

Welcome Back to another addition of "True Diamond in the Rough" Last Time, we went over East Central University's star defensive end, Armonty Bryant. It appears a lot of you guys liked him and wanted more of these types of posts. In the comments I was asked if I had any Safety prospects, Well lucky, for you, that is exactly who I am doing today. when it comes to Safeties in this class, there is of course kenny Vacarro, Johnathan Cyperian, Matt Elam, Eric Reid, Phillip Thomas, D.J. Swearinger, Bacarri Rambo, and T.J McDonald. Though, all these guys are projected the first three rounds and with so much need at the corner position and puss rusher with limited picks, I am not sure taking a safety that high would be the best choice. That is why I am here to look at those later guys and scavenge for hidden talent. So, here we go, our Safety prospect.

Rontez Miles, Safety, California University of Pennsylvania

Height: 6'0; Weight: 203

40 Yd Dash: 4.55

10 Yd Dash: 1.58

Vertical Jump: 36 1/2

Broad Jump: 10' 03

20 Yd Shuttle: 4.15

3-cone Drill: 6.85

Career Stats

Games Played: 50

258 Tackles

23 Tackles For Loss

4 Sacks

4 Blocked Kicks

19 Passes Deflected

10 Interceptions

Draft Projection: 5-7 Round

Miles has a very unique story to him, Despite being recruited by several SEC programs, Miles originally enrolled at Kent State in order to play with his stepbrother.However, his stepbrother was charged for murder and was kicked off the team. this became a huge distraction for him and so he put his football career on hold, transferring to California (PA) after working in warehouse while attending a year at a community college. Miles is a four-year starter for the Vulcans.

During that four year span, Miles has won several awards for his play on the football field such as PSAC Freshman Player of the Year, four All PSAC-West selections, back to back Defensive Player Of The Year awards, and two-time Division II All American honors.

Miles has great Size for a Safety as well as strength, speed, quickness, and instincts. He carries a relentless motor and love for the game the only knocks that are on Miles is the competition he has played and the fact that he like to go for the big hit (a lot).

MacKenzie Pantoja, a College Scout, had this to say about Miles: Miles is pretty solid against the run. For one thing, he is a phenomenal tackler for a safety. On the downside, he often tries to lean with his head/shoulders and tries to murder people when he makes tackles. He’s athletic enough so that this works fairly consistently at the college level, but it won’t be perfect in the pros, plus he runs the risk of drawing penalties (surprisingly, I don’t think I’ve seen him hit the ball carrier’s helmet, but he’s often pretty close). That being said, he’s also very effective when he does choose to wrap up. I’ve only seen him miss one tackle, and he’s really good at preventing yards after contact. He is a quick processor with the instincts to know where a play is going, but this ability is occasionally nullified by poor angles to the ball.

Against the pass,he could do no wrong against St. Cloud State, and that held true for coverage,he can do impressive things in coverage. He jars the ball loose with punishing hits as well as any safety I’ve ever seen. His hands are average, but he knows how to breakup passes, and he also can blitz. He has loose hips, awesome change of direction skills, solid quickness, great instincts of the snap count, and terrific football speed, all of which help him get to the quarterback (and block insane amounts of punts). And again, he’s shown he can be impressive in coverage.His instincts in man coverage are better and his loose hips and solid speed play to his advantage. In the end, he is decent against the pass.

