Malik Dorton has a lot of potential to be a fierce defender at the FBS level. The defensive end from Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco High stands at 6’3 and weighs in at 230 pounds and should be a name to watch in the near future.
A three-star recruit in the 247Sports Composite rankings, Dorton is singled out by ESPN for his ability to stop the run and is ranked the 21st-best defensive end and 18th-best California prospect. Dorton is considered the 16th-best weak-side defensive end by Rivals. 247Sports ranks Dorton the 19th-best strong-side defensive end and the 45th-best recruit in the state of California, and Scout ranks Dorton 38th among all defensive ends.
Dorton holds over a dozen offers from schools like USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, Nebraska, Boise State and Vanderbilt. You can follow Dorton on Twitter at @theeEliteMalik and watch his highlight video reel on Hudl. Dorton is a “mid-sized” defensive end recruit. He’s listed at 6’3” and carries a nice shoulder and hip base. He has a stout upper body with plenty of room for added muscle. He should be able to eventually max out in the 260-265 pound range.
Malik Dorton scouting report: Defensive end a heavy run stuffer
The Southern California defender is quite the run stopper and could be an imposing force this season.
Scouting
One of Dorton’s primary qualities is his versatility along the defensive line. For his high school team he is deployed as a 5 tech, 7 tech, and ‘wide- nine’ defensive end. In addition, he also occasionally lines up as a stand-up rush linebacker when his team goes to a 3-4 alignment on passing downs. His skill-set provides a lot of scheme flexibility.
Dorton shows a good first-step off the line. Although he isn’t the rangiest defender, he fully extends into contact on most downs and keeps his frame clean. Does not get hung up on blockers, disengages cleanly and transitions into pursuit. Also, he tracks the ball well and uses efficient angles to get to the ball carriers
Versus the run or pass, Dorton flashes good closing burst. He especially excels in running plays down from the backside. He isn’t the best quick twitch athlete and has to gather himself prior to re-distributing his momentum. He demonstrates more explosive movement going downhill or scraping laterally than he does changing direction. He understands leverage and hand placement and does a great job setting the edge versus the run.
Based on footage from this spring and summer Dorton has added weapons to his pass- rush repertoire. In his game film, he has always carried good speed off the edge. Now, he has developed counter-moves to compliment his speed rush.
Dorton excelled on the camp circuit with his ability to convert speed to power. Basically, he feigns an outside speed rush, pivots back toward the tackle near the end of his arc, shoots his hands into the tackles chest plate knocking him backwards to collapse the pocket. He has also has flashed a nice spin move to function as a counter to his outside speed rush. He does a nice job threatening the edge, then taking a hard jab step with his outside foot and spinning back inside.
