Finding Broncos: Richie Grant | S | Central Florida

Finding Broncos scouts the 2021 NFL draft class to find the best Mile High fits. What's the scoop on Richie Grant and how would he fit in Denver?

Welcome to Finding Broncos, our annual prospect-by-prospect series deep-diving on the coming NFL draft class. The scouting continues with UCF defensive back Richie Grant, a prospect the Denver Broncos could use very much post-2021. 

Measurements

• Height: 5-foot-11

• Weight: 200 pounds

• Wingspan: 77-5/8 inches

• Arms: 31-1/2 inches

• Hands: 9-1/4 inches

Stats

Sports-Reference.com

Pros

• Versatile safety that can line up anywhere
• Smooth and fluid hips
• High-end athletic potential
• Very physical in the running game
• Lockdown man-coverage defender
• Great awareness, field vision
• Immense range
• Former wideout that understands route stems and combinations
• Good hands at the catch point, not overly grabby despite his physicality
• Scheme-transcendent player

Cons

• Can get flat-footed at times
• Late rotator in zone coverage
• Not the most consistent tackler due to poor technique
• Relies on athleticism rather than instincts
• Over-aggressiveness leads to bad pursuit angles

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Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Overview

Grant is an incredibly fluid and rangy safety that can line up almost anywhere in the defensive secondary and fit within any scheme. An aggressive and willing tackler, he identifies his run fits and attacks immediately, bringing a hitter’s mentality to the play. 

Though there are times that Grant will miss tackles due to poor technique and bringing his arms with him, he attacks low and hard, bringing runners down without giving ground after contact. He's a smooth athlete with enough range to be tasked as a single-high safety, but also physical enough to drop down in the box as well. 

Grant mirrors well enough in coverage to play a slot safety role if needed. He’s patient in his back pedal with limited false steps, has great hip flexibility to click and close on the football or turn and run with vertical route stems.

There are times Grant will rotate late in zone coverage because he relies so much on his athleticism rather than instincts, leading to big plays. However, he does have the requisite recovery speed for when he does misdiagnose to get himself back in the play. 

His over aggression can get him out of position at times, but his risks are well calculated and they usually pay off for him.

Grade: Round 2 (top safety in the class)

Where he Goes: Late Round 1/Round 2

Where I think he goes: After dominating the Senior Bowl practices on one-on-one drills as well as picking off a couple of passes in team drills, it would not surprise me to see Grant land late in the first round. He was turning heads all week.

Fit with Broncos

I’m not sure there is any safety in this class that fits with the Broncos any better than Grant. He’s versatile, intelligent, and athletic enough to fill in immediately and improve the team’s safety depth while also directly replacing Kareem Jackson as a future starter. 

Jackson and Grant are so incredibly similar in what they do that the transition would be nearly seamless. Grant is a do-it-all type of player, and putting him in the Jackson role where he can utilize his high-end aggression in the running game with Justin Simmons remaining as the primary coverage safety will be big for his development as a player.

Having the ability to play as a slot safety in man coverage is also a need for the Broncos nickel and dime packages. Being able to fit into multiple different fronts and play multiple different roles is going to be incredibly enticing for Vic Fangio and Ed Donatell, who should be able to deploy him as a rotational defender early in his career, with sights on pairing him with Simmons as a high-end safety duo for the long term future.

The problem is that Grant might not be available when the Broncos go on the clock in the second round at No. 40 overall, so Denver may have to trade up if it wants to land him. The ability to improve a weakness early (safety depth) and also draft for the future makes this pick worth it. 

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