Rankings:
Nawrocki: #3 strong safety. Not in top 150 prospects. Grade: 5.24, should make a roster and contribute on special teams.
Not in Mayock's or Kiper's top 100.
DraftCountdown.com: #172 player overall, #14 safety. Mid-round grade.
Scouts Inc.: #195 player overall, #12 position. Grade: 48, adequate to borderline draft prospect.
Biography/Honors:
2013: Honorable mention all-Mountain West. Started 13 games at free safety. 80 tackles, 6 pass breakups, one INT, 9 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.
2012: Suspended from football team (see Off-field).
2011: Played in 12 games at OLB with 8 starts. 45 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 QB hurries and one pass breakup.
2010: (JC) Played in 12 games, with 98 tackles, 4 pass breakups, one INT, 19 tackles for loss, 8 sacks and a forced fumble. Was second in the NJCAA in tackles for loss.
2009: At Arizona Western College (JC), played in 10 games, with 81 tackles, 2 INTs, 17.5 tackles for loss, 7 sacks and two forced fumbles.
Academics: Graduated last fall with interdisciplinary studies major in sociology and physical education.
Off-field:
2012: Sent a teammate to the hospital for emergency surgery after punching him in the face in a fight after a party. Was sentenced to a year of jail for aggravated assault, which was plead down from a 2nd-degree felony. Spent 45 days in jail after judge suspended the rest of his sentence. Kicked off the football team.
Injuries:
2013: Wrist surgery kept him out of bowl game and from bench-pressing at the Combine.
Twitter handle: @MoYo_45
NFL Combine Stats:
(2014 Combine averages for safeties in parentheses)
40-yard dash: 4.54 (4.58)
Vertical jump: 38" (34.5" – Alexander tied for highest jump by a safety)
Broad jump: 10'3" (9'10" – Alexander had 3rd-longest jump by a safety)
3-cone drill: 7.05 (7.08)
20-yard shuttle: 4.51 (4.26 – Alexander had worst time by a safety)
Bench presses: DNP
Wonderlic score: 14
Scouting Report:
Converted LB with some thump. Big, physical and aggressive safety who will come up and slam the ball carrier. Delivers hits that opponents remember. Ideal size for the NFL strong safety position. Fits well in the run game. Regularly makes plays in the opponent's backfield. Very good size and movement skills. Underrated instincts and range in coverage. Covers a lot of ground and can jump through the roof. Energetic, aggressive, experienced player. Effective blitzer and special-teams contributor. Coaches praised his maturity after returning to team last year.
LB/safety tweener. Struggles at man coverage and deep coverage. Poor at reading and reacting. Lacks the foot speed to keep up with receivers. Gets himself into position well to make plays but then doesn't finish the play. Will get overaggressive and take bad angles or miss a tackle going for the big hit. Will be limited to run support specialist. Compares to: poor man's Kam Chancellor
Fun Facts:
Maurice is a St. Louis-area native (Eureka, MO) and formerly worked in the Edward Jones Dome as a janitor. As a junior college player, he played in a Texas Bowl and a Mississippi Bowl.
RamView:
Though Alexander brings excellent size and athleticism to the position, which I assume will be safety, the Rams reached here. He's not a refined cover man at all, and his type of in-the-box safety can usually be had very late in the draft. In fact, the Rams have made several decent UDFA pickups at safety in recent years. As much as I'd love to bag on Fisher/Snead for yet again acquiring a player with a criminal record, seeing how Alexander bore down in school and graduated early, I feel safe thinking that fight was a heat-of-the-moment, one-time thing. I like the kid and think the Rams have a very specific role in mind for him that he'll be good at. They could have filled that role a lot later, though. Thumbs to the side.
Sources: NFL Draft 2014 Preview (Nolan Nawrocki), NFLDraftScout.com, DraftCountdown.com (Scott Wright), Scouts Inc., Boston Herald, Utah State University athletics. Ramview (Mike Franke)