Cincinnati Bearcats Recruiting: Linebacker Matthew Draper Signs With UC

Linebacker Matthew Draper has officially signed with the Cincinnati Bearcats for their 2015 recruiting class.

Here’s a snippet from his full recruiting profile.

OVERVIEW

Draper is a versatile member of his high school team, playing safety, linebacker, and dabbling at tight end on offense. As one of the most talented players on the field at any given time, it makes sense that his coaches want him between the sidelines as much as possible. But Draper’s bread and butter is linebacker, where his above average speed allows him to track down ball carriers quickly and hang with tight ends in coverage. He appears to be evenly adept at crashing the line of scrimmage as he is moving horizontally towards the sideline. Additionally his vision and the way he properly uses his hands compliments that speed to make him a well-rounded defender.

OUTLOOK

After a redshirt season his freshman year, Draper has outside linebacker written all over him. I could potentially see him moving back to strong safety or nickelback but the natural path for high school players is to stay in their current level or move closer to the line of scrimmage when they get to college, not further away. In other words, it’s uncommon for a prep linebacker to move to defensive back at the collegiate level as it is a defensive lineman to transition to linebacker. So Draper will probably play the WILL or SAM role at Cincinnati.