Scouting Report:
STRENGTHS - Davis is a short, thick outside linebacker with excellent athletic ability, play speed and lateral agility to develop for the position in the NFL. He shows explosive closing quickness and burst to the ball in his play. He has very good foot quickness and lower body flexibility in his play. He also can change direction well and does a nice job in space. He is highly productive as a run defender when pursuing from the back side of the field. He has shown that he can time his pass rushes well, and that he can diagnose running plays and stuff them out before they can begin. Davis is adequate in his zone drops and can make plays in space in pass defense. His ability to diagnose and react is a particular strength. He looks to be a competitive player who competes with toughness and grit. He has value to consider as a coverage player for special teams and will have to be an asset to stick on a roster.

WEAKNESSES - Davis is an undersized player for the weak-side linebacker position at the next level. He does not possess much growth potential to develop as he looks pretty maxed out physically. He is more a lateral run defender than a downhill attacker with questionable strength and toughness upon contact. He shows underdeveloped hand usage and even less stack and shed ability near the line of scrimmage. His pass rush arsenal is limited and he isn't necessarily a player to be counted on as a pass rusher. Davis is much better in zone coverage than his is running with tight ends or running backs. He looks to be an outside linebacker in a 4-3 base scheme, but is undersized and might need to add bulk to hold up at the position.

SUMMARY - He has an undersized frame with minimal growth potential to develop for the position at the NFL level. However, he shows excellent athletic ability, speed and lateral range in his play. He is an effective run defender due to his lateral range, agility and ability to close on the ball. He has very good foot quickness and does a very good job of changing direction, which allows him to make plays in space. Laterally, he moves like a safety and he is a finesse run defender with great lateral movement skills. However, he does not show good strength to stack and shed from blockers along the line of scrimmage. He looks to run around blockers and it causes him to take himself out of the play, but he has great ability to diagnose plays reading his keys. He is at his best when pursuing from the back side, running down the ball carrier. Despite his range, he does not have much production as a man-to-man coverage player. However, he does show good anticipation skills as an underneath zone defender and can make plays against the pass dropping into coverage. He shows good timing as a blitzer against the run and the pass. Davis is realistically a weak-side linebacker only. Overall, he deserves strong sixth-round draft consideration by a 4-3 team looking for a back-up weak-side linebacker. Davis will have to be a core contributor on special teams to stay on a roster.

Scouting Report:
STRENGTHS - Johnson can be a consistent tackler due to taking proper angles and wrapping up ball carriers. He is physical when taking on blocker and uses sound leverage to maintain his position. He can shed/disengage and make the tackle. He is athletic enough to change directions smoothly and quickly especially on cutbacks. His greatest ability is working thru the trash and finding the ball.

WEAKNESSES - Instinctively, he can get lost and tend to be a beat late at the snap which causes him to not get proper depth in coverage. His range in coverage is extremely limited and when in man to man coverage he can easily lose sight of his responsibility because he keeps his eyes on the QB. Too often allows receivers to catch the ball in front of him and is content to just make the tackle. He does not show great explosiveness or the speed to be a sideline to sideline defender. Although he is a consistent tackler he tends to catch the ball carrier instead of driving through the tackle.

SUMMARY - As a former Parade All-Amercan coming out of high school, Nico Johnson made an instant impact at Alabama as a true freshmen and even earning 3 starts at the Will linebacker position. He has struggled to be a consistent starter in college due to his limitations in the passing game but has played in every game since joining the Tide. His physical nature and run stopping ability are very evident as he consistently finds himself around the ball. At the NFL level he is bested suited to play in short yardage situations and could make the occasional start against run oriented teams, which are fewer and fewer these days. His inability to stay on the field all 3 downs will cause him to drop in the draft. If he can improve on his run/pass recognition and show better explosiveness he could develop into a starter at the ILB or MLB depending on the team's scheme. Overall, Nico Johnson is a solid 4th round pick with some upside and could see time on special teams which would give him more time to develop. .

Scouting Report:
STRENGTHS - Quick and athletic, Tate is comfortable moving and adjusting in pass coverage. He reads the QB/Pass well, can change directions and closes in time to make tackle/hit after the catch. Willing to jam tight end, he can slow release, is able to turn and run without losing a step and has the speed to stay with tight end down the seam. His experience at safety shows up in his good ball skills to make plays on ball. He reads the run quickly, gets started towards the ball carrier fast and has the playing speed to chase down the play in pursuit. Blessed with good body control and balance, Tate makes it look easy staying over feet and tackling well out in space. Although he lacks explosiveness off the ball as a pass rusher, he has the acceleration and playing speed to beat the offensive tackle around the corner when he blitzes from the outside.

WEAKNESSES - Tate is a better athlete than football player right now. While he has the speed to chase down plays all over the field, too often he does not seem interested in making the play and chases just enough to get close while his teammates make the tackle. Despite having the ability to be a very good tackler, too often he stops feet and ends up lunging which leads to missed tackles when he does not stay over feet and under control. He is not a big linebacker and struggles to shed and get free from blockers once they get ahold of him. He is a one trick pony as a pure speed rusher and has no variety of pass rush moves. More than anything, he just does not display an aggressive playing style which limits his ability to make as many plays as he is physically capable of.

