Keion Payne (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) has cut his list of 26 scholarship offers down to five, ESPN affiliate Web site EerSports.com reports.
Ohio State, Miami-FL, Florida, Florida State and Tennessee are the only programs left under consideration for Payne. He plans to officially visit each campus.
Last fall, the three-star talent recorded 33 tackles, four interceptions and 15 pass breakups.
Payne posted a 4.55 40-yard dash, 4.34 20-yard shuttle, 7.3 three-cone drill, 29.9-inch vertical and 9-foot-3 broad jump at the Miami Under Armour Combine.
Evaluation: Payne is a quick-footed, well-rounded cornerback prospect who is very active around the football in coverage. Has adequate size now but possesses a rangy frame that should fill out well and assist his physical style of play. Athletic and shows good body control and ball skills. Closes fast and strong with little wasted motion. Sharp out of his breaks. Plays with good bend and flexibility; opens and turns fluidly. Flips his hips smoothly/quickly and maintains good inside leverage in man-to-man technique. Rides the hip, stays between the ball and receiver and goes up and attacks the football flashing good high-pointing skills. Displays good speed and is difficult to separate from vertically. Can effectively step up and play aggressive press-man and bump and run technique. Utilizes his long arms and displays good physicality taking away leverage and recovery burst when beat. We like his underneath zone skills as well. Breaks hard and quickly and demonstrates strong plant and drive skill. Limits yards after the catch and makes solid contact. However, he can shows some wasted motion/steps at times transitioning out of his pedal and let receivers create initial separation underneath. A bit high cut and needs to play with consistent knee bend to and sink in his hips. His ability to mirror quicker college receivers in off-man coverages could be tested as well as his top-end speed vertically; appears quicker than fast. Feisty but shows some upper-body weakness when trying to press and reroute bigger receivers. Tackling skills are adequate but he will really need to build up his upper-body to fight the stalk block and set the edge. Overall Payne has a good blend of speed, quicks, closing burst and body length coveted on the perimeter at the next level. His ability to fill out his frame, become more explosive and refine his footwork will likely dictate his success.
Notes
Holding 26 scholarship offers (August 2009, EerSports.com)… 2008: Recorded 33 tackles, four interceptions and 15 pass breakups… Also recruited by: Mississippi, South Carolina, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Purdue, Rutgers, Oregon…
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This guy sounds like a good prospect. He might be hard to get but it seems that at least we are on his mind. Corner is a position that we have a need for next year also. All I can say is: Com’on up Mr. Payne, we’ll welcome you with a beautiful orange and white outfit for each Saturday in the fall!!
GO VOLS!!
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