Andre Cisco is a safety prospect who has been getting a lot of hype lately around the media. The narratives are his great range and ball skills.
Cisco has been a bit of a subtle production monster coming out of Syracuse. He only played two games in the 2020 season before opting out, but before that, he racked up a total of 12 interceptions across two years. Stats do not tell the entire story for any prospect however, the film never lies and for Andre Cisco, the film is much different than the statistics say.
Make sure to check out all of our other 2021 NFL Draft Scouting Reports.
Player Bio
Name: Andre Cisco
Jersey: #7
Position: Safety
School: Syracuse
Class: Junior
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 205 lbs
Coverage (4.5/10)
Well, this is a less than ideal start. Cisco has gotten roasted several times in man and zone coverage. This can come anywhere on the field, but he’s more vulnerable when handling deep routes. He can be clunky when trying to mirror routes and has shown no real promise when dealing with faster receivers. He is a bit better in shorter areas, but not great. In zone coverage,
Cisco is rather inconsistent. In certain schemes like cover one and man-up two high, where the rest of the defensive backs are in man coverage and Cisco is in zone, he’s shown good ability to fly to the ball and make a play. In traditional zone coverages, Cisco can be a little unaware and just let receivers go right by him. The coverage issues jump out right away and are quite concerning for a guy tasked with playing a lot of one-high safety.
Instincts (8/10)
Cisco’s instincts are mostly very good. He snuffs out runs really well and you can see his feet start to move in the direction he believes the play will develop within the first half-second of the snap. He can just flat out judge the play wrong at times and start heading in the wrong direction off of his initial read. Overall, he has good instincts but needs to be more disciplined as well.
Tackling (2.5/10)
This one needs to be mentioned early. Cisco is a horrendous tackler. He picks up some points because he is able to make some nice wrap tackle, but otherwise, it’s pretty bad. The angles he takes are really poor and the ball carrier often doesn’t even need to make a juke, they just run past him. There’s a lot of whiffs on the tape and he often just throws his body at the guy with no real technique or purpose. This is a very concerning area, especially for a guy who gets used all over the field.
Run Defense (7.25/10)
Cisco is pretty average here. While he does have the instincts to play out the run, he can be a little over-aggressive and just miss the ball carrier. He has shown good closing speed, and this is the area where his tackling is at his best, although it’s still bad. This are will need to improve a bit in the league, but he should be able to be used anywhere on the field still.
Ball Skills (9/10)
The 13 career interceptions kind of define Cisco’s play in this area. He’s got a knack and awareness for the football and has caught many balls in the tip drill. He flies over to the ball when he’s playing his deep zone and has elite body control to go up and make a play. He can fail to knock the ball out at times in the shorter areas of the field and it results in an easy catch for the receiver. This is certainly an area where he’s really gifted and has the potential to show out at the next level.
Range (8.25/10)
Cisco has been described by many as the safety with the best range in this class. He does possess good range, but certainly not the best. He’s shown great closing speed and ability to get down to ball carriers in the run. However, his range is subpar in the passing game. He’s slow to get to the throw and can be a little bit heavy and clunky. His range should be solid at the next level but is nothing to rave about.
Athleticism (8/10)
Cisco did not have a pro day because of injury so there are no real measurements to go off of. On the field, he’s shown flashes of great athleticism and flashes of poor athleticism. Overall, he seems to be a solid athlete. The play speed is a little low at times and the fluidity in coverage is pretty bad, but he really impresses when he flies over to the football.
Versatility (7.75/10)
Cisco has nice experience lining up in various positions. He has played as a single high and two deep safety and has experience in the box. He’s definitely best as a two-high or box safety and is close to being unable to play single-high in the NFL. His coverage skills as a single-high safety are the worst part of his entire game and there are too many plays where he gets easily beat deep. He’s much better off as a two-high safety or box safety where he’ll be able to slow down the game and make plays against the run.
Football IQ (7.25/10)
From an IQ standpoint, Cisco is relatively average. He doesn’t seem to process zone coverage all too well and can be a little unaware of the play at times. He has made some very smart plays where he diagnoses the run and feels it out properly. IQ won’t be an issue at the next level, but it won’t be something that stands out.
Competitive Toughness (3.75/5)
Cisco shows good effort but it hurts him at times. He tends to want to make the hero play on the defense and often gets exposed because of it. One can appreciate the effort he brings, but he’s way too in over his head at times.
Injury History (3.75/5)
Cisco tore his ACL in his final year at Syracuse and required surgery. This was a freak accident that occurred in warmups for a game. He didn’t compete in running drills at his pro day, but should be ready to go by training camp as the surgery happened over six months ago.
Player Summary
In the pre-draft process, there’s often a lot of players who have are statistical monsters, and get a ton of pre-draft hype. Cisco is the definition of these players. However, Cisco is not a player who should be getting first-round talk. He is way too inconsistent and unpolished to be a first-round pick in this year’s NFL draft. With injury concerns and stronger players around in this class, Cisco is not someone to look at until day two.
Player Grade (70/100): Fifth Round
Check us out on our socials:
Twitter: @PTSTNews and @TalkPrimeTime
Facebook Page: Prime Time Sports Talk
Join our Facebook Group: Prime Time Sports Talk
Instagram: @ptsportstalk
Follow Charlie Parent on Twitter @Charlie_Parent
Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
