive prospects that may be of interest to the 49ers. Now it is time to turn our attention to potential day 3 defensive prospects. Before we get started, it is worth noting that razor also mentioned a couple of potential day 3 defensive prospects in a comment on my previous post - Adam Anderson, James Houston and Derion Kendrick. I've not included them in this list and will let razor discuss them further should he be inclined. 😀

Alex Wright, DE, UAB. Wright is a traits-based prospect sporting a tall and powerful frame (6'5", 271 lbs, 34" arms) and good athleticism, agility and burst for his size. He currently "wins" primarily based on his natural length, power and athleticism alone, as he is raw and under-developed in terms of technique and pass rush plan. But even without great technique he was very productive as a pass rusher in college, consistently generating pressure on the QB.  

His physical traits give Wright a chance to be good NFL player, and he would seem to fit the type of long, powerful DL that the 49ers and Kocurek covet. But Wright will need to be coached up on the intracacies of DL play in order to unlock that potential, which is where a coach like Kocurek could be perfect. And while it doesn't always mean anything, it appears there is interest there from the 49ers - they met with him at the combine and are believed to be meeting virtually with him as well. As big and powerful as he already is, there is also considerable room for him to add muscle throughout his frame to pack an even greater punch. 

If you were looking for a pro comparison for Wright I would say Preston Smith, not just because they had the exact same measurements in terms of height, weight and arm length at the combine, but because Wright has a very similar skillset to Smith who has flourished as a stand-up DE/OLB that can also move around the line. So if he is that good, why is he being considered a day 3 prospect you may ask? Well, honestly, part of his issue is that he got hurt at the combine during the bench press and has been unable to work out for scouts as a result. Another issue is he doesn't come from a big school, and unlike other similar big, powerful edge prospects from smaller schools such as Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner in recent years, as a junior Wright wasn't able to demonstrate his skills at any all star games to boost his draft stock (notably, both Davenport and Turner leveraged their strong Senior Bowl and combine performances into first round draft selections).  

In many respects Wright is similar to another potential day 3 prospect Dominque Robinson, who razor has mentioned previously - a raw, moldable piece of clay that has all the physical tools you look for at the position. However, Robinson has benefitted from participating in the Senior Bowl and completing a workout at the combine, which has elevated his stock. Wright is currently projected to go after Robinson and could be a steal as a result.   

Eric Johnson, DT, Missouri State. The 49ers love explosive, gap penetrating DL and Johnson fits the mold. While he is a small school prospect, he has the size (6'4", 300 lbs) and athletic traits (4.86s 40, 27.5" vertical, 8'11" broad, 4.66s shuttle) teams look for. Johnson was a little known prospect until he dominated the NFLPA Bowl during both practices and the game with his quickness and power. His performance was enough to earn him an invite to the Senior Bowl where he once again impressed with his quickness, physicality and power. His showing in these all star events now has him firmly on the map as a draftable prospect and also suggest he has the traits to be a successful pro DT in the hands of a good DL coach (like Kocurek). 

Kalia Davis, DT, Central Florida. Davis is another late round DT option that provides considerable upside as a quick twitch, gap penetrating disrupter in the interior. He is on the smaller side at 6'1", 302 lbs, but he has proven to be a highly disruptive player throughout his time at UCF with a quick get off and agility to win the snap early and cause offensive lineman problems 1-on-1.  

Due to his size Davis can struggle holding up against the run and against double teams, but with the way the 49ers like to employ their DTs as primarily gap penetrators this weakness can be mitigated to some degree (similar to Kevin Givens). The larger concern for Davis, and one of the key reasons he is projected to be a late day 3 pick, is he has not played much football the past two years - in 2020 he opted out due to COVID while last season he only played five games before tearing his ACL in October. As a result of that injury Davis has not been able to do any testing during the pre-draft process and may not be ready to contribute much as a rookie (and could effectively need to red-shirt his rookie season). 

Tre Sterling, S, Oklahoma State. Sterling was on the fast track to being a day 2 pick following strong 2019 and 2020 seasons which saw him ranked as one of the top safeties over those seasons by PFF, scoring high in both coverage and run defense. In 2020 he had 74 tackles, 11 TFL, 0.5 sack, 2 INTs (1 for a TD) and 4 passes defensed. However, a wrist injury curtailed his 2021 season and as a result Sterling is now flying somewhat under the radar in the draft media. Sterling has decent size (5'11", 206 lbs) and athleticism (4.6s 40, 36.5" vertical, 4.11s shuttle) and offers considerable versatility as a DB, lining up at FS, SS and the slot during his time with the Cowboys. He sounds like exactly the type of DB the 49ers prefer, and based on current draft projections will likely be there in the 4th/ 5th round. 

Damarri Mathis, CB, Pittsburgh. When it comes to drafting players in the later rounds it is often a case of betting on athletic traits over production and technique, and hoping that with coaching those athletic traits can be maximised. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a guy lasts to those later rounds that offers both high end athleticism and decent production/ technique, and you are simply left scratching your head as to why the player doesn't get more attention. In my opinion, that is the case with Mathis. The only thing I can put it down to is a shoulder injury in 2020 that cost him the season and pushed him off the radar for a lot of media.

Mathis played mostly on the outside at Pitt, and at 5'11", 198 lbs, Mathis has the size to handle those duties in the pros. At his pro day he showed he also has the athleticism to match, running a 4.39s 40 while posting a 43.5" vertical and 11'1" broad. But Mathis has also demonstrated the ability to move inside and offers nice versatility as a result.  

He isn't the most technically refined CB prospect, but there is a lot to like about how he plays. He is good in press and with his athleticism has the recovery speed if he gets beat. He is also physical and generally keeps tight coverage. 2019 was his best season in college, allowing just 21 receptions on 57 targets (36.8% completion percentage), ranking him 4th in the nation in terms of completion percent allowed. As outlined above, 2020 was a lot season due to injury, but he returned to the starting lineup in 2021 where he snagged two INTs and displayed a nice presence in run support (ranked 9th by PFF in run defense for all CBs). 

It's possible Mathis doesn't last until day 3 given his pro day results will have put him back on teams radars and he has the film to back it up, but based on current projections he is expected to still be there round 4/ 5 and at that point would be a very nice pick up for the 49ers (or any team).

 

Dallis Flowers, CB, Pitt State. For my last day 3 defensive prospect I will include another small school player - CB Dallis Flowers from Pitt State. As with any small school player looking to get the attention of the NFL, Flowers impresses with good size and athleticism for the position, measuring at around 6'1" and 195 lbs with a 4.43s 40 (and 1.47s 10 yard split), 10'11" broad, 4.34s shuttle and 6.98s 3-cone. Flowers uses his length and athleticism well to stay in phase with receivers and close windows, and does an excellent job locating the ball in the air to make a play on it (which was demonstrated by his 3 INTs and 6 PBUs last season despite teams mostly avoiding his coverage). Flowers also uses his length well at the line of scrimmage to disrupt receivers in press coverage. He showed that he was able to translate his talents to higher levels of competition as he performed well in the East-West Shrine practices.  

Flowers abilities as a CB are only part of the story though. He is an excellent return man, primarily on kick returns though he also has experience fielding punts. In 2021 he averaged 33.7 yards per kick return with 2 TDs, while he also previously broke John Brown's kick return record while at Grand View with 38.1 yards per return in 2019. It is in this capacity that Flowers can make an immediate impact as a rookie while he develops as a CB. Flowers is an older prospect at 24 years old, and will be 25 years old his rookie season, but there is a lot to like about him as a late day 3 developmental prospect with significant special teams value.