Rams NFL Draft Scouting Report: ROVER Tavante Beckett, Marshall

Tavante Beckett’s coverage ability

Tavante Beckett has excellent hips that allow him to change direction almost at will. He flips them quickly and decisively attacks the position where he is trying to get. Beckett plays zone coverage the best, although he flashes the athleticism to stay with people in man coverage. He’s physical enough to be effective in press coverage, but he wasn’t asked to play much of it at all at Marshall.

Beckett spent most of his time playing outside linebacker, which allowed us to see his run defense a lot and his effectiveness in the box – but he wasn’t a deep safety. Therefore, Beckett’s priority was most of the time not to drop into pass coverage but instead to stop the run.

The Rams could use this opposite of Jalen Ramsey – and allow Jordan Fuller to play more in the middle of the defense. The Rams were pretty good at maintaining perimeter runs because of Ramsey’s physicalness and their ability to play contain. Beckett would help with this tremendously, and still offer the pass coverage upside that they want.

That’s where Beckett’s strength will be in the NFL – a run support nickel. The tools are there. The NFL is going to find a place for him.