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Henry To’o To’o: 6’2”, 230 pounds.
A top-50 overall recruit in 2019, Henry To’o To’o collected 140 combined tackles, 12.5 of them for loss, four passes deflected and a pick-six during his two years at Tennessee.
He transferred over to Alabama ahead of the ’21 season, as his head coach Jeremy Pruitt was let go. To’o To’o turned that into a second-team All-SEC season, with 111 total tackles, 7.5 for loss, four sacks and a fumble forced. Last year he improved to the first-team, with 94 more stops, eight for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Henry To’o To’o scout report: Strengths
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+ Primarily played the MIKE spot for the Crimson Tide and was a key cog in that unit over the last couple of years.
+ Can flow front-side with controlled steps and square shoulders before redirecting and taking down the ball-carrier on cutbacks for limited yardage.
+ Doesn’t mindlessly shoot through gaps, just because they open up in front of him, if the back is still behind the line of scrimmage and not aiming that way.
+ With his arms being just ¼ of an inch short of the 33-mark, you see him extend effectively on angular blockers when he has leverage on the gap.
+ Light on his feet to mirror guys navigating around blocks and pairs his lateral movement simultaneously with quick hand-swipes.
+ Due to seeing it early, he has adequate speed and quick hands to scrape over the top of blocks and shut down perimeter-oriented plays.
+ Pursues the ball with great energy and shuts things down out to the edges more frequently than you’d expect a 4.62 guy to do.
+ Shows up all over the field, constantly getting involved on tackles after turning around and chasing after completions over his head.
+ While To’o To’o is an excellent run-defender, he rarely gets his eyes trapped in the backfield or get sucked in deep by play-action, not voiding his area needlessly.
+ Active communicator in zone coverage, who passes off and is looking to pick up targets as the pattern progresses.
+ Effectively takes away hook, stick and curl routes by floating underneath them.
+ Displays great awareness for crossing routes coming in behind him and getting underneath them.
+ For a longer build, he can flip his hips pretty smoothly and he adjust the angle accordingly, as he recognizes the depth of routes.
+ Doesn’t shy away from crashing through one shoulder of an interior lineman and creating issues as a pressure player.
+ Recognizes when he can rush because the back stays in protection or if there’s an opening for him, as the back is delayed in his release, helping out with chips.
+ Was used on some green-dog blitzes and as a spy rusher. Executed some WIDE loops all the ball from the B-gap to the opposite edge.
Henry To’o To’o scout report: Weaknesses
– Sometimes loses discipline on the front-side and guesses on cutbacks, reading things more like a running back.
– Doesn’t shoot his hips through the hit and drive his legs as a tackler, which led to him missing 35 combined attempts across his two seasons with the Crimson Tide (14.6% miss rate).
– Barely played over 100 snaps outside the tackle box across the past two years and won’t be somebody you’re comfortable with matching with guys in the slot.
– Has to get to a plan of how to defeat running backs sliding his way, when rushing around the edge in particular, too often stopping his feet in those situations.
Henry To’o To’o scout report: Grade
I feel like Henry To’o To’o has gotten dragged too much by the draft media. There’s nothing really sexy about his game and the amount of missed tackles is disturbing, but he’s been a very consistent every-down player in the middle of Nick Saban’s defense.
I feel like there needs to be some context for those numbers. Not only was he regularly one-on-one with some of the premier SEC backs, the two Texas guys (both top-10 RBs for me) and K-State lightning bug Deuce Vaughn, but he wasn’t totally reckless, (leaving his teammates in tough spots) or isn’t strong enough. Rather, he needs to work on exploding his hips through contact more.
He’s a disciplined zone defender and shows an understanding for how to attack protections when utilized as a pressure player. Henry To’o To’o may not be a three-down contributor for every team because they would rather put an extra DB on the field, but I don’t see him as a legit weakness in passing situations.
Grade: Third round
You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa, Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas, Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson, Daiyan Henley, LB, Washington State, Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA, Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas, Eric Gray, RB, Oklahoma.
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