Calen Bullock NFL Draft Profile

 

Calen Bullock Scouting Report-USC Safety

 

2024 NFL Draft Measurements

6’3″ / 190 lbs

40 Time: 4.50 (estimate)

 

Calen Bullock Draft Profile

Calen Bullock is a former 4-star athlete from Pasadena, CA. According to 247sports, he attended John Muir High School where he went on to have a very successful high school career. While at John Muir he received 18 Division I offers. Some of these schools include Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, and USC. Although he did not officially visit any schools, he decided to stay in his home state and play for the Trojans of Southern California. In his career at USC, he recorded 148 tackles, 9 interceptions, 2 touchdowns, and 16 PBUs. Now let’s get into the Calen Bullock scouting report.

 

Strengths

 

Length

Calen Bullock has a very good frame for an NFL safety. He stands at 6’3″ with long legs that help him cover much of the field when lined up in deep coverage. It also allows him to stay in stride with receivers all over the field. Bullock also has long arms that allow him to get a hand on the ball when it is thrown in his direction. Additionally, it gives him the advantage when high-pointing the ball with receivers all around him. The only major downside that comes with his length is how high his hips are and how difficult it can be for him to suddenly sink his hips and change direction.

 

Hit Power

Whenever Bullock is closing in on a defender, he makes sure to deliver a hit that brings them down without allowing them to tack on extra yardage. He does a good job of displaying this on passing plays and run plays under him. On these plays, he can quickly accelerate downhill and drop his shoulder at the point of attack and if delivered accurately, the ball carrier has no choice but to go down.

 

Versatility

Calen Bullock is a prime example of a do-it-all safety. He can line up all over the field and effectively do any job that you need him to. While at USC, he often lined up as a free safety in a lot of deep zone coverage. However, that is far from all he can do. Along with lining up deep, he also lined up in the box a lot to play man coverage on tight ends or running backs. I was also impressed with his ability when he lined up as a Mike LB in a Tampa 2 system where he covers the middle third of the field.

 

Ball Skills

When lined up in zone coverage, Bullock does an amazing job of tracking the ball and disrupting passes. He is able to do so by quickly keying where the QB is throwing the ball and making a break toward the ball. When he gets near the ball, he is very good at using his long frame to either go up and highpoint the ball or work through receivers to break up the pass. Also, if the QB makes a mistake and overthrows it, he is in the perfect position to intercept the ball and take it the other way.

 

Downhill Speed

Although Bullock does not have elite top speed, he does have very good downhill quickness. This allows him to be very effective at disrupting plays on the outside like bubble screens. Once he gets to the ball carrier, he does a good job of using the hit power that I mentioned earlier to stop them in their tracks.

 

Weaknesses

 

Underwhelming Strength

For a player of his size, his play strength is far below where it should be. When lined up in man coverage against TEs or even bigger receivers, he struggles to hold his ground at the point of attack. This allows the opposing receiver to gain leverage and be in position to make a play on the ball. Additionally, if the ball is thrown in his direction, he will lose a lot of 50/50 balls against these receivers. This is because he lacks the physicality to manipulate their body and give himself leverage.

 

Aggressive Nature

Although I love watching a safety who has an aggressive nature when making tackles, it does come full circle to hurt him often. When closing out on the ball carrier, Bullock will most of the time opt to lower his shoulder and deliver a powerful hit. However, if not delivered in the right spot, the ball carrier has an opportunity to shed the hit and keep going. Instead, he should use his long arms and grip strength to wrap tackle them and consistently bring them down.

 

Final Thoughts on Calen Bullock Scouting Report

Overall, I think Bullock is one of the top safeties in the nation. He brings a lot to the table as far as how versatile he is and how much ground he can cover all over the field. Additionally, when the ball is thrown his way, he will more often than not be in position to force an incompletion or turnover. However, he does need to add some weight to his frame if he wants to take his game to the next level.

 

Calen Bullock NFL Comparison

There isn’t a player in the NFL that Bullock directly compares to. However, he does have a similar frame to former LSU safety Grant Delpit. But his aggressive nature and ability to stop plays below him reminds me a lot of rookie Jordan Battle.

 

Calen Bullock Draft Stock

Currently, I have Calen Bullock as my number 2 safety behind Kamren Kinchens. This puts him as a mid 2nd round pick at the earliest with the potential to fall to the 3rd round if teams prefer a safety like Tyler Nubin. However, if Bullock can perform well at the combine and at his private workouts, he will likely move up several boards.