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Trenchmen’s Corner| Christian Barmore Scouting Report | Former CFL scout Dave Van Nett breaks down his game

Christian Barmore Scouting Report Trenchmen's Corner
Alabama defensive lineman Christian Barmore is considered a top prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft. Former CFL scout Dave Van Nett breaks down his game.
  • Name: Christian Barmore
  • College: University of Alabama
  • High School – Neumann Goretti
  • Hometown – Philedelphia, PA
  • Jersey – 58
  • Position – 3-Tech Defensive Tackle
  • Height – 6’5
  • Weight – 315

Career Stats:

  • Games Played – 24
  • Solo Tackles – 34
  • Asst. Tackles – 29
  • TFL Yards – 54
  • Sacks – 10
  • Sack yards – 54
  • Pass Defend – 5
  • Forced Fumbles – 3
  • QB Hurry – 6

Overview:

Christian is a four star high school recruit out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that chose Alabama over four other SEC schools.  In high school he won several awards and was ranked both in the State of Pennsylvania and nationally as one of the top defensive tackles.  

At Alabama, as a freshman Christian was named to the Freshman All-SEC team by league coaches.  In his sophomore year he was named as a first team All-American by CBS Sports, second team All-America honoree by Pro Football Focus and USA Today, named a third team All-American by the Associated Press, and earned first team All-SEC honors from both the AP and the league coaches.  

Like his teammate Deonte Brown I feel this young man is getting way to much credit for what he is actually capable of this season.  I am not saying that he is a bad player.  Many sports writers are calling him an “instant game changer.”  These same writers are predicting him to go early in the first round of the draft.  I do not believe he is ready.  He has had a very good start at Alabama, but declaring for the draft in his sophomore year is in my opinion foolish for him.  If he would have stayed for at least one more season and continued to put up big numbers and prove that he can be a game changer than the hype would be warranted.  But, right now he has still has some work to do.

Film Review:

I watched every game from the 2020 season and wasn’t completely impressed with Christian.  I would rate Christian a B- to a C+ defensive tackle.  This young man is in desperate need of one more season at Alabama to develop his skills and correct some issues, OR for a team to pick him up in the later rounds and develop him for a year.  Although Christian played in every game, he did not start.  Most games I did not see him in the game until middle of the first quarter and then he would be rotated in and out.  With 63 combined tackles and 10 sacks in his two years he was somewhat productive with his time.  I believe these stats to be a little confusing and possibly misleading.  The way his stats are written about makes it appear that he was always in the backfield sacking the quarterback or tackling the running back in the tackle box.  The reality of his stats is that he is very good at reacting to the runner outside of the tackle box.  In his assessment I will lay out my reasons for saying this.

Assessment:

Most games Christian doesn’t get into the game until mid-first quarter, this could be by design.

Christian has a very high stance, butt in the air, which prevents him from winning the leverage game.

Most plays he is easily washed out of the pocket by offensive linemen.  This is very evident in the Texas A&M game.

When taking on an offensive tackle he is easily manhandled and washed out.  With that said it’s not every play that this happens but more often than not.

He can be slow reacting off the snap.

He cannot shed blocks very well and that is due to his limited experience.  He is a one trick pony.  His biggest tool is to bull rush.  I do not see him utilize many other maneuvers to help get through the offensive line or to shed a block to get into the backfield.  

Even though he doesn’t shed blocks well to get into the backfield, when a running back does get through the line of scrimmage and is near him, Christian is very capable of disengaging the offensive lineman and reacting quickly to attempting to tackle the runner.

Christian does have the ability to react to a runner that has bounced outside to the lane and get to him quickly.  

Christian has decent tackling skills and decent open field tackling skills, 63 total career tackles shows this.  

He was a part of two national championship runs but only played in the 2020 game against Ohio State.

Injuries:  No known injuries at this time.

Prediction:

I strongly believe that Christian would be twice the player he is now if he would have played another year at Alabama. I would want to see him as a starter and play ninety percent of the game and gain that experience.  I believe that there is some misleading information on his career stats.  Yes he has ten sacks and sixty-three tackles but the majority of them were not inside the tackle box, they were from players scrambling into the flats or running backs bouncing outside or squeezing through the line of scrimmage.  Inside of the tackle box is where Christian needs help, when he gets out of the tackle box he is a very decent player, with decent instincts and reaction times.  He had a very strong game against Notre Dame but then he had a poor game against Texas A&M.   I would rate him a B- to a C+ player.  Like his teammate Deonte Brown, if you take Christian out of the Alabama setting and weigh his abilities elsewhere he is still a decent defensive tackle but not a first round draft pick, which has been predicted by different mock drafts.  Christian may be looking at a first round pick due to the media hype around him, but I wouldn’t take him until late in the draft if it were my choice.

About Dave:

David Van Nett is a 17-year football coach and former CFL scout. He was hired by Head Coach Chris Jones, 4 times Grey Bowl coach, to be the area scout in the Carolinas. David is an Army veteran and retired law enforcement officer as well. Make sure you follow him on Twitter @coach_vannett

Damond Talbot

NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com

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