SAF Jalen Pitre, Baylor
And finally, let’s talk about one of my favorite safety prospects, who started his career as a three-star linebacker and moved backwards from position-perspective in 2020. Over his 23 games there, he put up ridiculous production for a member of the secondary (by description), with 135 total tackles, 29.5(!) of those for loss, six sacks, seven PBUs, four INTs and forced fumbles each, which made him a first-team All-American and the Big-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.
Having that linebacker background, despite being only 5’10” ½, 195 pounds, Pitre’s largely known for his physicality. And while a lot of his great tape was him charging downhill and blasting guys, you saw him be able to truly cover man-to-man effectively throughout his week in Mobile. He spent a large portion of practices with the corner-group during one-on-ones, where he engaged and maintained contact with receivers throughout the pattern, while doing a nice job of swiping through their reach at the end. While he obviously wasn’t quite as sticky in coverage as some of the natural corners there, which is understanding considering he spent more time in the box than outside the numbers at Baylor, he more than held his own against the receivers, and his lack of height never seemed to be much of an issue when matched up against tight-ends.
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As far as team periods go, that ability to quickly diagnose plays and get to the ball was on full display. He routinely flashed with charging down the alley to support against the run, without compromising coverage for it. In zone, he did a nice job mid-pointing patterns and not giving quarterbacks clear reads. My two favorite plays in 11-on-11s came on day three, first undercutting a deep crosser off a bootleg and breaking up the pass and later on he denied the tight-end slipping out on the backside of a split zone fake initially, before slightly fell off, to also take away the route behind him, before Pitt QB Kenny Pickett was chased out to the sideline by Cincinnati’s Myjai Sanders for basically no gain. Pitre just kind of showed off his all-around skill-set, never seemingly getting caught on the wrong foot.
While he was one of the top two safeties in Mobile coming into the week (along with Oregon’s Verone McKinley), this guy really stood out among that entire group down in Mobile, and I think, other than Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton, who is kind of in a class of his own due to his ridiculous athletic profile, and one of my absolute favorites in Penn State’s Jaquan Brisker, I believe Pitre could be right in the thick of things for SAF3, if he tests well. Getting voted National DS of the week by his opponents was the first checkmark.
Others:
QB Malik Willis, Liberty
QB Chase Garbers, California
RB Ty Chandler, North Carolina
RB Rachaad White, Arizona State
RB Vavae Malepeai, USC
WR Calvin Austin III, Memphis
WR Mychael Cooper, Navy
TE Greg Dulcich, UCLA
TE Armani Rogers, Ohio
OT Abraham Lucas, Washington State
OT/IOL Zach Tom, Wake Forest
IOL Zion Johnson & Alec Lindstrom, Boston College
EDGE Sam Williams, Ole Miss
EDGE Boye Mafe, Minnesota
EDGE Ali Fayad, Western Michigan
IDL Devonte Wyatt, Georgia
IDL Matthew Butler, Tennessee
IDL Travis Jones, UConn
LB Carson Wells, Colorado
LB Chad Muma, Wyoming
CB Bryce Watts, UMass
CB Tariq Castro-Fields, Penn State
SAF Quentin Lake, UCLA
SAF Markquese Bell, Florida A&M
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