Bruce Davis
DE / Sr.
UCLA
6' 3'' / 234 lbs.

POSITIVES

There is no defensive back in the country, who casts a more imposing shadow, than Rouse. Huge, borderline linebacker type size, strength like a defensive lineman, all while maintaining very good speed to play in the secondary. An amazing athlete, with great vertical and very good hands. He's split his career between linebacker and safety, so his ability to come up and play the run, make big hits, and tackle are not in question.

NEGATIVES

Rouse is far from a finished product, and is still a 'tweener even with 2 years at SS. Some teams will look at his lack of coverage ability, and think he's better served playing linebacker, and others will keep him at safety, and allow him to develop. Either way, the sort of indecision about what position he'll play, could cause him to slip. His main weakness, should he stay at safety, is his flexibility, and lack of presence in man coverage, and if he were to move to linebacker, he'd need to put some weight on, to sustain and shed blockers.

FINAL WORD

Make no mistake, Rouse is going to play somewhere, and play very well. Why? Not because of measurables, or even production on the field. This kid is a quality character young man, and a relentless worker. He's the father of a son, and grew up without a father, and he lives for his son, and his football is an extension of that desire to be the dad to his son that he never had. If my team needed a SS or a LB, I'd love to see Rouse on the roster. Personally, I think he's make an amazing LB, which he is more ready to do, in the NFL right now, and his zone coverage ability could be used, and his lack of man coverage skills being masked. He's great around the line of scrimmage, and playing LB would lend itself to that. If Rouse has a huge workout, he could be the big mover of this draft.