We got Shazor!!!

[CardinalLaw]

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Ernest Shazor decided in January to skip his final season at the University of Michigan, convinced he was ready for the NFL after being named a first-team All-American safety.

Over the weekend, the NFL Draft skipped Shazor.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 228-pound Detroit native spent an agonizing two days huddled with his family, waiting for word that he'd been chosen.

"About four or five times, (teams) called and told me they'd take me with this pick," Shazor said Sunday evening.

It didn't happen.

When the 255th and final player - William Penn tight end Andy Stokes - went to the New England Patriots, Shazor knew his draft dreams were over.

"I was shocked, surprised," he said. "But life goes on."

Quickly, in Shazor's case. Shazor said he's already signed a free-agent deal with the Arizona Cardinals, who want him to play free safety.

He added that he's not sure why he went undrafted, although he figures it has to do - at least in part - with the fact that he pulled a hamstring at Michigan's pro day, while working out for NFL personnel. Prior to the weekend, draft forecasters generally predicted that Shazor would be picked in the middle rounds.

"I don't know how long it will take to get over this," Shazor said. "One day I will."

Despite his disappointment, Shazor insisted he didn't make a mistake by leaving Michigan early.

"I love Michigan. I did all I could for Michigan," he said. "I thought I was ready to go to the league, I deserved to go to the league."
.......................................
I know a lot of people thought we should sign him.

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[ActingWild]

Analysis | Injury Report | Agility | High School | Personal

OVERVIEW

Built like a linebacker but blessed with the speed of a cornerback, Shazor is the prototype strong safety -- big, strong, aggressive and quick. He has drawn comparisons to Philadelphia Eagles standout Brian Dawkins for his explosive burst and knack for making big plays.

Shazor attended Martin Luther King (Detroit, Mich.) High School, where he led the Crusaders to their first Detroit Public School League title since 1991 as a senior in 2000. The Parade All-American was selected Michigan Player of the Year by USA Today in his final campaign. He was rated the best prep prospect in the Midwest and the third-best defensive back in the nation by Super Prep. He was a consensus All-State choice and a member of the Detroit News ''Blue Chip List (top-rated player).

He recorded 224 tackles, caused two fumbles, blocked eight punts and intercepted 21 passes as a safety, and tallied 11 receptions and four touchdowns as a wide receiver during his last two years at MLK. Shazor was credited with 97 tackles, eight interceptions, two forced fumbles and blocked two punts during his senior year and posted 127 tackles and seven interceptions as a junior. He also excelled in track, clocking a personal best 10.7 in the 100-meter dash.

Called the premier addition to the Wolverines' stellar 2000 recruiting class, Shazor redshirted as a freshman at Michigan. He appeared in twelve games as a reserve safety in 2002, posting 25 tackles (18 solos) with a 4-yard sack and two forced fumbles. He took over strong safety duties in 2003, starting the final eleven games. Shazor finished fourth on the team with 57 tackles (40 solos), adding eight stops behind the line of scrimmage, two pass thefts and three pass deflections.

2004 was Shazor's breakout season as he earned All-American honors in addition to being a finalist for the coveted Jim Thorpe Award. He started every game at strong safety and led the team with 84 tackles (67 solos), including ten stops behind the line of scrimmage. Shazor also had two interceptions, three pass deflections, two forced fumbles and a pair of fumble recoveries. In 35 games with the Wolverines, he was credited with 166 tackles (125 solos), three sacks for minus-23 yards, 19 stops for losses of 72 yards, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He also had four interceptions for 123 yards in returns and a touchdown and deflected ten passes.

ANALYSIS

Positives … Shazor has a muscular, cut-up lower and upper body frame, with good arm length, lean waist, low body fat, good bubble and muscular legs … His frame has the potential to carry at least another fifteen pounds for a potential move to linebacker …

