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Final #Texans Draft Breakdown Part 2 of Grant Delpit. First breakdown was his coverage, this one debunks his tackling issues. 2018 he was patient and sound. 2019 his injury caused his technique to get worse. Easy fix, but if it causes him to fall to 40, perfect.
Breakdown below:
Breakdown below:
In 2018 Delpit was a great tackler. He was aggressive in coming downhill, but patient to ensure the tackle. He would wrap up low and be pretty technically sound. This is a great example of that. Nothing crazy here, just a sound tackle stopping a TD.
Another great example of patience, and wrapping up low. Delpit comes downhill quickly, but once he gets close to the WR, he slows down, remaining patient. Then he tackles low, and wraps up his feet. He did this consistently in 2018.
One more just to show he really can tackle in 2018 and drive home my point. He comes downhill and is extremely patient, not getting too aggressive. He wraps up low and limits YAC.
The above clips were Delpit coming down from deep safety. The next clips show how he's good in run support from the box too. He weaves through some blocks here and finds the RB. Tackling low and wrapping him up for a one yard gain.
Another nice tackle, Delpit gets to the run lane quickly, squares up the RB and brings him to the ground. He wraps up a bit high here, which is why he needed help bringing him down. But for the most part, Delpit was great at wrapping up low.
Delpit threw some big hits which broke up some passes. When he does this he lowers his shoulder and really drives through the opposing player. He comes downhill as he sees the TE open, he bursts quickly and blows up the play, causing a drop.
Another example here as Delpit shows good range coming from the hashes to the numbers. The TE has a TD with a slower safety, but not only does Delpit make it over there, he breaks up the pass with a bone crunching hit as he lowers his shoulder and brings the heat.
One more here. I love how you see Delpit QB'ing the defense. Anyways, not the point. You can see him see the TE come open and burst towards him, showing great speed and acceleration. He comes in with a huge hit and breaks up the ball. Remember how he lowers his shoulder like this
The big hits look great but it's the exact reason why he missed tackles in 2019. Delpit said "It's all about the approach, and not trying to do too much". He's right, he's just got to tackle like in 2018, instead of throwing his shoulder, he has to wrap up low and be patient.
In the first game of the 2019 season, before the injury hurt him, Delpit showed that good tackling form like in 2018. He flies to the ball, wraps up low and drives through contact. He's consistently shown the ability to do this, but the injury changed things.
Another nice tackle pre-injury. Delpit flies downhill so quickly, avoiding blockers and wrapping up the QB's feet. Before the injury, Delpit continued to be a sound tackler. But after injury, you saw him lose technique and become more reckless.
Coming down from single high, Delpit's pursuit angle gets messed up due to the ref. He chases down the RB but then just throws his shoulder and doesn't wrap up. The RB is able to shake off the tackle and keep running.
Another bad tackle here. He does better to come downhill and stay patient, but then he just flings his body, leading with his shoulder, instead of wrapping up. He misses again. Just got to clean this up.
After his injury, Delpit started throwing his shoulder like this more and more often, losing his technique. Most of the time it didn't work but it did produce some big hits like this. Im confident he can get back to his 2018 technique and tackle better.
An aspect of Delpit tackling better will be his effectiveness blitzing. He was great at timing his blitzes and I think this is something our current DBs are poor at. Delpit times this so perfectly, the QB and OL have no idea he is coming until it is too late.
Since Delpit can cover from the box, as shown in the previous breakdown, offenses find it hard to know if he is covering or blitzing. He does great to disguise himself like he is covering the TE, but then also get a running start. He blazes past the OL and has a clean sack.
Delpit is relentless with his blitzes. So many safeties will get blocked and give up. Not Delpit, the RB picks him up but he keeps on fighting and shows great acceleration at the end of the play to stop the QB from scrambling. Need more of this on the Texans.
In summary: 2018 Delpit was a technically sound tackler being patient and wrapping up low. In 2019 pre injury we saw the same Delpit but after the injury, he lost technique and would just drop his shoulder. I bet he cleans that up easily in the NFL and has little tackling issues.
Delpit has elite talent as a single high safety, but also brings versatility to play in the box, cover man to man and support the run, while also being a great blitzer. Delpit brings so much to the table and if he somehow drops to 40, he would be a slam dunk pick.
Grant Delpit Grading (Safety2 Tie):
Game Speed: 9.5
Acceleration: 9.5
Ball Skills: 10
Hands: 9
Range: 9.5
Versatility: 9
Man: 8
Zone: 10
Tackling: 8
Instincts/IQ: 10
Total: 92.5
Game Speed: 9.5
Acceleration: 9.5
Ball Skills: 10
Hands: 9
Range: 9.5
Versatility: 9
Man: 8
Zone: 10
Tackling: 8
Instincts/IQ: 10
Total: 92.5
