Mohamoud Diabate NFL Draft 2023: Scouting Report for Utah LB

HEIGHT: 6'3½"

WEIGHT: 225

HAND: 9¾"

ARM: 32½"

WINGSPAN: 80½"

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40-YARD DASH: 4.52

3-CONE: 6.96

SHUTTLE: 4.25

VERTICAL: 34"

BROAD: 11'0"

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POSITIVES

– Good athlete who is long and has room for growth on his frame.

– Reads gap runs faster and better than he does zone runs and has the speed to scrape over the top and beat the offensive lineman to the spot.

– Speed also gives him decent sideline-to-sideline range.

– Fluid hip to turn and run in coverage.

– Fast and athletic enough to match running backs and tight ends in man coverage.

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NEGATIVES

– Struggles to read zone runs and often ends up in the wrong gap, almost looks like he's guessing at times.

– Lacks strength to get extension when taking on blocks against offensive linemen, also gets stuck on blocks and pushed around in the run game.

– Tackles high and doesn't bring his feet with him, leading to misses against running backs.

– His eyes are late when playing zone coverage, as he'll miss threats coming into his area and often end up covering grass.

– Misses pick-up and pass-off opportunities in zone coverage, especially versus mesh concepts.

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2022 STATS

– 12 G, 58 total tackles (32 solo), 13.5 TFL, 5 sacks, 1 PD, 1 FF

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NOTES

– Born May 18, 2001

– Florida transfer

– A 4-star recruit in the 2019 class, No. 109 overall, No. 6 OLB, per 247Sports composite rankings

– Injuries: 2022 (Shoulder, had offseason surgery and missed spring practice; Undisclosed, missed 2 games)

– 29 career starts

– Sister, Fanta, ran track and field at UAB

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OVERALL

Mohamoud Diabate is an athletic linebacker who can be effective in man coverage. He's springy, runs well and has good change of direction to mirror and match or carry running backs down the field. Occasionally, he can use his athleticism to be an effective run defender too, but his instincts, in general, need a lot of work.

Diabate struggles to read the running back's path on zone runs and often takes himself out of the play to the point where it seems like he's guessing. He also misses pick-up and pass-off opportunities in zone coverage or struggles to locate threats coming into his area, frequently leaving his man open.

The Utah product needs to get stronger and find a way to carve out a role on special teams—which he doesn't have much experience doing—to stick on an NFL roster.

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GRADE: 5.6 (Backup/Draftable, 6th-7th rounder)

OVERALL RANK: 240

POSITION RANK: LB16

PRO COMPARISON: Drew Lewis

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Written by B/R NFL Draft Scout Matt Holder