Despite his young age, the coaching staff cited his leadership skills and ability to make calls and adjustments in the secondary … Shows good ability to quickly read and react, possessing a good understanding of games and schemes … Has the outstanding speed needed to mirror and run with the receivers over the middle and down field … Has a good feel for zone coverage, showing the ability to smoothly make the switch-off thanks to his keep anticipation skills … Despite his size, he stays low in his pads and has the hip turn and flexibility to explode out of his breaks … Showed marked improvement with his back-pedal in 2004, demonstrating smooth turning ability … He breaks on the ball with urgency and can quickly recover, adjust and make plays on the ball … He has the range to cover the field from sideline-to-sideline … Possesses above average flexibility and ball adjustment skills … Has large, soft hands, showing the ability to pluck and extend for the ball, doing a nice job of using his strength to fight for the pass in a crowd … He quickly steps forward to fill the rush lanes … Strong and explosive tackler in run force, displaying good plant and drive agility … Uses his powerful arm swipes to strike, jolt, stun and wrap when chasing down the ball carrier … Has an excellent burst to make plays in the open field … Has the ability to consistently produce in the clutch … He takes plays from the board to the field with no difficulty … Very coachable and stability is evident, as even the older players look up to him.

Negatives … Still developing his body frame and is possibly too tall to play safety, but does not have the bulk yet to play linebacker at the next level … Needs to play in better control, as he gets a little reckless on the field and this causes him to over-run plays … He is just starting to develop ball-hawking skills, as he used to wait for the play to come to him, but showed good improvement stepping up to initiate contact in 2004 … Needs to do a better job of using his hands to protect his feet from cut blocks … Must develop better bull rush moves (hump, club), as he has some trouble shedding when blockers get into his chest … While he plays up on flat routes, he will get fooled by play action and must learn to not eye the quarterback so much.

INJURY REPORT

No injuries reported.

AGILITY

4.44 in the 40-yard dash … 340-pound bench press … 33-inch vertical jump.

HIGH SCHOOL

Attended Martin Luther King (Detroit, Mich.) High School, playing safety and wide receiver for coach James Reynolds … The three-year letterman led the Crusaders to their first Detroit Public School League title since 1991 as a senior … Parade and USA Today All-American first-team selection … Named USA Today Player of the Year in Michigan … Rated as a five-star prospect, the country's sixth-best overall player and top-rated safety in the nation by Rivals100.com … Selected as the third-best defensive back in the country and the top prospect in the Midwest by Super Prep … Named to the Detroit News 2000 Dream Team and rated the best player on Detroit News Blue Chip list … Earned All-State first team accolades from the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press senior year … Recorded 224 tackles, caused two fumbles, blocked eight punts and snared 21 interceptions on defense and tallied 11 receptions and four touchdowns as a wide receiver during his last two years … Made 97 tackles, eight interceptions, two forced fumbles and blocked two punts during his senior year. He posted 127 tackles and seven interceptions as a junior … Also lettered twice in track, clocking a personal best 10.7 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

PERSONAL

Business major, enrolled in the Division of Kinesiology … Brother, Carl, is a member of the University of Kansas football team … Born Ernest Haskel Shazor on 7/04/83 … Resides in Detroit, Michigan.

 

[az jam]

That is fantastic!! Many ranked him as one of the top five safety's and projected him to be a third round pick. WOW

 

[ActingWild]

I hadn't heard of him but HOLY COW!!!! The guy sounds like a STEAL!!!!

I LOVE DENNIS GREEN!!!!

For all the kudos we've received over the last 2 years in our drafts and FA's, Dennis Green is the BEST addition we've EVER made!

 

[Kolo]

ESPN Insider:

Ernest Shazor
S | (6'3", 228, 4.7) | MICHIGAN

Scouts Grade: 85

Flags: (S: SPEED) Player lacks ideal speed at position
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Strengths: Is at his best supporting the run. Has excellent size and strength. Matches up physically as an "in the box" safety. Can sift through traffic, uses his hands well, and is big and strong enough to take on blockers. Shows good closing burst for a SS/OLB type, and is a powerful tackler. Loves to hit and will throw his body around the field. Also is adept at supporting the run from the high-point. Fills hard and does an adequate job of tackling in space. Has decent range in zone coverage. Is at his best in underneath coverage as an "in the box" SS type. If he makes correct reads and avoids false steps he can handle deep-half coverage as a cover-2 safety. Also is physical in man-to-man coverage with the size, strength and athletic ability to match up versus most TE's one-on-one. If he has momentum going and is closing in with a good pursuit angle, he shows good closing burst and rarely comes up short. He really explodes through the ball carrier/receiver in the short area when he has the play lined up. Has decent ball skills for a SS/OLB type. Has big hands and does a decent job of plucking the ball before it gets into his pads. Times his jumps well and does an adequate job of adjusting to the ball in the air.

