Rams 104th pick Terrell Burgess: Floor and Ceiling

FanSided

by Noah Schlaebitz Follow @SinkerOfArks

The LA Rams needed versatile reinforcements for a shallow defensive backfield from the 2020 NFL Draft, and Terrell Burgess is the ideal addition

With the 104th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the LA Rams selected Terrell Burgess, safety, out of Utah. Burgess is a 5-foot-11 200-pound hybrid safety-cornerback who was announced as a cornerback in the draft. He helped the Utah Utes crack the top 25 in the Coaches’ AP Poll making two college bowl game appearances. Despite the Utes 0-2 bowl game record, he is a good contributor to the success they had. And he has the potential to be a starting NFL player from late in round three.

The Utah defense was a bit unorthodox with their base defensive formation. They play a base 4-2-5 defense or default to a nickel defense. While that gives them an edge in pass coverage, it requires the team to rely upon strong safeties / defensive backs to shoulder a lot of the run defense. While that is a very difficult role to project as an NFL player, for the right team a player who succeeds at Utah can be the ideal fits-like-a-glove for his new NFL team.

By watching Burgess’s play we can see what players who played in the NFL resemble him his style of play the most. Next, we can use that information to project to see what he can become. First, let’s look at his basic attributes. Then looking at we know we can use it to project a comp for both their floor and ceiling.

Basic Attributes
-Versatile
-Can man up tight ends and receivers
-Can stack the box or play single high
-Can change direction with fluent hips
-Solid tackler but can’t hit hard

Ceiling-Tyrann Mathieu
The penultimate player of versatility, Tyrann Mathieu, is the best when it comes to being able to do multiple things on defense. The ceiling I gave him might be too high, but it’s hard to find a comparison when there are only two players in the NFL who are the same type of player as Burgess. I do think his best season could be as good as Mathieu’s but I don’t expect him to have that high of consistency.

He can also be compared to Saints/Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins as well. In either case, he gives the Rams incredible flexibility to role disguised coverages against the unsuspecting offense.

Floor-Jabrill Peppers
A versatile role player, Jabrill Peppers is a Swiss army knife of a defense. Peppers doesn’t excel at anything but doesn’t seem to do too poor either, except when it comes to causing turnovers. He is just a nice piece to have when you want a wrinkle to your defense. Still, he didn’t cause a fumble or intercept a ball till his third year in the league. Burgess also had that same issue in college, where he did not record an interception till his senior season in the league.

Final Projection
Terrell Burgess, plain and simple, is a Tyrann Mathieu/Jabrill Peppers type of player. He can play as a safety, a corner, and even be used to stack the box. LA Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley is no-doubt salivating over the opportunity to field three Rams’ safeties simultaneously. All three – Terrell Burgess, John Johnson, and Taylor Rapp – can play man, zone, stack the box, slot, or play up high. This gives endless possibilities for disguising coverages. He primarily should play slot corner after the departure of Nickell Robey-Coleman, but don’t be surprised if he does so much more. As for how good he will be? He might have a similar start to Peppers, as generating turnovers were never his forte. Just don’t expect him to be the next Honey Badger.

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BeachBoy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2020 10:51PM by BeachBoy.