STRENGTHS - Price has excellent height and length for the position, and should be able to add another 5-10 lbs of muscle to his frame. He flashes quick feet and fluid hips transitioning out of his pedal when playing with proper leverage, allowing him to stay on his man's hip when in man coverage. He does a good job of using his size to his advantage in man coverage, as he is effective at jamming and rerouting his man off the LOS and uses the sideline to pin his man to the boundary. When defending the run he demonstrates the ability to stay square, keep his feet and drive through the ball carrier to finish tackles.
WEAKNESSES - Price is not a quick twitch athlete and consequently struggles to break and close in front of him. While he has good straight-line speed, he lacks the closing acceleration needed to recover when beaten off the break. He tends to get high in his back pedal and too far back on his heels, which limit his ability to transition. This issued is even more glaring in off and zone coverage, as he often is a beat late reading and reacting which causes him to be even later breaking on the ball. While he is an effective tackler in space, he is not aggressive with blockers and struggles to shed them in time to get involved.
SUMMARY - Sheldon Price was a disappointing prospect to evaluate because while he certainly looks the part "on the hoof," his inconsistent technique and lack of explosiveness lead to him struggling in all forms of coverage. When playing with proper knee bend and weight distribution, he is effective in press man because of his length and physicality, but too often he plays on his heels and loses ground in transition that he can't make up. He also does not demonstrate strong instincts when in off man or zone coverage, as he is consistently late closing in front and to the boundary, resulting in too many easy receptions. Despite his size, strength and solid tackling technique, he is not an effective player against the run because he lets blockers get on top of him quickly and does not fight with his hands to shed. Teams may be willing to gamble on his potential earlier than my grade suggests, as CBs with his height and length are difficult to find. However, his lack of quick twitch athleticism will likely force him to make his biggest contribution as a backup and special teams player.