Budda Baker, Washington
5-10, 195
Baker was a three year player with the Huskies, and was a starter from day one. He won the 100 meter state championship in high school, and also won three state titles in football. He was named honorable mention All-PAC 12 as a freshman, and was first team as a sophomore and junior.
As a freshman, he finished with 80 tackles, two TFLs, one sack, six PBUs, one QB hurry, and two forced fumbles. He also finished with one INT.
As a sophomore, he finished with 49 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, seven PBUs, one blocked kick, and two INTs.
As a junior, he finished with 71 tackles, 10 TFLs, three sacks, six PBUs, one QB hurry, one forced fumble, and two INTs.
The Good
Incredibly athletic, with elite speed and range.
Solid ability in man coverage.
Changes direction on a dime.
Crunches down on plays in front of him.
Improved a great deal as a junior when it came to making plays behind the line.
Energetic team leader.
The Bad
Is on the smaller side for safety, and has no room to bulk up.
Can be overly aggressive, and will whiff at times.
Lacks a large tackle radius, and short arms cause him to miss on INT attempts.
Ball numbers are low for an elite prospect in the secondary.
Not a great zone defender.
Final Overview
Baker was the guy that everyone in the PAC-12 wanted coming out of high school, and he certainly did several things to make the Huskies relevant again. In order for him to succeed as an undersized safety on the next level, he will have to play more center field in deep coverage to hide his size deficiencies, and he will have to avoid mismatches against TEs and bigger receivers. I see him as being a passing down defender early, but he may be able to work his way into a starting lineup eventually, depending on the team drafting him.
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