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7th Round: Clayton Fejedelem, DB, Illinois


HoosierCat

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STRENGTHS

 Willing to come downhill and get it on in the running game. Willing worker from the box. Heads up form tackler who springs into his opponent's chest. Finished with 140 tackles this season. When hes near the ball, willing to attack catch point to disrupt the throw rather than just play for the post-catch tackle. Box safety who shows decent awareness of route development around him. Steady from zone coverage.

WEAKNESSES

 Stiff, box­-only safety without the man cover skills or footwork to be a consistent defender against the pass. Change of direction doesn't always go smoothly in open field. Had 11 missed tackles in 2015. Needs to run feet through his tackles. Missing closing burst to make plays on throws and constrict throwing windows to NFL standards.

DRAFT PROJECTION

 Round 7 or priority free agent

BOTTOM LINE

 Very tough with the mindset teams are looking for from box safeties. Unfortunately, box safeties are being replaced by safeties with better cover talent and athleticism and that may be an issue for Fejedelem. He will need to ball out as a special-teamer and find a fit with a team who still employs box workers at safety. -Lance Zierlein
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40.5 inch vertical, 22 bench presses. Bengals love to draft guys with the high "explosiveness" numbers (these two measurements plus broad jump). One year they took 3 of the top 15 guys overall in the rankings of the combined three indexes: Shawn Williams, Reid Fragel, and Margus Hunt.

 

I suspect that Corey Coleman was Bengals' first round target for the same reason, and probably also why the metrics-based DePodesta front office in Cleveland grabbed him

 

I figure that Fejedelem is practice squad all the way, giving us a year or two to teach him the pro game... unless a similar team like the Browns claim him for their active list.

 

 

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This is what I love reading about a 7th round pick:

Quote

Fejedelem walked on at Illinois after beginning his career at St. Xavier, an NAIA powerhouse in Chicago. Shortly after arriving at Illinois, he quickly established himself as one of the most productive players on the roster. He finished his final season with 140 tackles, leading not only his own team but the entire Big Ten Conference and ranked fifth nationally in the FBS with an average of 11.7 tackles per game.

And this:

Quote

STRENGTHS: Great competitor who plays like a mini-linebacker on the field. As stout as they come against the run. Can analyze and react to the play very quickly and is a film room junkie. Plays tough and physical to plug the run. Works hard and has strong background on special teams. Arrived as a walk-on at Illinois and eventually was named one of the team captains, speaking volumes to his demeanor and leadership abilities.

Don't get me wrong, this guy is not some Strong Safety Jesus, but I like this type of mentality when it comes to a late round pick.
Again, not much to complain about here from my standpoint.

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13 minutes ago, princeton said:

I figure that Fejedelem is practice squad all the way, giving us a year or two to teach him the pro game... unless a similar team like the Browns claim him for their active list.

 

 

Maybe, but he also has special teams written all over him so there's a chance he makes the 53 there.

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7 minutes ago, ArmyBengal said:

This is what I love reading about a 7th round pick:

And this:

Don't get me wrong, this guy is not some Strong Safety Jesus, but I like this type of mentality when it comes to a late round pick.
Again, not much to complain about here from my standpoint.

Same. Productive college player who started as a walk-on and fought his way to a C-patch. That right there tells me he takes nothing for granted and is willing bust his ass for a job. If I see that in the 7th I take it every time.

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