Dontay Corleone, IDL, Cincinnati
Size:
Height: 6’1” | Weight: 320 lbs
Accomplishments:
Second-Team All-Big 12 (2023) • AP Third-Team All-American (2022)
“Dontay Corleone is a gap-merchant defensive tackle with powerful hands, excellent lateral movement, and a nose for the football.”
Strengths:
Football IQ
Quick hands
Lateral movement
Gap toughness
Concerns:
First step
Pass-rush plan
Pad level
Film Analysis:
Dontay Corleone burst onto the scene in 2022 after redshirting his freshman year at Cincinnati and was one of college football’s most impactful nose tackles. Over the past two seasons at Cincinnati, he’s racked up 84 total tackles, 12 of them for loss, and six sacks to go with a knocked-down pass, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. Corleone is tough to predict for an offensive lineman because of all the different ways he’s deployed: as a gap finder, a stunter, and two-gapping, among others. He entered 2023 as a Preseason All-American and All-Big 12 selection, so the expectations were on Corleone to succeed, and he met them.
From the snap, he quickly gets hands on offensive linemen with power and location. Whether pushing them back or moving them to the side, his hand usage is sudden and efficient. The pop in his hands pairs well with his lateral movement to get into gaps quickly, making him a challenging block in the zone running game. He attacks laterally and forces ball-carriers to alter their path, hopefully into the direction of a linebacker. Corleone is an intelligent run defender who reads the offensive line's blocking and locates the football, putting him around it at all times. When he gets into open space, his straight-line acceleration is impressive and underestimated by quarterbacks. When he closes, he has the grip strength and tackling technique to make it count.
His first step comes up and then back down in almost the same spot on many snaps, causing him to lean into the lineman with his hands. This helps his hand quickness but can lead to lunging or being top-heavy, which works against him. Not firing out with a coiled first step impacts his pad level, where, too often, he’s popping up at the snap instead of out. Cleaning up the first step will significantly improve his already excellent gap penetration and could aid in the pass rush.
He flashes as a pass rusher with a swim, rip, push-pull, and bull rush, but the plan doesn’t come together. After the first move is defeated, Corleone reverts to the bull rush. Wider splits against Big 12 offenses aided in his penetration efforts and helped him against double teams; while showing enough technique to survive doubles, the consistency to anchor is missing. Unfortunately, this summer, blood clots were discovered in Corleone’s lungs and he will be out indefinitely while he gets treatment. We wish him a full and complete recovery.
Overall, Corleone is an impactful nose tackle whose instincts for the football have boosted his production but he needs to clean up some technical aspects of his game to achieve his potential (if cleared to play).
Prospect Projection: Day 2 — Adequate Starter
Written By: Daniel Harms
