Marquise

Blair

Blair (6’1/195) spent two years at Utah after transferring from JUCO, tallying five career tackles for loss and two picks and earning second-team All-Pac 12 as a senior. Blair helped himself with a 4.48 forty and explosive 10-foot-5 broad jump at the Combine, confirming the high-end speed Blair flashed on college tape. An aggressive striker with experience at both single-high and box safety, Blair’s range, explosive movement skills, and knack for laying wood on ball carriers gives him underrated upside as a possible D.J. Swearinger-level player.

“That aggression can be both a strength and a weakness as it has taken him out of plays and games, but at the same time helped him position to make plays,” Miller wrote. Blair (6'1/195), who was compared to current free agent S Chris Conte, was used all over the secondary while at Utah and that versatility could serve him well in the NFL. He has also been compared to Madieu Williams by NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein, with Blair expected to go somewhere in the top 100 picks by many draft analysts.

“I think he can run and hit and I think he can play in big space,” the coach said, adding that he views the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Blair as a sleeper candidate to watch in this defensive backs class. NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein referred to the Utah standout as a “full-throttle prospect with the mindset of a linebacker’ in his scouting breakdown released earlier this draft season.

Blair (6'1/195) is an “Athletic, full-throttle prospect with the mindset of a linebacker in a free safety body,” according to Zierlein. He would be ranked higher but “lacks discipline” and there are concerns about the durability of his “slender frame” because of how he throws his body around. Blair produced an athletic composite score in the 59th percentile at the NFL Scouting Combine and should be selected sometime in the top-100 selections.

Ledyard believes that while Blair has not received a ton of pub to date, he could find an NFL home in the range of picks Nos. 60-100 or thereabouts. First up, though, he’ll need to slice ‘n’ dice the combine. The analyst sees Blair doing just that, noting that the “explosiveness and apparent long speed” he has shown on tape should show out in testing.

Utah’s defense is the main reason why they’re going to play Washington or Washington State next Saturday in the Pac-12 title game, and Blair (6'2/195) has been one of the key contributors. He’s battled injuries -- and also has been ejected from a pair of games this year -- but he’s a hard-nose player who makes plays in the run game while keeping the top on the defense as well. He’ll certainly be a player that scouts look hard at in Mobile.

Blair went low on a quarterback and was ejected after review. It’s the second time that the senior linebacker has been ejected for the penalty this season, as he was also ejected against Wisconsin. He’ll miss the rest of this game and the first half against Arizona State next Saturday.

This one was pretty cut and dry, as Blair put the crown of his helmet right into the chin of Washington RB Myles Gaskins, so it is surprising that the review took as long as it did.

The No. 46 player in the ESPN JC 50 originally signed with Syracuse in 2016 as a three-star prospect. “Blair is at his best in pressure schemes where he is allowed to flow freely and attack the football,” noted ESPN in a scouting report. “Has immediate impact type talent but likely in a role player position.” At sub-200 pounds, Blair looks and runs like a safety, but he flies downhill like a linebacker.