DARIUS BUTLER

CONNECTICUT

#1

PROJECTION:  1st-2nd Rounder     COMPARISON:  -

CLASS SENIOR

HEIGHT 5-10

WEIGHT 190 lbs.

HOMETOWN Fort Lauderdale, FL

HIGH SCHOOL Coral Springs Charter

BIRTHDAY 3/18/1986

SCOUTING REPORT

STRENGTHS: Natural athleticism & quickness...Excellent effort guy...Explosive burst...Fluid hips & backpedal

WEAKNESSES: Lacks ideal longspeed...Played mostly zone in college...Needs to improve tackling abilities

OVERALL: A four year starter, Darius Butler is a better prospect than Connecticut CB Tyvon Branch was a year ago and has excellent bloodlines – Uncle of Gene Atkins (10 year NFL career) and cousin of RB Willis McGahee of the Baltimore Ravens. He stood out as a redshirt freshman in 2005 starting every game at CB and returned an interception and kickoff return for a touchdown. Butler recorded 10 interceptions over his career, but failed to pick a pass off as a senior this past season. He is an outstanding athlete and was an option quarterback in high school. Butler has swivel hips and looks very natural in his backpedal, but has questionable speed to stay with fast receivers downfield at the NFL level. Butler played too far off the LOS in college, mostly zone, and doesn’t have a lot of experience in bump-and-run. He shows nice instincts and awareness in coverage and is a smart football player. Butler doesn’t have elite size, but gives great effort vs. the run and is much more physical than he appears.  He has is a non-stop competitor with a good head on his shoulders. Butler played both ways at UConn and shows similar qualities to a Troy Brown-type player. He shows nice ballskills and will make a lot of plays on the ball. Butler can also contribute on special teams as a return man. He allows too many catches underneath and doesn’t always make the sure tackle. Butler does have some durability questions as he missed three games as a senior.

BOTTOM LINE: A natural leader and athlete, Butler is a very talented player who has the quickness, competitiveness, and tools to be a starting NFL cornerback and fringe first rounder.

2008 STATISTICS