FalcFans Forums

RENNIE CURRAN
5-11/225
Georgia Junior

PROS: Has good speed and the range and ability to make plays sideline to sideline. He has very good closing burst on the ball. He's a sound tackler with good pop as a hitter. He does a good job attacking upfield, filtering through traffic, and making plays in space. DOes a nice job reacting to the quarterback when working in zone coverage, and shows the speed and quickness to make plays on the ball and receiver. He has a good nose for the football that does his best work when he's allowed to chase.
CONS: Will overpursue at times in the open field. Not great when he's confined to closed quarters. Lacks size.
OVERVIEW: Curran is an undersized guy that works well in space. You like his tackling abiilty and instincts to be an impact player on the next level.
NFL FORECAST: Curran's lack of size is the biggest thing blocking his success, but he's one of those players that should be able to overcome it like a Jessie Tuggle or London Fletcher. I think he can play middle linebacker at the next level, but probably would have to play in a Tampa-2 scheme to really excel there. Otherwise in most 4-3 defenses, he'd be best served playing outside on the weakside position. He's just too good in space to deny him the opportunity to play there. And he would need to have a good pair of hogs in front of him to keep blockers off him if he was to play in the middle. He could also work in the 3-4 as well, but again he wouldn't be as good as there as he would on the outside in the 4-3. The best thing for him regardless of the scheme is to put on some more muscle, and get up towards 235-240 range. He has the potential to be one of the better linebackers in the league on the right team and in the right scheme. But at the very least, he should be a solid starter that will be productive and a guy that can complement an top-level linebacker.
ATL FORECAST: In Atlanta, Curran would be best served playing outside linebacker, and taking over for Mike Peterson. While Curran likely would just be a backup early on, his speed and quickness in coverage would allow him to possibly replace Lofton as a rookie in nickel situations. Then in his second season, he could flip outside and become a successor to Peterson at the WILL position. Atlanta likes their linebackers to attack and be able to make plays all over the field, which is something that Curran does well. And while I wouldn't expect him to be a superstar here in Atlanta, he should develop into a very good outside linebacker that would fit very well to Lofton because both are hard-hitting guys that excel versus the run because they are sound tacklers.
VALUE: Curran's lack of size probably limits him from being a first round pick. But he would make a solid mid-to-late second rounder for most teams, particularly 4-3 teams with a mindset of moving him outside.

Rennie Curran - LB - Georgia
Height: 5'11
Weight: 235
40 Time: 4.67
Projected: 3rd

Positives:

- 2.5 year starter
- Highly productive against top competition
- Outstanding athlete
- Very fast on the field
- Has sideline-to-sideline range
- Good instincts
- Great job of recognizing run and attacking the LOS to make a play
- Good at flowing down the LOS
- Sheds blocks well due to his quickness
- Smart player and knows his assignments
- Quick to react to plays and rarely gets caught out of position
- Good tackler and will punish ball carriers from time to time
- Doesn't get faked out often in the open field
- Has the ability to excel in coverage
- Decent blitzer
- Gets his pad level low and usually gets around blockers with his speed
- Leader and team captain

Negatives:

- Undersized
- Measured in at only 5' 10 5/8"
- Needs to do a better job of breaking down
- Will be out of control at times and miss easy tackles
- Needs to wrap up a little more than he does
- When his speed rush is stopped he won't get anywhere near the QB
- Needs to improve his ball skills
- Great coverage but fails to make plays on the ball at times

Overview:

Rennie Curran is a great LB that sees his stock in the middle rounds because of his lack of size. He has produced against top competition and looks good on tape. He has great instincts and overall athleticism to make up for his lack of height. However, scouts will always question smaller players and deem them unfit for the NFL. I, along with Rennie Curran, am waiting to prove those guys wrong. Curran is best fit at WLB in the NFL, though he can play MLB in a Cover 2 scheme. He is at his best working in space and making plays in the open field, but he is also a really good run stopped and he can fill gaps and make tackles along the line of scrimmage.

SKILLS
1-poor, 2-weak, 3-above average, 4-very good, 5-elite

SPEED: 4.5
TACKLING: 3.5
COVERAGE: 3.0
POINT OF ATTACK: 3.5
INSTINCTS: 4.0
PASS RUSH: 3.0

Pros- Very quick, has a great burst to close and plays very fast. He has great sideline to sideline range, flows to the ball very well, is good at playing in space, flows through the trash nicely and is good at avoiding blockers at the line of scrimmage. He sheds blocks well for a player his size, and is a good tackler who regularly wraps up and also packs a punch as a hitter. His quickness helps him in coverage, and looks pretty comfortable in zone coverage. Reads the QB’s eyes well, which helps him when in zone.

Cons- He lacks size, will get engulfed by larger blockers and struggles in close quarters because he is forced to engage larger blockers instead of avoiding them. He can shed these blocks, but it is harder than when he is in space. At times he will over pursue and attempt an arm tackle when he is out of control and thus miss the tackle. He looks uncomfortable in coverage at times, and I am not sold on his ability in coverage yet. He bites on PA pretty regularly and he takes some false steps when in coverage. He almost has happy feet when dropping back into coverage, but I can’t tell if he is taking false steps or just chopping his feet every play. He has the quickness and closing speed to be effective in man coverage but I just haven’t seen him put it to use that well yet. Does not blitz well unless he has an open lane to the QB as he has no pass rush moves.

Overall: Curran excels when defending the run despite his size because he reads run very quickly, flows to the ball well and has great closing speed and burst. He is extremely quick for a linebacker, and that helps when defending the run. He does not look as good in coverage to me though, and I think he could use some development there. I’m not sure how good he will be in the NFL in this area, but he has the quickness and agility to excel in coverage, he just hasn’t put it together yet. I wonder if coaching will help him improve in coverage, but I think he will probably end up being an above-average coverage linebacker. The concern I have is that whether his size will hinder him more versus the run in the NFL, thus diminishing his value a bit. Personally I think he will still be a good run defender, especially in an attacking scheme, and I think his coverage ability will be good enough to be a regular starter.

Projection: 3rd-4th round: I think he could go in the mid-3rd round range but he could also slide into the early 4th round. He is undersized which is the most significant issue he has, but he is not as good in coverage as you would like to expect given his great quickness and closing speed. He could still develop into a better cover-man, but right now his value is about a mid-3rd rounder in my opinion and that is where I expect him to go.

SKILLS
1-poor, 2-weak, 3-above average, 4-very good, 5-elite

SPEED: 4.5
TACKLING: 4.0
COVERAGE: 3.0
POINT OF ATTACK: 3.5
INSTINCTS: 3.5
PASS RUSH: 2.5