Pittsburgh Steelers Film Room: Linebacker Darius Leonard
The Negative Traits
While Leonard played linebacker in college, his frame is a bit concerning. Although he is 6’3″ 240 pounds, his frame is more lanky than bulky.
He has more of a hybrid safety/linebacker build than a pure inside linebacker. Steelers fans are familiar with what can happen to smaller linebackers seeing the injury list for Ryan Shazier through his career.
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If Leonard can add some bulk, it would benefit him greatly if he stays as a pure inside linebacker. NFL strength coaches should have no problems helping him add some bulk.
As far as his play goes, I would like to see him make decisions quicker. Too many times he seemed to hesitate before attacking the ball.
When he does decide quickly, he makes the plays. However, his hesitation did cost his defense on some plays as he either got blocked or the runner got around him to gain extra yardage.
His strength needs work to help shed blocks. This ties into his frame being more toward safety than linebacker and adding bulk will help here also.