Good morning Gopher Nation! Happy to be back working on film reviews of DB commits. Here is my breakdown of recent safety commit
Claudin Cherelus. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you guys think of his film!
Link:
Film Review: Claudin Cherelus
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Strengths
Claudin Cherelus is the perfect size you want at safety in the Big Ten. At 6’2” and 198 pounds as a junior, he delivers blow after to blow to every opponent who crosses his path.
After reviewing his film, this stood out the most:
physicality. I love watching players like Claudin who aren’t afraid to lower their shoulder and inflict pain on the opposing player -- something that bodes very well for his career as a Gopher. Along with his hard-hitting mentality, he seems to be very sound in executing his assignments. When he is on the edge, he keeps contain and also blitzes off the edge very well. He is able to use his hands and strength and disengage blockers and get to the ball. In the box, he is as good as it gets in terms on defending the run. He fills his gaps, takes on blockers, and has a natural nose for the ball and seen on almost every tackle.
Another thing that I loved to see was his activity not only on defense and offense, but special teams. One thing that always stands out to me on film is a player dominating on special teams. Not the typical returner highlights, but the down and dirty, kick off return and punt return team. To me, this shows a team player and a love for the game to want to be on the field at all times no matter what position they’re asked to play.
Areas to Improve
Claudin has a lot of talent, but as this is a film review, I have to find areas that I personally would like to see him improve. Granted, many of these are more of wanting to see more film on him in certain situations, but I had to work with what I was given.
First, Claudin plays a little high at times. In the clips where he his back at safety his back pedal and start position were a little high which can slow down reaction and hurt technique. I would have also liked to see more breaks from him to better evaluate.
Second, while there weren’t many one-on-one coverage clips, the one that I was able to evaluate showed some minor technique flaws. He got a little high in his back pedal, which allowed the receiver to bump him off balance, although he still broke up the pass. Also on this clip, I would like to see his eyes stay locked on the receiver opposed to tracking the ball, as that can get you in a lot of trouble at the college level.
Lastly, while he is a absolute monster tackling and delivers painful hits to opponents, in the Big Ten, many times these high hits without wrapping up can lead to missed tackles and running backs bouncing off of attempted tackles. However, I am not too worried, as I know Sawvel will address that during camp.
Bottom Line
“Fumble caused by Claudin Cherelus”. I suspect we as Gopher fans and alumni will hear a lot of this by the time Claudin hits the field. He is a force to be reckoned with that will put a lot of fear in the eyes of his opponents when they see him coming down hill or across the middle. He will give the Gophers a very solid safety that is able to play both in the box and the open field. Claudin still has another year to fine-tune his play and I hope he uses that time to improve his play to play technique that will allow him to be best player he can be.
Once he gets on campus, I see him contributing right away because of his special teams play, and I could see him contributing at safety with the departure of Damarius Travis after this season. I would be very surprised if he redshirted. As I always say, his contribution on defense will depend on his ability to understand the playbook, execute assignments, and make plays.
Comparison
At 6’2” and almost 200 pounds, Cherelus is in the mold of current safety Damarius Travis. While they both share the same frame, they also are physical players who are able to play in the box and in the open field at deep safety. Both Travis and Cherelus are natural playmakers, and I see Cherelus making a lot of the same type of plays that Travis has been able to make throughout his career.
In regards to the hard, pain-inflicting hits that Claudin delivers, it reminds me a lot of Antonio Johnson, who was known as one of the hardest hitters on the team during my time on the Gophers. That’s not a bad mix of safeties.
Scheme Fit
Cherelus should contribute right away on special teams. He has shown success on all special teams, which is something that Sawvel always loves to see.
Beyond special teams, I see Claudin being able to be an every down type of safety assuming his assignment execution carries over into college. However, I see him early in his career coming down the play nickel in run situations. During my time as a Gopher, when we played spread teams, we essentially played nickel defense the whole game. But, with a run-oriented nickel package, and a pass-orientated nickel package. With our run-focused nickel, we had Travis down in the box to help with run and also cover the slot, which is where I see Claudin fitting in. With Travis’ departure after this season, the Gophers will have big shoes to fill, both size wise and play making ability, and I think Claudin is just the person to do so. I am
VERY excited to watch him develop over the next few years.
