Justin Dunning scouting report: Physical freak

Justin Dunning is a top defensive player in the class of 2015, receiving scholarship offers from top-level programs across the nation.

Dunning attends Whitehouse (Texas) Whiehouse High School, and is an athlete who can play multiple positions at the next level. Rivals, 247Sports, Scout and ESPN all list him as a safety, but 247Sports also lists him as an outside linebacker. He is listed at 6’3 and weighs in at 200 pounds.

Dunning is a consensus four-star recruit, receiving the mark from 247Sports, Rivals, Scout and ESPN. Rivals is highest on the recruit, ranking him as the seventh-best safety in the nation, while Scout also ranks him as one of the top 10 players at the position in the class. The 247Sports Composite, which aggregates the ratings of all four major recruiting services, rates him as a four-star, ranking him as the 11th-best safety in the nation and the 31st-best player in the state of Texas.

Dunning claims offers from Texas A&M, Arizona State, Baylor, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas, among others.

At the recent Dallas NFTC, Dunning managed to post the seventh-best SPARQ rating despite the fact that he is still recovering from an ACL tear that he suffered in early September of 2013 that ended his junior season shortly after it began. His testing day included a 4.59 40 that left him disappointed despite his recent injury, as well as a 4.31 shuttle and a 37.3-inch vertical.

As a result of his impressive testing numbers and work in positional drills, Dunning earned a coveted invite to The Opening, at which point he should be able to post numbers closer to the incredible marks he turned in at the ESTN Combine last May, when he ran a 4.41 40, had a 40.4-inch vertical leap, and ran a 4.19 shuttle.

The real question for Dunning moving forward is what position he plays in college. Clearly, there aren’t any questions about his speed and agility with the 40 times and shuttle times that he put up before his injury, so his size isn’t necessarily a concern as it relates to his ability to stay at safety.

But as he continues to grow, it’s likely that his weight will increase to the point where it makes the most sense to play him at linebacker, where he would have to range to stretch from sideline to sideline. However, despite the fact that his frame could hold 230 pounds eventually, he didn’t gain any weight between last May and this April, perhaps as a result of his knee injury, though the ACL did not keep him from working on his upper body.

From the safety position as a sophomore, Dunning was an impactful player because of his closing speed and ball skills, which are aided by his height, length, and elite vertical leap. When he wasn’t able to make interceptions, he was consistently able to break up passes because of his timing and body control.

Against the run, the speed of Dunning makes him a rangy player capable of catching ball carriers in the open field -- he doesn’t have his angles blown up, instead saving touchdowns. Coming downhill, it’s much of the same, though he could stand to save the tackling launches with his shoulder for when he is along the sideline. When intent on it, Dunning can sink his hips, wrap up, and bring his feet to make form tackles.

The athleticism of Dunning makes him a rare prospect at his height and his skill in coverage and tackling ability allow him to project favorably at safety if he doesn’t gain a significant amount of weight and at linebacker if he does.