Today we will be taking a look at one of the top safeties in the 2021 draft class, Andre Cisco from Syracuse. Cisco led the ACC in interceptions in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He opted-out of the 2020 season after suffering a knee injury in warm-ups of the Georgia Tech game. Without further ado, lets get into what I saw from his tape.
Strengths: Cisco is a playmaker. He led the ACC in interceptions in 2018 as a freshman and again in 2019. With 13 interceptions over his 24 collegiate games, he has a great knack for finding and tracking the ball in coverage and displays great ball skills. He shows a good amount of aggression in coverage going up to get the ball. He has great acceleration and displays solid range in coverage, and does well playing in the deep middle of the defense. Cisco has good instincts, he reads and reacts well, with a great ability to diagnose plays. He is quick with good acceleration to both the ball and spaces in coverage. Cisco is very fast, when healthy he should run around a 4.35 40yd dash, and is a sideline to sideline player.
Weaknesses: Cisco biggest, and glaring weakness are his issues with tackling. He is a very inconsistent tackler, and that will cause him a lot of issues at the next level. He does not wrap up often as he tries to tackle with his shoulder, which will simply not work in the NFL. Because of this, he struggles in the run game, especially when he has to fill holes and hit a RB head on. He also displays poor pursuit angles, but I think he can fix those at the next level. He also can get stuck reading the QBs eyes in the run game and can still be in coverage when everyone else is playing the run. Cisco also suffered what has been described as an “ACL injury” in pregame warmups and missed the rest of the season. He had to have surgery, so one can only assume that it was a torn ACL.
Bottom Line: Cisco is very good in the pass game, he is a playmaker with great instincts and a very high football IQ. He led the ACC in interceptions for two years, which is very impressive. He is extremely quick with great start, stop ability and diagnoses plays well in the pass game. In the run game; however, he struggles, he doesn’t wrap up in tackling, and struggles when filling holes which is a major issue at the next level. His pursuit angles also need some help. His injury further complicates things. I expect him to be a starter at the next level, who will always struggle in the run game. His final draft position will be determined through medical check-ins with teams during the scouting process, right now it’s hard to tell how healthy he is, and how healthy he will be for the start of 2021 season, although he should make a full recovery.
Draft Projection: Day 2 pick
Be sure to check out Kosta and I’s scouting page @boldtakescouting on Instagram and our podcast, Bold Take Scouting, on Spotify!
