Notre Dame Signs CB Chance Tucker

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have signed cornerback Chance Tucker

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have signed cornerback Chance Tucker.

CHANCE TUCKER PROFILE

Hometown: Encino, Calif.
High School: Crespi

Height: 6-1
Weight: 170

2019 Stats: 58 tackles, 10 pass break ups, 3 interceptions

IB Grade: 3.5 (Top 400 caliber player)
Upside Grade: 4.0

Offers: Notre Dame, Washington, Northwestern, Colorado, Washington State, Arizona, Oregon State, Boise State, BYU, Columbia, Penn, Princeton

Recruited By: Mike Mickens

ESPN: 3-star
Rivals: 3-star
247Sports: 3-star
Composite: 3-star

FILM ANALYSIS

Tucker plays a lot of press and man coverage for Crespi, and he uses his length to shine at the line. His footwork needs improvement and enhancement, but his length and strong hands allow him to consistently get a good jam. Once his footwork improves he should be able to translate his length and experience in press into college success in coverage.

At times Tucker’s transitions are on the slow side because he’ll lunge a bit too much or he gets a bit too flat footed when he jams. Both are correctable technical skills and can be improved. Once he gets cleaner with his transitions he’ll be far more productive when he opens and runs.

Tucker is an intelligent football player that shows top-notch route recognition. He reads the movement of receivers extremely well and he plays the ball incredibly well. Tucker is a quality tackler and is more than willing to throw his 170-pound body into the mix. 

He will wrap up effectively but also can explode his hips through contact. These traits combine with his length and instincts to project quite well to the field position for the Irish. But his physicality and ability at the line also projects him as a possible boundary player.

NOTRE DAME FIT

Even though he is mostly a press player in high school, his combination of length, football IQ and tackling ability should allow him to thrive playing off coverage as well. My knock on Tucker is speed, and that is what keeps him from being a four-star prospect. 

His track times are solid, but I don’t see ideal speed on film. He has other traits (size, length, instincts, intelligence, toughness) to still be a quality player even if he never adds the necessary speed to dominate, but the speed keeps him from receiving a higher grade as a prep player.

Tucker's length fits in well in the boundary position, but his coverage skills and football IQ could fit into the field spot as well. 

JOHN GARCIA, SI ALL-AMERICAN ON TUCKER

"Length and ball skills, we'll say it over and over, translate in today's college football when the goal has shifted from ball control to turning the offense over. Tucker's ball skills are head-turning enough to attract attention as a traditional wideout coming out of California, but the ceiling in the secondary is that much higher. He has finesse, cover-corner fluidity and comfort with the ball in the air with linear speed to boot. Tucker will only enhance his technical work once he commits to playing in the secondary full time but he may be the most natural corner in ND's class."

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