Strengths: Has good size and strength. Plays with a great motor. Flies around the field and shows very good aggressiveness in run support. Has good short area quickness and burst when coming forward. Has good balance and body control. Takes solid angles in pursuit and is a powerful and consistent tackler.
Weaknesses: Lacks ideal experience. Instincts are just decent and he needs to improve his recognition skills. He has marginal speed and lacks the burst to make up for mistakes. Will be limited in terms of range in zone and man-to-man matchups in coverage in the NFL. He also has some minor durability concerns.
Overall: Abdullah redshirted in 2000 and played the first seven games in 2001 before suffering an injury to his right ACL, which required surgery. He played in nine games as a backup in 2002 and played mostly in sub-packages as a junior in 2003. He finally took over as a fulltime starter (11 games) in 2004 and finished with 70 tackles and one interception. Abdullah is a late-bloomer with only one full season of starting experience under his belt. He lacks ideal top-end speed and he still needs to improve his recognition skills and discipline. However, Abdullah is quicker than fast, has decent athletic ability, good size and above average strength. Abdullah's upside is limited by his poor speed but he does have a chance to develop into a reserve SS that can contribute on special teams, which is why he's worth considering in the late rounds.
* Player biographies are provided by Scouts Inc.
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04-21-2005
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