Budda Baker Scouting Report: The Honey Badger Doppleganger

Written by Christian Lysek

The Tyrann Mathieu comparison gets handed out like menus a restaurant. If a safety is remotely undersize, you can bet somebody is gonna slap on the Honey Badger comparison. Budda Baker is different. He is a fiery undersized player with the versatility of the Honey Badger. He actually deserves the comparison. Here's Why:

Measurables: 
Height- 5'10''
Weight- 192 lbs
Year:
Junior (21)
2016 stat line:
70 tackles (48 solo), 9.5 TFLs, 3 sacks, 2 INT, 5 PDs, 1 FF

Pros: Budda Baker plays with his hair on fire. Against the run, there is no hesitation. Baker flies to the ball, weaving through blockers and stuffs the runner. He is an excellent open field tackler. He attacks downhill, but he does not try to blow people up as much as wrap up and secure them. Against the pass Baker can blitz, line up at corner, or stay home in his traditional safety spot. Baker is a good Blitzer because he is fast enough if let go free to hit the quarterback before he can throw a good pass. As a corner, Baker has the quick hips and speed to play man or zone against any wide receiver. He rarely gives up receptions. As a safety, Baker does a good job of reading the quarterback's eyes and preventing big plays.

Cons: Size and ball skills are the big problems for Baker. He is too short to cover tight ends and really tall wide receivers, leaving him to cover smaller pass catchers. Bigger backs are also trouble for Baker to bring down, as his lightweight prevents him from taking them down without some help. While Baker often makes the right reads while in coverage, he should have had more picks and passes deflected than he did. The instincts are there, he just needs the ball skills to match. Baker is also sometimes overly aggressive against the run and leaves a big hole for the running back to plow through. Baker must fix this to prevent big plays.

Pro Comparison: Tyrann Mathieu, S, Arizona Cardinals
Finally, somebody deserves the Honey Badger comparison. Mathieu is a small player who thinks he is one of the biggest on the field. He is a great tackler and can play both safety and corner (especially nickel). Baker has a similar body type and versatility and he may be as good of a player as Mathieu.

3 teams that could use him: The Redskin's defense has held them back from being true contenders, so drafting Baker to fill in the long-ignored safety spot would go a long way to help the team. The Buccaneers may have had the least inspiring safety duo in the league last year with Chris Conte and Bradley McDougald, and both are set to be free agents. At most, one will be back, and whoever it is should join Budda Baker in the secondary. If Baker somehow falls to the second round, then you better hope the Jets are praying to get him. Their safeties were terrible last year. I could put on pads and improve that secondary, so imagine what Baker could do.

Conclusion: Budda Baker is a smaller safety with great toughness and versatility. He needs to improve his ball skills and gap discipline, but his skills as an open field tackler and coverage man get him selected between picks 10 and 40.

All stats from www.sports-reference.com