Prospect Profile: Shavon Revel, CB, East Carolina

Evaluation

Disrupting the WR Release

He has good athleticism and change of direction skills to match angles in most scenarios in soft press. He could do a better job of using his leverage to disrupt the timing of the route, and is too often beaten by those more expert receivers who know how to attack his leverage during their release. When he tries to put hands on is where it can come undone a bit more, he will often miss through either timing or accuracy and it can allow some receivers to win quickly and put him in trail almost immediately. When the receiver has some explosion and is going out into a vertical stem, he can struggle to make the 180 turn in a fluid fashion due to some tightness in his hips and can give up separations straight out of the gate. In some cases against more physical receivers he can be pulled off balance by their hand usage. He can get his hands on because of his length but they are more grabby than punchy and don’t disrupt the timing of the route. He could stand to be far more physical at the line of scrimmage than he is and deploy his length to better effect.

Taking Away Targets from the WR

He covers 2-step routes like hitches and curls with ease and can match the break of the receiver. He can do this in Man or Zone coverage and when in Zone, can easily make it to the catch point even with some cushion. Generally when he’s in bail or off-man, he has good reactive athleticism and solid drive mechanics to close quickly on the receiver at the catch-point and close off any separation they may have. In Zone he reads the QB at a good level and uses his good drive mechanics, especially from the half-turn, to make plays on the receiver. He could work more effectively in underneath zones. His main deficiency comes when locked up in man coverage and he needs to make transitions to run with receivers making 90 degree transitions, vertical cuts or running go routes. His hips are a little tight and he takes too long to make the turn and mirror receivers when they are running deep. When he’s covering vertical cuts, he doesn’t take the path of least resistance to get back in phase, running around the break and putting himself further behind the 8-ball. This is less of a problem when facing square cut breaks for dig and deep outs because he is an explosive athlete and there is lesser angle turn to be made, but it still shows up. He therefore gives up separation in man coverage when he turns to run and cover receivers downfield. The separation doesn’t stick as he does have excellent acceleration and long speed to get back in phase but those receivers with good athleticism and good technique can stack him and make a play downfield.

Making a Play on the Ball

He has good ball skills, he arrives with timing to break up passes and he has shown a propensity to take the ball away on occasion. You are also able to see instances on film when better technique catching the football would have given him more interceptions in college. While he times his interventions well, he can be inaccurate with his hands to break up the pass. He is good at locating the football when running downfield but doesn’t track the ball as well when he’s carrying a receiver across the formation.

Defending the Run and Tackling

He is a very willing, physical and aggressive run defender with good technique. He’s always looking to get involved in supporting the team’s run defense. He can use technique and play strength to get off blocks as well as good anticipation and processing to get around blocks. He’s a physical and wrap-up tackler in the open space who uses good technique. Plays disciplined as the force player.

Ravens Draft Pick Comp
Brandon Stephens (could become the guy we thought Stephens could be at the end of 2023 season).

PRODUCTION 
Final year on campus: 57 To. Tackles, 1 INTs, 10 PBUs, 1 Sack, 1 QB Hit
SO: 31 To. Tackles, 2 INTs, 6 PBUs
Injury: SR: Torn left ACL, surgery in October

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 4
Intelligence 3
Versatility 3
Grit 5
Scheme 3