'05 Ohio DE Tyler Clifford (Cincinnati signee)

[LordJeffBuck]

Portsmouth DE Tyler Clifford, (6'4", 215, 4.7) is expected to verbal to Cincinnati later this week. Clifford is a 'tweener (too small for DE, too slow for OLB) who doesn't fit the "numbers profile", but he makes plays on the football field. Tyler should do well at Cincy; three or four years from now, Bucks fans may be asking why the staff didn't offer this guy, even though today he is an afterthought amongst all of the four- and five-star prospects whom we are ogling.

Chris Pool on Tyler Clifford (7/13/04)

 

[Buckeyejeff]

These tweeners are so frustrating to evaluate. On one hand they are either too small or slow to fit perfectly into what the big schools are looking for at a particular position. Then on the other hand, tweeners would get no looks at all if they weren't great football players. Football instincts is the single most important asset a defensive player should have in my opinion, followed closely by speed. John Kerr is the example that always comes to mind. Of coarse, it remains to be seen what he'll do at OSU, he has at least proven in practice that he belongs here. The question to me then is: At what point does size hurt you? And, at what point does being 'too slow' hurt you?

 

[CleveBucks]

Pierre Woods was thought to be a tweener, as was Crable. They were probably a bit bigger and faster though.