Merlin Robertson enters his fifth season as a starter for the Arizona State Sun Devils and yet isn’t squarely placed on NFL Draft media radars. He has flashed greatness so many times but falls into inconsistent streaks where he struggles to impact the game. There are so many unknowns as to where his ceiling is, but the floor is very low.
HT: 6022
WT: 240
Year: Super Senior
High School: Juniper Serra (Gardena, CA)
Rating: 4 star (0.9452)
Merlin Robertson Scouting Notes
Pros:
- Incredible body control! Hips are very fluid and allow him to change directions with ease.
- Good upper body strength. Controls his tackle well. Seems to have a strong lower body, gets good drive when he engages.
- Good tackler. Doesn’t allow many ball carriers to get by. Isn’t easily fooled by ball-carriers moves to make him miss.
- Takes good pursuit angles to the football. Routinely is in place to make big plays.
- Has good bend off of the edge that he uses well when he’s asked to rush or blitz.
- Excellent man coverage player. Drops well, stays in the play. Fluid hips doesn’t allow him to get beat very often.
- Has the ability to play effective zone coverage against tight ends and other such body types. Plays well in the curl flat.
Cons:
- Speed is good but not great.
- Sometimes struggles to position to find the hole. Struggles to work through traffic.
- Shows some ability as a space defender. Really would like to see him more aggressive when pursuing the ball carrier to limit the gain better.
- Will struggle against better route-runners out of the backfield.
- Gets into streaks where he takes bad angles off of blocks routinely.
