Alijah

Holder

He also adds that Holder (6'2/188) “instincts and field awareness are below average and he doesn’t flash enough burst to close for consistent pass disruption.” Holder recorded 52 tackles in 2018 for Stanford and was once believed to be a top corner in this class. After suffering some injuries during the 2018 season and turning in a 47th percentile athletic composite score at the NFL Scouting Combine, Holder’s draft stock has fallen dramatically. He’s unlikely to be drafted at this point.

Holder (6'2/188) has shown a nose for the football, and made an impressive 52 tackles as a corner for the Cardinal in 2018. He was once considered among the better prospects at the corner position in the Pac-12 -- Draft Analyst’s Tony Pauline gave him a third-round grade prior to 2017 -- but injuries have hurt his stock. A strong showing in events like this and the combine (potentially) could help him improve that stock, but he’s considered a volatile at this prospect.

Holder’s ejection occurred during the fourth quarter, with the penalty nullifying a fumble recovery that would have sealed the win for Stanford. Due to the timing of the ejection, the redshirt senior will also have to sit out the first half of Stanford’s Dec. 1 matchup with Bay Area rival Cal.

Holder was targeted on 16 pass attempts and allowed only seven receptions with a long of 14 yards. Despite his player being targeted frequently, Holder’s coverage was good enough to hold them in check. Draft Analyst’s Tony Pauline gave Holder a 3rd-round grade prior to his 2017 injury and is now expected to be a late round pick. Pauline’s biggest concern is on the medical front, which hasn’t proven to be a problem this season.

Holder has missed three straight games. The other half of Stanford’s outstanding CB duo along with corner Quenton Meeks, Holder had been termed “doubtful” leading into the Notre Dame game. He missed that one, but has better odds this time around.

“We just can’t get it right,” said HC David Shaw of, well, everything. Holder played against Colorado on Saturday after sitting out three contests to nurse a shoulder injury, but he was only able to play one half of that game before being lifted from action due to lingering concern over his injury. The 6-foot-2, 186-pound junior finishes the 2016 campaign having registered 10 tackles (1.0 for loss) and a forced fumble over the course of four games played.

Holder missed the last three games. Colorado’s starting quarterback Sefo Liufau returned to the field in the last game, so Holder will likely be tested.

Pauline viewed Holder as a third-round prospect at the start of the 2017 season, but he missed the final month of that campaign due to a leg injury. He was limited to just four games played in 2016 due to a season-ending shoulder injury, too. Looking past the medical concerns, Pauline writes that when he’s healthy, the 6-foot-2, 186-pound Holder “possesses outstanding size, next-level ball skills and good upside.” We wouldn’t rule out a late Day 2 selection for Holder next spring should he pass the medical benchmarks.

The Cardinal lost a couple of players in the defensive backfield from 2017; and in truth, the secondary wasn’t exactly a strength for Stanford last fall. They will return redshirt senior Alijah Holder, but he’s missed time the last two years with injuries. “The defense as a whole has a lot of questions to answer going forward, but the secondary really has a lot of uncertainly with the losses of top players Justin Reid and Quenton Meeks,” writes Aschoff. “It’s hard to say how close the Cardinal have come to replacing those guys after spring practice was plagued by a rash of injuries.”

This is back to back short season for Holder who exited last October with a shoulder injury. In 2017 the cornerback totaled two tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and an interception.