Ed Thompson of Scout.com reports the Colts took a look at Central Florida’s CB/RS Joe Burnett (5093/192/4.58c). He’s a very interesting prospect . If you look at his Combine numbers, you see a seventh rounder or an undrafted free agent. But if you look at his game film, you see a first rounder. Okay, Burnett hasn’t faced top competition as a Knight, but he started from Day 1 as a corner and set records as a return man.
Burnett makes up for his lack of timed speed as a corner with perfect technique and short area quickness and as a return man with natural elusiveness and extraordinary agility and body control. And the results were obvious. In four years as a corner, he had 164 tackles, 38 assists, 11.5 tackles for loss, 2 quarterback hurries, 1 forced fumble, 16-262-0 interceptions and 33 passes broken up. And as a returner, he went 96-1,304-3 (13.58 average) on punts and 28-791-2 (28.25 average) on kicks. In college, he showed every talent you want in a Cover-2 corner and as a returner, but is shorter and slower in a straight line than you’d expect. That combination makes teams wonder if he’s a great college player lacking the physical prerequisites to be an NFLer, or if he’s just one of those players who simply doesn’t test well, but brings it all on game day. The problem is that it will probably take a fifth-round pick to find out.
Yesterday, the league awarded the Colts a fourth-round pick as compensation for Jake Scott, the free-agent offensive lineman who signed with the Titans. I like Scott, but am really surprised by what a great pick they got for him.
In other news, the Colts cut Clifton Dawson. The book on him is that he’s a great guy with all the skills a halfback needs except quickness and deep speed. So he’s perfect for the CFL (and the fact that he’s a Canadian citizen doesn’t hurt, either). Their camps have just opened. Let’s hope he goes to my hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats rather than the contemptible Toronto Argonauts.
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