Draft Profile: Budda Baker
As we begin our draft profile series, why not start with some of the local prospects? Budda Baker is a true Junior who started for 3 years at the University of Washington. A 4 star recruit from Bellevue High School, Baker led the Huskies with 71 tackles in 2016, including 10 for loss. In 3 years as the starter, Baker had 200 tackles and 24 pass defensed, and earned All-Pac 12 honors in 2016.
Strengths: Baker displays great speed and acceleration that allows him to cover from sideline to sideline. He wraps up well and is a solid tackler. Baker gets excellent breaks on balls, and plays with great anticipation.
He displays and ability to play man-to-man defense on slot receivers, which could allow him to play nickel corner as well free safety in the NFL. One of his greatest assets is the style in which he plays. Baker is best described as a "heat seeking missile". Despite his lean frame, Baker is excellet at separating the ball from the receivers.
Baker can also deliver a shocking hit to unsuspecting receivers over the middle of the field, and has a "my ball" mentality. Because he is always around the ball, he has a knack for creating turnovers and incomplete passes.
Weaknesses- Baker has some durability concerns, as some wonder if his 5'10" 190 lb frame can hold up over an entire season. Baker can also take poor angles and miss tackles thanks to his aggressive nature. He can be caught trying to jump routes in an effort to make plays.
He is not a natural catcher of the football, and dropped several interceptions throughout the season. He can be vulnerable if asked to play near the LOS, as he struggles to get off blocks once he is fully engaged.
The Fit- There is not a natural fit in the starting lineup for Budda Baker in Seattle. He is not an outside corner, and Jeremy Lane appears to still be the choice to play the nickel corner position. The Seahawks have a future Hall of Fame FS in Earl Thomas, who is not expected to miss any time as he recovers from his broken leg.
The value of Baker to the Seahawks could be as a form "key man" insurance on Earl Thomas. The Seahawks Cover 3 defense is reliant on a rangy free safety to act as an "eraser" of other mistakes. The defense works because the other DB's feel free to make an aggressive mistake, and are comforted to know that Thomas will pick up the slack.
With Earl Thomas, the Seahawks generated 11 turnovers in 11 games. Without him, they forced zero turnovers. None. Goose egg. Steven Terrell proved not capable of replacing Thomas to even a 50% degree of effectiveness. Budda Baker would at least provide some of the coverage and ball skills of Thomas.
Verdict- As you might imagine, our comp for Budda Baker is Earl Thomas. This might seem a bit farfetched, but other scouts have compared him to Tyrann Mathieu, who is a similar player to Thomas. If you can remember the rookie version of Earl, he burst onto the scene, intercepting 4 passes in the first 6 weeks. He was mega-aggressive, and as the season wore on, teams picked on this trait. Sound familiar?
Since Earl is expected back by training camp, it doesn't appear prudent to take a non-starter in the first round. However; if Baker falls to the 58th pick (CBS Draft Scout ranks him 41) Seattle should be extremely interested in the University of Washington standout.
