Steven Filer

Hometown: Chicago, IL (Mt. Carmel HS)

Height: 6'3"     Weight: 225

Position: LB

Teams Of Interest

Committed to Notre Dame

The Skinny

Sun (Ill.) Times' state Defensive Player of the Year

The Analysis

Illinois’ top prospect for the 2008 class possesses a nice blend of size and agility.  More important, Filer has great instincts. He rarely takes false steps, and he shows great patience on blitz packages. Knowing when to throttle down and delay the blitz in order to find a crease is a refined skill, and Filer has it. His instincts help him greatly in diagnosing run plays. He will not take himself out of the play.

Because Filer has the potential to play at 240 or 250 pounds, he is most likely a middle linebacker. However, he will need to improve his explosion and tenacity up the middle. It takes a special, and often crazy, mentality to play middle linebacker at a high level of college football. Does he have that killer instinct needed to demoralize fullbacks and running backs?

Pass defense is a question mark, as well. Filer has solid hips and decent agility, so pass coverage should not be major problem. But he might have issues if asked to play the deep middle within a Tampa-2 scheme or man-to-man with speedy third down running backs.

Who’s Got It Right: Scout

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