He should be a first rounder by draft day. Reminds me so much of Kareem Jackson it's kind of scary. Love this dude. NFL Draft Scout has him rated a 5th or 6th rounder. As I laugh. With all due respect to them. I've watched three games of his 2009 tape now. I wanted to only watch one. He was good enough that, not unlike Kareem Jackson, I had to keep seeing more and more to see him tested and see what happens. All the things I liked about Kareem, I like about Chris L. Rucker. Except Rucker's bigger. I don't trust his listings at 6'2" and 195 lbs. That would be ridiculous. A 6'2" and 195 lbs player is lanky. Rucker looks more compact, and he doesn't look as tall as 6'2" guys opposite him. I could believe 6'1" and 200 lbs. Either way it's excellent size. He has the quickness and feet to mirror in man, recovers lost ground quickly, flashes the ABILITY but not necessarily the tendency to be very physical in coverage, I was looking for those instances of getting challenged deep and I found them and he has ZERO trouble keeping up with the deep ball. He ERASED Golden Tate whenever he faced him, including two deep fly balls one on one...until he got hurt trying to lay a hit on Kyle Rudolph (bad idea). He left the game for a bit, tried to tough it out but Golden got one back on him on a short hitch where Rucker was fooled into thinking he was going deep, tried to cut back, body failed him and he went to ground, got back up and tried to tackle him and was left grasping air...he was just off after that hit on Rudolph. On another deep ball against Stoudermire of Minnesota, the ball was complete,...one on one deep post coverage, perfect position, got the hand up to swat the ball, ball somehow squirted past his hand anyway and the guy made one hell of a catch. Literally the only two balls I saw completed directly on him in three games (vs. Minnesota, Michigan, Notre Dame). Hits like a truck. Has closing speed. Can deal with blockers. Good eyes. Can play aggressive in off coverage as well as mirror in man. Shows some ball skills. He had a clean scoop and score type moment on a fumble recovery, and on another tipped ball at the end of the Michigan game he dove for the tip drill, came up with the ball and sealed the game in overtime with the pick. He did let one go through his hands in the sun field against Notre Dame when he covered Tate on a fly route. He was so physical and so dominant on Tate that Golden literally just stopped his route mid-way and refused to go on. Rucker went on and tracked down Jimmy's ball but the sun was in his eyes and the ball went through the wickets. He can find the holes when blitzing. I like how he disguises his blitzes, gives a tight man cover look until very last second then peels off. If I had to improve a few things about his game they would be consistency in getting off blocks, more aggression and speed on his approach to the ball on blitzes and in run support, and he just needs to clean up minor balance issues and zone recognition issues. Otherwise I hardly saw this guy make any mistakes. Superb player. Unlike Joe Haden, he NEVER has safety help over top bailing him on deep routes. Major Wright helped MAKE Joe Haden, which is what I kept pointing out to people. Should be a first rounder. I saw him lock step with a 4.46 guy when chasing him at top gear. He recovered and outran a 4.52 guy when he tried to bounce a run to the outside. He was stride for stride on fly routes with Golden Tate who ended up running in the 4.3's. The guy he was easily stride for stride with who barely caught the deep post against him runs a 4.49. He's got the speed, he's got the feet, he's got more than enough size (but built well, not lanky).
nice breakdown. he caught my eye also last year. i wasnt as high on him as you are but i generally dont focus too much on players that wont be in the draft. I will definitely be watching him along with Burney, Dowling, Hogan who also caught my eye.