Weaknesses: Is athletic for his size but has marginal speed and is limited in coverage. The more ground he is responsible for the less reliable he becomes. His hips are a bit stiff and he is long-legged. He struggles to match up man-to-man versus quicker RB's and slot WR's. Gets turned around too easily and loses too much in transition when trying to recover. Takes too long to build top-end speed. Has improved with more experience but still below average in terms of his overall recognition skills. He reads the run quickly and does a very good job of finding the football and getting too it. The problem, however, is that he can be over-aggressive and will get caught out of position. He bites too often on the play-fake and still takes too many false steps. His pursuit angles are inconsistent and he still will miss too many open field tackles. If he's forced to change directions or stop-and-start, he takes too much time in transition to catch-up after making a mistake. Does have a tendency to seek out the big hit rather than playing the ball at times, but not as frequently as many other of his kind in this class.

Overall: Shazor redshirted in 2001 and played in defensive sub-packages and on special teams in 12 games as a redshirt freshman in 2002. He took over as a fulltime starting SS in 2003 and finished the year with 57 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, five passes broken up and two interceptions. Shazor led the Wolverines with 84 total tackles in 2004. He also had 10 tackles for loss, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Shazor is much more in the mold of Thomas Davis (Georgia) and might also need to make a move to outside linebacker in the NFL  depending on the defensive philosophy of the team that drafts him. Regardless, Shazor is a hard-hitter and shows good range in run support. He has limitations in coverage but can be effective if protected underneath because he's intimidating with good ball skills. In our opinion, Shazor is the third rated safety prospect behind Davis and Brodney Pool (Oklahoma), and he should wind up coming off the board somewhere in the mid-to-late range of the second round.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

I hadn't heard of him but HOLY COW!!!! The guy sounds like a STEAL!!!!

I LOVE DENNIS GREEN!!!!

For all the kudos we've received over the last 2 years in our drafts and FA's, Dennis Green is the BEST addition we've EVER made!

Green is the best signing the Cards ever made.

 

[clif]

Has the outstanding speed

Is athletic for his size but has marginal speed and is limited in coverage

Ok so the scouts can't get it straight? Either he has the speed or he doesn't

 

[Russ Smith]

My concern with Shazor and I guess you can say the same thing for several guys we drafted too. He slipped for a reason and we're all assuming that the reason was wrong and Green is right. Certainly we all hope that's the case but sometimes guy slip and prove scouts wrong, and sometimes they slip and never do a thing in the NFL.

But Green is a proven evaluator of talent so I certainly trust his ability to identify which guys are sliding unfairly and which aren't. I think Brown and Mitchell are potentially huge steals. I worry about why Blackstock dropped but again potentially huge steal. Green, don't know a whole lot about him other than he was highly rated and had a knee problem.

We picked several guys that slipped so we're either going to look like geniuses in 2 years , or complete idiots, right now my money is on genius.

 

[Russ Smith]

Ok so the scouts can't get it straight? Either he has the speed or he doesn't

He ran slow at the combine and someone said pulled a hammy at his pro day so I don't think we really know how fast he is. He never struck me as a FS prospect at Michigan but you never know. He was a good player at a bigtime school and that's clearly something Green loves.

 

[clif]

He ran slow at the combine and someone said pulled a hammy at his pro day so I don't think we really know how fast he is. He never struck me as a FS prospect at Michigan but you never know. He was a good player at a bigtime school and that's clearly something Green loves.

He has to be better than what's his face #25... and I hope he can contribute on special teams.

 

[WizardOfAz]

He has to be better than what's his face #25...

Ifeanyi Ohalete?!?

 

[clif]

Ifeanyi Ohalete?!?

Bless you!

 

[BACH]

Ernest Shazor
S, Michigan
War Room analysis
Coverage skills: Is athletic with good speed but is limited in coverage. Has decent range in zone coverage and is physical in man-to-man coverage. Has good top-end speed. Gets turned around too easily and loses too much in transition when trying to recover. Grade: 7.1.

Run/pass recognition: Reads the run quickly and does a good job of finding and getting to the ball. Bites too often on play-fakes and takes too many false steps. Must improve recognition skills in pass defense. Grade: 7.2.

