LB Te’von Coney, Notre Dame

6’1” – 234 lbs. – N/A
Appeared in twelve games as a freshman, then started nine of twelve games played the following year. Started seven of thirteen games played as a junior. Comes with three years of production for a major program. Plays both inside and outside in the Notre Dame defense, probably projecting as more of a middle linebacker. Takes generally sound angles and likes to play downhill in the run game; very solid production in opposing backfields. Patient when making his reads. Has a pretty good nose for the ball and gets involved on a high percentage of snaps. Does a good job of keeping his shoulders square when flowing to the ball. Shows the ability to work through trash and deal with opposing linemen. Extends his arms and demonstrates good awareness of the ball when taking on blocks, keeping blockers out of his pads. Heavy hands to shed. Has good closing burst and shows some explosiveness into contact. Uses his arms to wrap up opponents and appears to have a strong grip. Controlled footwork when working in shallow zones. Effective plant-and-drive. Athletic enough to pursue into the flats in man coverage, or spy most quarterbacks. Consequently, will probably be able to stay on the field for all three downs. A little bit of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none type. Size is just adequate for a pro linebacker, and maybe a little bit smaller than some teams with odd defensive fronts would like. Looked like a reliable tackler during the games reviewed but wasn’t really the type to square up opponents and deliver big hits to intimidate ballcarriers. Adequate but not great athlete; more likely to limit yards after the catch than to put himself on position to make plays on the ball when targeted. Probably lacks the athleticism to work in man coverage against most targets at the pro level. Not used as a blitzer with much frequency. A lot of his production comes on assisted tackles instead of solo stops. Failed a drug test for marijuana in the past. Hasn’t started for a full season. May not be one of the sexiest or most freakish linebacker prospects, but is an instinctive, technically-sound linebacker who can read keys, flow to the ball (through trash if need be) and bring down ballcarriers with reliable technique. Those traits make him a relatively safe selection for teams looking for linebacker help in this year’s draft, but his lack of high-end size and athleticism make relegate him to the third round or so.