JAMAR FLETCHER
By: Dave-Te' Thomas

#2-JAMAR FLETCHER University of Wisconsin Badgers 5:09.5-177

ANALYSIS
Positives... Compactly built, but a superb athlete...Very confident in his ability to sharply diagnose the plays...Uses his hands to reroute quickly in man coverage and shows explosive acceleration planting and driving out of his backpedal...Forceful tackler who takes proper angles in order to spring into his hits...Stays low in his backpedal, displaying fluid hip swerve and head-turning abilities...Tracks the ball in flight very well... Switches off quickly in the zone, staying tight with the receivers, allowing no cushion between him and the opponent...Has natural hands and body control, much like a receiver, thus resulting in more than a fair share of interceptions and pass deflections...Breaks sharply towards the ball and will not shy away from contact competing with the ball carrier near the line of scrimmage in run support...Shows an explosive burst off the edge as a blitzer...Has superb open field balance, displayed prominently on his interception returns... Goes low to the ground to make the wrapup tackles and extends his arms properly to secure the receiver after the catch...Despite his lack of bulk, excels at jamming the bigger receivers at the line of scrimmage...Fluid in reverse and excels at getting in to break up the slant patterns.

Negatives... Size is a big drawback, but he compensates with total aggression in his game and superb leaping ability...Gets lazy at times in run support and tends to lose his concentration when he is not involved in the play...Hesitates a bit dropping off in the zone, preferring to match up one-on-one with his man.

CAREER NOTES
One of the most decorated defensive players in the history of Wisconsin football...Regarded by many to be the finest man coverage defender in the collegiate ranks... Master of the interception and a classic game-breaker with his blazing speed when returning the pass thefts...Holds the school's career-records with 21 interceptions for 459 yards in returns, topping the previous marks of 18 thefts, first set by Neovia Greyer (1969-71) and matched by Jeff Messenger (1991-94) and Greyer's 285 yards...His 459 yards in returns topped the old Big Ten Conference all-time record of 431, set by Tom Curtis of Michigan (1967-69)...Set another Badgers career-record with 57 pass deflections, surpassing the old mark of 41 by Troy Vincent (1988-91)...Only player in Big Ten history to lead the conference in interceptions three-straight years...His five interception returns for touchdowns established new Wisconsin and Big Ten all-time records...In 32 games for the Badgers, he never allowed an opponent to catch a touch-down pass and held the opposition to no receptions in ten contests...Finished his career with 130 tackles (106 solos).

REMIND ME OF... New York Jets' Aaron Glenn.

GAZING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL... Some will howl that I chose Fletcher over Smoot, but this guy has produced at a high level for years. If not for his lack of height, this kid would be hands-down a top ten pick. Just refer to Aaron Glenn's play in the NFL. Fletcher will be that good.

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