Closing speed: Has good straight-line speed and shows closing burst. Explodes through the ball carrier/receiver in short areas when he has the play lined up. Grade: 7.7.

Ball skills: Has good hands and can swat away a pass or make the interception. Adjusts well to the pass. Struggle to catch the ball over his head or when forced to turn and run. Grade: 7.2.

Run support: His best situation. Takes good angles to the ball carrier and shows good closing burst for a strong safety/outside linebacker 'tweener. Is a powerful and reliable tackler. Makes quick reads, fills hard and can make tackles in open field. Grade: 8.4.

Bottom line: Shazor must be protected in coverage, but he is a hard hitter. He should be selected in the middle of the second round.

Dan Pompei analysis
Is a big, tough, powerful hitter. Is a strong safety prospect. Makes plenty of plays close to the line. Could be moved to linebacker in the NFL. Lacks ideal speed and change-of-direction skills. Doesn't always take great angles. Sometimes fails to break down and make tackles against quicker players. Is a bit stiff as an athlete. No. 3 on Pompei's safety rankings

Overall grade: 7.009
Position rank: 4
Ball skills: 3
Closing speed: 4
Coverage/skills: 3
Run support: 3
Run/pass recognition: 1
NFL comparison: Rodney Harrison, Patriots
Overall ranking: 60
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We just keep going!!!! Shazor was the top player available. Awesome!

 

[Pariah]

He has to be better than what's his face #25... and I hope he can contribute on special teams.

He sounds like a fit for special teams, but by no means does he "have to be better than...#25." Ohalete wasn't that good last year, but he wasn't terrible.

I hope Shazor is better than him, but it's far from a slam dunk.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Great pick up. He a hard hitting type of Safety and will make people think twice about coming across the middle. Great at stopping the run.

 

[BACH]

Ok so the scouts can't get it straight? Either he has the speed or he doesn't

Posted the whole bio from TSN ablove, but from this:

Coverage skills: Is athletic with good speed but is limited in coverage. Has decent range in zone coverage and is physical in man-to-man coverage. Has good top-end speed. Gets turned around too easily and loses too much in transition when trying to recover. Grade: 7.1.

It looks like he's fast, but not quick. Good top-end speed, but slow change of direction speed.

 

[clif]

He sounds like a fit for special teams, but by no means does he "have to be better than...#25." Ohalete wasn't that good last year, but he wasn't terrible.

I hope Shazor is better than him, but it's far from a slam dunk.

perhaps you mistook my statement. My meaning was more hopeful that anything. I base that on the report of his speed and covering ability. Ohalete was ok, but we all know he severly lacked recovery speed.

No one is ever a slam dunk for anything.

 

[clif]

Posted the whole bio from TSN ablove, but from this:


It looks like he's fast, but not quick. Good top-end speed, but slow change of direction speed.

so it appears the really isn't a consensus on his covering ability?

 

[CardLogic]

Bless you!

 

[ajcardfan]

perhaps you mistook my statement. My meaning was more hopeful that anything. I base that on the report of his speed and covering ability. Ohalete was ok, but we all know he severly lacked recovery speed.

No one is ever a slam dunk for anything.

Ohalete played free safety, Wilson strong safety. This Shazor kid is definitely a strong safety.

 

[az jam]

Mr Ernest Shazur meet Mr Robert Griffith, a 12 year all pro veteran safety who was also an undrafted free agent
How about Griffith for a mentor.

 

[MastersofCombat]

Just amazing Dennis Green!!!!!

 

[Russ Smith]

Ohalete played free safety, Wilson strong safety. This Shazor kid is definitely a strong safety.

I agree but the report in the first post here said we intend to play him at FS.

 

[Chainthroer]

I wanted to take him with our pick in the 7th round. If he's signed, its worked out better for the Cards.
I'm looking to see a lot better for special teams, especially speedwise, this year.

 

[cardsunsfan]

Shazor is the third rated safety prospect behind Davis and Brodney Pool (Oklahoma), and he should wind up coming off the board somewhere in the mid-to-late range of the second round.

Mid second round?! and he didn't even get drafted?! How the hell does that happen? I'm be pretty pissed to read that in draft publications if I were him and not even get drafted! This is a no brainer to me! He's an UFA! I would try to pick up any player who was projected to be that high that didn't get picked...