An in depth and complete scouting report and draft prospect profile of USC Defensive Back Calen Bullock for the NFL Draft.

Prospect: Calen Bullock

School: USC

Age: 20 (21 three days after the Draft)

Calen Bullock Measurables:

• Height: 6’2” (NFL Combine)
• Weight: 188 (NFL Combine)

• 40: 4.48 (NFL Combine)- 6/19
• 10 Yard Split: 1.51 (NFL Combine)- T-1/19
• Other Notes:
  • Measured in 1” shorter than ESPN had listed
  • Bullock’ 40 was a little disappointing. We thought he had really good straight line speed, was thinking at least low 4.4’s
  • Jeremiah talking about Bullock at CB… called that one

Tape Watched: Notre Dame, Washington, Arizona, Utah

Prospect Grade: 55% with upside

Projected Draft Day: Rounds 3-5

Player Comparison: Ceiling: Jessie Bates; Floor: Tre Flowers

Best Team Fits: New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens

Calen Bullock Player Summary:

The  Positives

• Has a decent understanding of gap filling and run fits
• Man coverage is pretty good
• Looks to have good straight line speed

The Negatives

• Would like to see him be more aggressive in run support
  • Sometimes it looks like he wants to avoid tackling/contact if he can
• When playing deep, he has a tendency to drop super deep to the point where he’s a non-factor to anything underneath
• Reading keys, QB, etc and overall eye discipline needs coaching
  • Misdirections and motions can pull him out of position a little more than you’d like to see
• Can get caught very flat footed in early stages of offensive play development
• Tape is wildly inconsistent
  • Pursuit is lackluster at times
  • Tackling needs coaching
    • Sometimes wraps up too high and typically needs help from teammates or the sideline. Seems to lack strength to drag down tackle
    • Sometimes rockets himself at legs with more misses than you’d like to see

Side Notes

• Great size for a safety, but his frame looks like it could be filled out some more
• Would be very interested to see what a conversion to CB would look like with his length and skillset
• The USC defense was awful, it’s very possible that their system didn’t allow Bullock to flourish consistently

Calen Bullock is a rough prospect. According to Mock Draft Database he is being projected a 2nd round pick, and we barely see enough to justify him as a Day 3. He has a pretty good understanding of run fits and gap filling, but he doesn’t have the mentality of a run support safety. His tackling can be good, but that’s only when he decides he wants to hit someone. His deep drops take him out of plays in many situations, and his vision isn’t great. We honestly believe that with his length and man coverage skills a transition to CB could make sense for him, but either way he’s not ready to play day one and will need time to develop. 

Updated 4/20/24: Upon a rescout, Bullock’s tape is wildly inconsistent. It is truly hard to give him a starter grade. His lows are pretty damn low. In coverage, sometimes he drops so deep that he makes himself a non-factor and in run support you can watch him try to avoid tackling and contact in general at times. Not to mention his pursuit can be lackluster at times. However, there’s also games where he flashes the ability to be a top safety not just in the class, but in the league. As we noted above, USC’s defense was absolutely awful, so it’s entirely possible that their scheme just didn’t allow him to consistently flourish and he could pop off in the NFL. If you told us he ended up like Tre Flowers where he barely hangs onto a role in the NFL we wouldn’t be surprised and if you told us he developed into a top safety in the league like Bates we wouldn’t be surprised. There’s a low floor and a high ceiling for what most people are considering one of the top safeties in the class. 

Updated 4/20/24:

• Combine numbers and rank added to measurable portion of profile 
• Grade switched from “40%” to “55% with upside”
• Projection switched from “PFA, Probably Day 3(Someone will take a shot on his size)” to “Rounds 3-5”
• Comp switched from “Tre Flowers” to “Ceiling: Jessie Bates; Floor: Tre Flowers”
• “Baltimore Ravens” added to Best Team Fits
• Negatives Added
  • Can get caught very flat footed in early stages of offensive play development 
  • Misdirections and motions can pull him out of position a little more than you’d like to see
  • Tape is wildly inconsistent
    • Pursuit is lackluster at times
    • Tackling needs coaching
      • Wraps up too high and typically needs help from teammates or the sideline. Seems to lack strength to drag down tackle
      • Rockets himself at legs with more misses than you’d like to see
• Side Note Added
  • The USC defense was awful, it’s very possible that their system didn’t allow Bullock to flourish consistently
• Positives Removed
  • Pretty good tackling when he wants to hit