STRENGTHS: Constructed well for the position with good length and solid build for his height. Fluid athlete with coordinated footwork and smooth belt action to easily flip his hips.
Good flexibility out of his stance, keeping his nose over his toes and staying low to spring in any direction. Above average ballskills, reflexes and hand-eye coordination (16 passes defended in 12 starts).
Impressive tackling technique for a player with his inexperience, sinking, striking and wrapping with timing and pop. Throws his body around with emphasis and embraces the physical side of the game. Good eye use to read and anticipate the play before it happens, staying dialed in with natural instincts to put himself in position to make plays on the ball.
Ideal toughness for the position, both physically and mentally. Highly confident with a short-term memory to bounce back quickly after mistakes, especially important for a player with his inexperience. Aggressive hands to fight through blockers and make a play on the ballcarrier. Has experience on special teams coverages.
Mature work ethic with ambitious personality, both on and off the field. Solid durability with his body (not used to that type of consistent beating) holding up the full football season without serious injury. Productive one year on the football field, earning MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
WEAKNESSES: Only one year of football experience since high school and never played cornerback until spring 2014. Very raw technically and still learning trends and tendencies at the position. Unpolished recognition skills and needs to better anticipate route concepts and how to leverage the field.
Shows natural transitional quickness, but his mechanical flaws will hinder his ability to gain proper body position downfield. Often allows too much cushion at the line of scrimmage and is raw with his spacing and closing time. Does have press experience, but doesn't make contact off the snap and is unproven jamming receivers at the line.
Bad habit of biting on outside moves at the line and giving up inside position due to impatient feet. Too often flips his hips off the snap and needs time to develop his backpedal technique. Green behind the ears with defensive schemes and still learning secondary terminology.
COMPARES TO: Byron Maxwell, Eagles - Well-built, physical cornerbacks with the size/speed combination to stay on the outside are tough to come by and Maxwell and Rollins have several similarities.
--Dane Brugler