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Donte Nicholson S Oklahoma 6’2 216
By: Robert Davis

Donte Nicholson started his college career at Mount San Antonio(CA) Junior College, and earned JuCo All-American status before moving on to Oklahoma. In his first season of division 1 ball, Nicholson made a huge impact. He was named Big 12 newcomer of the year in and All Big 12 in 2003 after making 90 tackles, 10 for loss, 6 sacks, and 2 interceptions. His numbers dipped a little as a senior, but he still finished with 72 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks, and 1 interception.

Nicholson is your prototypical strong safety. He is big, strong, and aggressive in run support. He will attack the LOS and make a lot of plays around the line of scrimmage. He is a good athlete and good when the play is in front of him. He will hit you and make you feel it for the next couple plays.

Nicholson isn’t very good in deep coverage. He loses a step when forced to turn around and cover, and doesn’t have great speed deep. His game is stopping the run, and is susceptible to play action and can give up the big play up top.

As far as strong safeties go, Nicholson is a solid prospect. His ability to come up toward the line and make plays against the run will find him a place in the NFL. His play makes me think of a Lawyer Milloy type of safety; one that can be a force in the running game and make the occasional play in coverage. Nicholson should hear his name called on Day 1, probably in the third round somewhere.

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