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DONOVAN WARREN
6-0/193
Michigan Junior
40: 4.62

PROS: Has good size and speed and can run with receivers. Does a nice job in run support and doesn't shy from contact. Physical and will deliver a hit off the edge. Does a nice job breaking down and wrapping up the ballcarrier. Does his best work when he's allowed to keep things in front of him. Shows decent ball skills and hips.
CONS: Needs to polish up his footwork and comes out high out of his backpedal. Needs to be more explosive out of his breaks. Doesn't always break down well in space and will take some poor angles at times vs. teh run. Doesn't always play the ball in the air.
OVERVIEW: He's a big corner that at this point is better in run support than coverage, and might be moved to safety at the next level. Because of this you can draw comparisons to Marlin Jackson. A three-year starter that had a nice junior year (4 picks), but probably should have stayed for another year. His uncle, Chuckie Miller, played one season with the Colts in 1988. His godfather is Mark Carrier the safety, who played for the Bears, Lions, and Redskins (1990-2000).
NFL FORECAST: He can play cornerback at the next level, but he needs more polish. His ability to impact is potentially quicker at safety. He has the size and ability in run support to transition there. He'll need to get bigger to play safety, but that should only take an off-season or two to get up to over 200 or so pounds. As a corner, I think it'll probably take at least two or three years of more development for him to be a starter. He does have that potential at both positions, but I think he can impact at safety earlier, and his upside there is a bit easier to achieve. I don't think he'll be a top safety, but if he can bulk up and assuming he puts in the effort in the film room, I think he can be a good starter. As a corner, he'll fit best in a scheme that plays a lot more Cover-2, and I think a comparison to Marlin Jackson is a good one. For a Tampa-2 team, his ability to impact at cornerback would be higher than on another team that will ask him to play a lot more man coverage.
ATL FORECAST: Warren could compete in Atlanta, but his length to impact as a corner would likely take the better part of two years if not more before he can be expected to be a reliable starter. He could earn minutes early on because the team likes his toughness and size over guys like Grimes and Owens, but I think if he was forced to play early on, he wouldn't be anymore reliable a cover guy than Chris Houston was. He would be prone to give up more big plays than he makes. Eventually, he could develop some consistency, but I wouldn't expect that to happen until three years down the road at the earliest. As a safety prospect, he isn't really an improvement over DeCoud.
VALUE: Either as a corner or safety, he's at best a third round pick. But because of his limited ball skills, I would probably target him in the fourth because he's not likely to be a playmaker.

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

SPEED: 3.5
MAN COVERAGE: 3.0
ZONE COVERAGE: 3.0
TACKLING: 3.5
BALL SKILLS: 2.5

Pros: Good size and speed for the position. He can run with receivers downfield and does a pretty good job of breaking on passes completed in front of him. He is a good tackler also and breaks down well in space and has some pop as a hitter to separate the ball from the receiver. Supports the run well also. Seems to read and react pretty well.

Cons: He is very physical and gets handsy downfield in coverage which will lead to pass interference penalties in the NFL. This mostly happens when he is matched up 1 on 1 in man coverage. He plays alright in zone but doesn’t break on passes that well, but he doesn’t quite have the hips and footwork to succeed in man coverage either. He will occasionally take bad angles to the ball, and may project better to safety than corner in the NFL. He has questionable ball skills though. He can locate the ball and deflect it at times, but does not have good hands for the interception.

Overall: I know Warren has said he would play Safety if asked to, and I think that may be what is best for him. He could play corner in the NFL, but he needs to polish up his fundamentals before that will happen. He plays better when he can keep things in front of him, react to it and close on the ball carrier. That is why a transition to safety makes sense. He would be in the back portion of the field with almost all of the action in front of him. Plus he would have good speed for the position and would be able to fill in against the run just fine once he cleans up the angles he takes to support some run plays. I think his upside is a solid starter at safety or an above-average corner and his floor is a back-up safety or corner and special teamer because of his tackling ability.

Projection: 4th round: He may go earlier because he has some nice measurables like his height, weight and speed as well as his ability to support versus the run, but he is a project to me regardless of whether he stays at corner or if he moves to safety.

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

SPEED: 3.5
MAN COVERAGE: 2.5
ZONE COVERAGE: 3.0
TACKLING: 3.5
BALL SKILLS: 2.5