DANIEL "DAN" MORGAN, JR.
By: Dave-Te' Thomas

#44-DANIEL "DAN" MORGAN, JR. University of Miami Hurricanes 6:02.3-233

ANALYSIS
Positives... Competitive and aggressive player with good muscle development on his frame...Quick to step up and fill the lanes vs. the run...Shows solid field awareness and moves fluidly towards the perimeter...Has the hand quickness and power to jolt and reroute blockers...Has superb cut off speed and the ability to move through traffic... Bounces back quickly when knocked down...Has the tackling strength to rock ball carriers back upon contact...Shows effective dropoff skills in pass coverage, making proper switch-offs in his area...Has soft hands to secure the ball...Shows a sharp burst to collapse the pocket coming off the edge...Displays the body control needed to make open field tackles...Hurls his body around in reckless abandon, doing anything that he can to make the play...Has the foot speed to stay with receivers in the short areas...Explosive blitzer with a nose for the ball...One of those types that will shut off the lights in the weight room after he's done (coaches call him their most tireless worker in the off-season conditioning program).

Negatives... Stiff in his hips and stays too high dropping off in pass coverage...Struggles to disengage from the more physical blockers during inside run support...Gets cut off at times in lateral pursuit, showing a need to protect his feet better with his hands...Better as a straight-line charger, appearing too stiff in his backpedal to be effective defending vs. the pass...Gets knocked around a lot trying to move through the piles...Has had problems throughout his career maintaining his playing weight (very high metabolism)....Needs to show better stop-&-go action, as he tends to get a little too reckless by over-pursuing the plays...His struggles containing the inside run game could see him shift back to outside linebacker (position he played in his first three years) at the pro level.

CAREER NOTES
The anchor of the Hurricanes' team, he boasts a string of 42 consecutive starting assignments (most ever by a Hurricane defensive player) and is the only player in school history to be voted team captain in three seasons...Became the first player in college football to earn the Dick Butkus Award (nation's top linebacker), Bednarik Award (nation's top defensive player, given by the Maxwell Football Club) and Nagurski Award (national defensive player of the year, given by the Football Writers Association) in the same season (2000)...Only player in school annals to record over 100 tackles in each of four seasons...Set school career-records with 309 solo tackles, 223 assists and 532 total hits, breaking the previous marks of 307 solos by line-backer Scott Nicolas (1978-91), 222 assists and 490 total tackles by linebacker George Mira (1984-87)...His 532 tackles also established a new Big East Conference record, topping the old mark of 517 by Boston College's Stephen Boyd (1991-94)...Also recorded 14 quarterback sacks for minus 65 yards, 44 stops for losses of 116 yards and eight forced fumbles during his time with the Hurricanes.

REMIND ME OF... Chicago's Brian Urlacher (a shorter version).

GAZING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL... Will be the first linebacker taken in the draft. It all depends on the team and system being used to determine whether he will play inside or outside linebacker, but that will be a pleasant problem. I am still not crazy about this guy and know the school padded his stats, big time.

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