Aqib Talib SELECTED BY: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Round 1(20)

SI Grade 4.10 GRADING SYSTEM

BIOGRAPHY: Three-year starter awarded All-Conference honors the past two seasons. Junior-year totals included 66/5/13 after 42/6/22 the previous year.

POSITIVES: Shut-down cornerback with rare size and skill. Explosive, plays with a good degree of suddenness, and quickly breaks to the action out of his plant. Runs downfield with opponents, quickly locates the pass in the air, and nicely positions himself to defend the throw. Displays good awareness and instincts and possesses an outstanding sense of timing. Shows a burst of closing speed, possesses good hands for the interception, and quickly gets up the field to stuff screen plays.

NEGATIVES: Falls asleep, prone to biting on receivers. moves, and blows an occasional assignment. Does more hitting than wrapping up when tackling. Has some character questions.

ANALYSIS: Talib possesses all the skills necessary to be a number one cornerback at the next level. He must brush up on the details of his game and learn to play smart football for 60 minutes to meet expectations. He possesses early-first-round physical skills, yet his lapses in concentration will cause him to fall into the latter part of the frame.