FLOWERY BRANCH – Here's how Pro Football Focus senior analyst Steve Palazzolo responded in his pick-by-pick analysis to the Falcons selection of Florida safety Keanu Neal with the 17th overall pick in the draft on Thursday.
"Another questionable pick, Neal is a powerful box safety, but he is merely a projection at this point. His -3.0 overall grade ranked 93rd in the nation and his 16 missed tackles were too much for a player that didn't make enough plays in the run or pass game. Neal is a big hitter, capable of working downhill and imposing his will, but the number of missed plays is still concerning. In Atlanta's scheme, he'll likely play strong safety and they'll hope he can play the Kam-Chancellor role in their defense. At this point, however, this pick looks like the yearly first-round reach on a box safety that has infiltrated the league in recent years."
Also, the analytics and film-breakdown website listed Neal as their No. 1 "buyer beware" safety. There were three in the group.
PFF’s Zoltan Buday wrote: “Over the past months, Neal has been constantly rising on pundits’ draft boards and is widely regarded as a top-50 prospect by now. While Neal played more than 1,100 snaps over his last two seasons at Florida and made numerous flashy plays, his production on the field does not justify his current position on the aforementioned boards.
“Last season, Neal received negative grades for his work against the run and in coverage, which resulted in an overall grade of -3.0, good for 78th in this year’s safety class. When watching the tape, you can see that his aggressive style led to several splash plays; however, his aggressiveness also led to take risks too often, which frequently backfired. As a result, Neal finished the season with 16 missed tackles, tied for sixth-most in the 2016 safety class.”
