49ers Draft Pursuit: Baylor Safety Jalen Pitre

But can he be a traditional safety in the NFL?

Meet The Player:

- Jalen Pitre, Safety, 6 foot, 196lbs, Senior from Baylor

2021 Key Stats:

66 Tackles, 3.5 Sacks, 18.5 tackles for a loss, 2 Interceptions, 7 Passes Defended and 3 Forced Fumbles

Strengths:

I can not say enough good things about Pitre as a "football player." Pure athlete who is easy to watch because he seems to always make plays. Where I was most impressed by Pitre was the timing on his blitzes. It was incredible, from the moment he shows the blitz to getting off as the ball is snapped, he was a true artist on the field. His zone coverage in short to intermediate routes was also top notch, he wipes running backs, tight ends and even receivers out of the passing game under 10 yards. He keeps track of the players in his zone while also watching the quarterback and placing himself between each. He is very aggressive while also remaining heady, very rarely makes a decision that is wrong. This shows up in defending the screen game, RPOs and read options. Seems he is always reading plays correctly.

Weaknesses:

Other than his physical size being built like a corner, I really could not find any specifics here. Reading this you must be thinking "so he is a perfect player, let's draft him!" Not so fast, I will explain in my final thoughts.

Final Thoughts:

Pitre has a million things I loved about him. However there is a huge "but." I never once saw him in a single or two high situation pre snap, he rarely dropped more than 10 yards downfield unless the endzone was there to protect him. After watching a game and a half of his I realized what he was doing looked familiar. He was playing the "STAR" role which was a concept ran by LSU on the 2020 National Championship team. STAR is a hybrid role, outside linebacker meets safety. It is a role that when executed will result in a ton of statistics. Pitre certainly ran it to perfection racking up eye popping numbers in the process. But can he be a traditional safety in the NFL? This is the million dollar question and the answer is simply "I don't know." For that reason I would shy away from him if I was a part of the 49ers brass.