Vontaze Burfict’s Slide Continuing?

Arizona State LB Vontaze Burfict headed into the season as one of the top 10 prospects in all of college footballs with a lot of lofty praise for Burfict as he drew comparisons to great players like Patrick Willis and Ray Lewis. However, he did not play as aggressively at times this year limiting his impact at times, but yet he still managed to collect the lion’s share of personal foul penalties. There are a lot of questions about Burfict’s instincts as well as his work ethic.

Tony Pauline of Draftinsider.net reports that Burfict could be seeing his stock slip even further.

The buzz around Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict unfortunately continues to be negative. I was told at the Senior Bowl when he showed up for combine training in January, Burfict looked soft and out of shape. Latest word has him completing less than 15 reps on the bench recently and Burfict has been slowed by a leg (hamstring) issue. All that we’ve talked with say the biggest issue surrounding the often times dominant linebacker is work ethic.

As one of the few remaining fans of Burfict I’m starting to get worried. I think instincts can be taught through rigorous film study and plus coaching, but work ethic is a huge red-flag for me. And this bears watching. His talent though will earn him a shot at some point in round one or two and a team could end up with a steal, or Brian Bosworth.

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