Thanks to SB Nation’s The 7th Floor blog for this preview. Check out The 7th Floor blog for more on Bailey and his time in Miami.
2011 NFL Draft: DE Allen Bailey, Miami Hurricanes
Bio: Allen Bailey hails from the village of Hogs Hammock (population 49) on Sapelo Island, a barrier island and former slave colony off the coast of Georgia. The legend of Allen Bailey is well documented by those who can tell his tale far more eloquently than I -- here, here, here and here -- but the short version is that Allen Bailey is a genetic freak (6'3, 285, nary an ounce of body fat; 4.77 - 40 yd dash, 36.5 vertical) and is rumored to have killed a 6 ft. alligator with a shovel in his back yard, as an adolescent. Bailey played in all 12 games his freshman season at Miami (predominantly on special teams).
As a starter at DE/DL, Bailey led the University of Miami in sacks and tackles for loss, in his Sophomore, Junior and Senior seasons. This despite facing an inordinate amount of double-teams, and despite being asked to move from DE to DT, and back, about 400 times. Miami's coaching staff was never able to fully exploit Bailey's freakish athletic abilities. We at the Seventh Floor believe that Allen Bailey will be a monster in the NFL. We project Bailey to go in the late first round, although there have been rumblings that he may fall to the second round. Regardless, we expect him to make an immediate impact wherever he goes.
Scheme: Anyone who has suffered through University of Miami football for the last few years knows that Miami basically ran a 4-3 base cover two defense on every... single... play. Injuries and lack of depth forced Bailey to move around from DE to DT quite a bit his Junior year, and to a lesser extent his Senior year. Personally, we believe his freakish athletic abilities are best utilized at DE, however he has proven himself to be more than versatile, and could be a dream come true for a defensive coach with some imagination and creativity (something Bailey did not have in any of his 4 years at Miami).
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