Julius Brents Showing Steelers He's Perfect Fit for Any Scheme
MOBILE -- Sometimes a player just catches the eye because of how jarring their size and build are and it was downright impossible not to notice the towering, 6"3, 202 pounds, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback prospect Julius Brents. Just looking at him in person, you can just see how rare of a build he is.
"It's definitely something I like to use to my advantage," Brents told All Steelers at the Senior Bowl.
And uses it to his advantage he does, as he had a field day pinning receivers to the sideline and just not giving them space to breathe at the Senior Bowl. The press technique, particularly at the line of scrimmage, really stood out, along with the fluidity to mirror those shorter, faster guys off the line.
The main question you always have about these longer, bigger and taller corners is whether they can run fast enough to stick with the faster receivers in the league, and Brents has definitely heard the whispers surrounding that area of his game.
"When we get to Indy, we're going to put that all on display," Brents said. "All the critics will be able to fully see that speed, trust me, we gonna run fast."
Brents started his career out at Iowa, where he played in a much different scheme versus the press man system he played in Kansas State.
"I've been in two different schemes. In the Big 10, I played more of a zone with a lot of off-man," Brents said. "Being in the Big 12 about seventy-five percent of the time, I'm all pressed up at the line, I'd say I'm real versatile and a fit for a lot of these schemes."
That versatility and experience within multiple systems will definitely be very appealing for the teams that have a need at cornerback, like the Steelers, who did meet with him this week.
The most underappreciated aspect of a cornerback is the willingness to get their nose dirty and make those key tackles, which is a signature of Brents' game.
"It starts with the mindset," Brents said. "Just not being afraid to come downhill, stick your nose in there and run through the smoke."
The biggest thing I was curious about was Brents's film study habits, what he looks for in terms of tendencies, and how that affects his game plan.
"A lot of it is just trying to find those little tells, as far as their releases and things of that nature," Brents said. "Then you look at split studies to try and eliminate certain route trees just based off that split. Also just football awareness like the down and distance."
There are a ton of aspects of his game that will appeal to teams, but having that preparation and work ethic is the most important, and you could just really get a feel for how much he prioritizes his film study.
Brents will look to keep the momentum up after a strong first impression on day one and channel some consistency going into day two of practice.
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