SUMMARY - A highly regarded prospect two seasons ago, Tate never showed the talent and production on film to warrant being so highly regarded. A true "tweener" who had the body type and non-aggressive playing mentality of a safety, but lacks the athleticism and coverage skills to be effective playing safety at the NFL level. On the other hand, he has more than enough athleticism and speed to make a lot of plays versus the run and in pass coverage from a linebacker alignment, but is under-sized and does not deal well with blockers, which leads to him being tied up and eliminated from the play too easily. Having begun his college career as a safety, it does not surprise me that he is much more of a finesse player who is more comfortable playing in space then he is in close quarters dealing with traffic and blockers. Overall, I think Tate will be drafted late if he works out well at Maryland's pro day because tall, 220 pound defenders with elite speed are hard to find. However, Tate has not proven to me that he can be a productive starting linebacker or safety in the NFL, so he will have to step up his aggressiveness and intensity to be productive on special teams, which is how he will have to win a roster spot.

Scouting Report:
STRENGTHS - Stewart is a dominant player who constantly is around the ball making impact, game-changing plays. From both a 3-Pt DE and 2-Pt OLB alignment, Stewart's snap anticiptaion combines with rare foot quickness so he can explode off the ball and with his speed he can beat the OT to and around the corner with ease. Able to change directions in a flash, Stewart can plant and explode back inside to beat the OT back under-neath. Once he clears pass blocker he has an explosive closing burst to the QB to finish the sack. Although he lacks ideal bulk/weight for a DE, he is a dominating run defender. His initial quickness allows him to explode through the inside gap to blow up running plays at him before they can get started. Able to take on OL run blocks with base/leverage, he uses his hands to aggressively jolt blocker upright, sheds/tosses blocker and makes tackle on runs to his side of the field. On running plays away, he explodes down the LOS and has the speed of a linebacker to easily catch the ball carrier in pursuit. Although he did not do it often, he has experience dropping off the LOS in coverage and looked smooth and agile moving and adjusting out in space.

WEAKNESSES - While his size is not ideal for a 43 DE and he does not have a ton of experience playing in pass coverage, those are not the issues that could keep him from playing in the NFL. After an outstanding 2011 season, Stewart was playing at an even higher level in 2012 before being injured in a game against Toledo. While being examined/check by doctors after this injury Stewart was told by doctors that he was born without the poster arch of his C1 vertebra and that his career was effectively over. Since then he has received numerous different medical opinions and was invited to the 2013 NFL Combine, but after his medical check there he was not permitted to workout. Right now, I think Stewart's medical status is a major question mark and likely will come down to each team's individual medical staff.

SUMMARY - After being told by some scouts that I did not have to evaluate Stewart because his playing career was over I received late information from NFL sources that Stewart was being invited to the Combine and that there are in fact differing opinions as to whether he can continue his football career. For the medical stuff I would not think of offering an opinions as I know nothing about medicine or spinal issues, but I can speak to Stewart's football talent. Overall, if Stewart had not medical issues I have no doubt he would be a first round pick and would be competing with Barkevious Mingo and Bjoern Werner to be the top defensive end in the Draft. However, you can expect Stewart to at best be a seventh round pick, but more than likely will go undrafted and will have to sign as a free agent because of concerns about his medical condition. If he proves to be able to play and maintains good health in the NFL, I believe he will be a double digit sack guy who makes a ton of big plays and is an immediate impact player. .

Scouting Report:
STRENGTHS - Clay is a solid athlete with the speed and lateral agility to make plays on the boundary and the foot quickness and fluidity to drop effectively into coverage. He is extremely physical in coverage as he is quick to jam receivers underneath to knock them offline. He has a knack for immediately reading screens and getting to the receiver as the ball arrives to either break up the pass or finish the tackle for minimal gain.

WEAKNESSES - Clay is clearly undersized for the LB position and not surprisingly struggles against to defeat blocks. He is easily engulfed and driven off the ball by bigger blockers inside and on multiple occasions in games I viewed was pancaked by lead blockers out in space on the perimeter. While he has good speed he isn't an explosive athlete, and is unable to consistently close effectively on plays in front of him. Clay also struggles to recognize play-action fakes, and tends to take himself out of position by taking false steps inside.

SUMMARY - Michael Clay is a classic "tweener," as he lacks the height and bulk of a typical NFL LB, as well as the explosiveness to play on the back end. His most likely position at the next level is at WILL for a 43 defense, as his struggles against blockers will make him a liability on the inside against the run. Where he is at his best is in coverage, as he is physical and aggressive underneath and has enough speed to stay with most backs in space. Without a natural position, Clay is unlikely to stick in the NFL, but if he is able to add 10-15 lbs of muscle he could eventually develop into nickel package player and special teams contributor.