Was comparing Antoine Bethea and AOA scouting reports

Bob Sacamano

Benched
Messages
57,084
Reaction score
3
Courtesy of NFLDS. And to me, AOA is a little, more controlled as a player than Bethea was in college.

This kid gets some quality coaching from Dave Campo and Brett Maxie, and he should be ready to take over at FS no later than 2011.

Bethea...

Positives: Has broad shoulders, good arm muscle definition, good bubble and the balance and body control to accelerate quickly to the ball … Has exceptional closing quickness and loose hips to turn and run on the ball coming out of his backpedal … Shows good hand usage to reroute tight ends and backs at the line of scrimmage … Breaks on the ball quickly and recognizes routes playing in the zone … Has a consistent burst to close and does a good job of sifting through traffic to locate the ball … Has the range to make plays along the sidelines and does a good job of timing his leaps to compete for the ball in the air … Will knock down more passes than he catches, but gets into good position to make the play (lacks valid hands though) … Uses his size well in run force and will deliver good pop on contact … Does a good job of keeping his pads down and shoulders square to wrap and secure … Big hitter who is very effective at attacking the ballcarrier and stripping the ball … Makes the secondary calls and does the little extras to improve, spending additional hours in the film and weight rooms.
Negatives: Has good field vision and can locate the ball working through traffic, but gets over aggressive in his play and gets caught out of position too much, especially when biting on play-action … Can turn and run on the ball, but sometimes prefers to attack it rather than stay tight with the receiver on deep routes, losing containment … Does not have ideal height, so he needs to time his leaps properly to get to the ball at its high point … Has stone hands and will double catch and bobble several easy interceptions, resulting in pass deflections instead.

Bethea is a well-built safety who can not only deliver crunching tackles, but has the speed and athletic ability to cover speedy receivers through their routes. He is effective playing the press and also shows the Cover-2 skills to make plays inside the box. He has a smooth backpedal and good hip flip to turn and run on the ball.
Bethea does a very good job of planting and coming back to the ball, showing the burst on balls in front of him. In man coverage, he is best in a shadow or trail technique, but needs to stay more on the receiver rather than trying to attack the ball. In playing the bump, he has the strength and aggressive nature to consistently reroute the receiver.
In the zone, Bethea shows good awareness and instinct and recognizes routes, but does get a little out of control at times. He can read the quarterback and make some plays on the ball in flight, but will get caught out of position and be fooled by play-action.
Bethea has very good speed to run deep with the receiver. When he is not challenged much, he can get get lazy vs. the run and can be a little slow to come up and support, but when he locates the ball, he uses his hands well to prevent from being blocked too long.
With his excellent speed, good strength and instincts, Bethea can be quite effective playing the deep zone. He has the range to close quickly on plays in front of him. He has good field smarts, but just needs to show more patience rather than get out of control when biting on play-action. He is not the complete player that former teammate Ronald Bartell is, but he does a good job of breaking down plays in the open and as he develops a better understanding for reading the quarterback, he will be a starter in this league before long.
 
AOA...

Read & React: Reads his receiver carefully on the outside and is quick to jump routes once a hint is given. Reads the quarterback well and has the speed to the ball in the deep half as a safety. Baits the quarterback into thinking the seam route is open.

Man Coverage: Has prototypical size to be a press corner. Plays with aggression at the line but usually lined up 10 yards off, apparently per coaches' instructions. Shows good flexibility and very good feet in his pedal, staying low and transitioning well. Typically takes up inside position instead of backpedaling, waiting for the receiver to make his move before jumping the route; gets turned around if receiver breaks inside. Often forces quarterback to look in another direction.

Zone Coverage: Could flourish in a zone system as a free safety or corner. His size and speed give him good range, and he is strong enough to snatch the ball from the grasp of receivers. Fluid moving from the hash to the sideline. Excellent hands for the interception and is always a threat to take the ball to the end zone. Must prove he has the discipline to come off one receiver to cover another coming into his area.

Closing/Recovery: Closes on the ball in the air quickly. Gives too much cushion, but his size, closing speed and long arms allow him to stop plays or immediately bring down the ballcarrier. Jumps slant routes when playing off-man. Has the speed and change-of-direction agility to recover on stop-and-go routes. Plants and drives out of his backpedal effectively.

Run Support: Used primarily as a cover corner playing off the line, Owusu-Ansah did not often come up in run support. He will come off his man to chase down ballcarriers, though, taking good angles to prevent big plays. Has the size to be effective crashing down from the outside and generally disengages from receiver blocks, but physicality is still a question mark.

Tackling: Has the size and strength to limit yards after the catch. Has long, well-built arms to wrap up ballcarriers. Averaged roughly on tackle per game -- the ball didn't come his way often and he was not involved in many run plays. Heads toward the pile but often runs around it instead of entering the fracas. Needs to prove himself a secure tackler before teams consider moving him to safety.

Intangibles: Confident and emotional on the field. Highly successful at a lower level of competition, but must acclimate quickly to the routes run by receivers from major programs. He missed an opportunity to prove himself against the big boys in all-star games because of a shoulder injury. His return skills were formidable at the D-II level, but should translate; he hits a hole quickly, shows good vision, runs through arm tackles and has the speed to beat the angle. Displays patience to let blocks develop on interception and kickoff returns.
 
In Bethea's first year in the NFL, he had 4 deflections and 1 INT. Can you imagine how loud the cries of "Bust!" would be if AOA started this season and put up similar #s?
 
masomenos85;3371957 said:
In Bethea's first year in the NFL, he had 4 deflections and 1 INT. Can you imagine how loud the cries of "Bust!" would be if AOA started this season and put up similar #s?

At least that would exceed Hamlin's numbers from this year.
 
dbair1967;3371961 said:
At least that would exceed Hamlin's numbers from this year.
:laugh2:those pass deflection numbers would match his last 2 years here.
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
474,003
Messages
14,505,691
Members
24,207
Latest member
TomGiantsfan
Back
Top