Prospect Profile: Javon Bullard, S, Georgia

Context

Plays both the post safety spot and split safety coverage.

Coverage

He has good speed and gets off his spot quickly, so his max range is quite impressive. He can make plays on the ball at the sideline from a split safety alignment and can make plays outside the numbers from the post Safety position. He is on the move remarkably quickly and reads the Quarterback at a very high level when playing in Zone. He reads the Quarterback’s eyes, understands route progressions, and clearly does his pre-game film study as he breaks on routes in front of him over the middle before the Quarterback has even started his throwing motion. This means he is exceptional at preventing intermediate targets over the middle of the field as he’s a major threat to pick the ball off. Even on shorter routes, when he’s playing between ten and fifteen yards off the line of scrimmage, he can trigger on a slant and make a play, usually a very hard hit on the receiver for about a five-yard gain. From deep, he also has excellent click and close on swing passes and bubble screens. There are rare occasions where he is a little too aggressive and leaves a teammate in a compromising position but this is very rare. In man coverage, he is a fluid mover and has good hip mobility. This means he can cover a lot of the route tree but when he plays catch man, he is liable to sit on the underneath routes, therefore playing a little flat-footed and can get blown past by a receiver with very good athletic ability themselves.

He is also liable to turn the wrong way covering deeper routes with a break, giving up separation at the top of the route, taking the long road back to being in phase. He’s more comfortable in Zone as the deep safety but you can bring him down to play man to man in a pinch. His ball skills are very good; he’s able to get both hands on the ball when he’s locked up downfield with a receiver, and he will high point the ball and pick it off on deep shots. He has good timing and accuracy when going for the PBU; when he’s a little off on timing and accuracy he makes sure he misses high and rakes down on the football as the catch takes place. As an open field tackler he is very good. Takes good angles on the whole, except when running through traffic in the open field, when he can get stuck behind potential blockers by over-pursuing. He will come from high to low, he hits hard but with perfect form and uses the sideline when he needs to.

Run Support

He takes excellent entry angles against the run; he is able to anticipate the path of potential blockers and make sure his angle helps him get underneath those blocks. He will take on bigger blockers like heavy Tight Ends with great technique, especially in hand usage and maintain gap discipline. He can also shed and tackle the ball. His open-field tackling prowess extends to tackling bigger Running Backs.

SUMMARY
Will be a very good Post Safety in the league but is versatile enough to play some other spots. Tough, physical run defender, high-speed processor when reading the QB.

PRODUCTION 
JR: 58 To. Tackles, 1 FF, 2 INTs, 5 PBUs
SO: 4 Sacks, 48 To. Tackles, 2 INT, 5 PBUs
Injury: Ankle injury, missed 2 games (JR)

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 4
Intelligence 4
Versatility 3
Grit 4
Scheme 4