Today’s “Breaking Down” will be about Bengals 5th round pick and forer WVU Mountaineer, Safety Robert Sands. Sands left West Virginia early following his Junior year. He was recruited to WVU playing Linebacker originally but was converted to Safety right away. That conversion to Safety proved to be a great choice considering he’s been a starter for them now for 3 years. If you were to ask the “draft gurus” before the draft most would say he’s top 5 for the position and was a 3rd to 4th round grade. So once again it appears the Bengals struck again in the draft getting a lot of value in their pick.
Official Combine Stats:
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 217
40 Yrd Dash: 4.53
20 Yrd Dash: 2.59
10 Yrd Dash: 1.59
Bench Press: 12
Vertical Jump: 35″
Broad Jump: 10’4″
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.06
3-Cone Drill: 7.03
When talking about Robert Sands, let me defer first to the National Football Post and their Draft Master Wes Bunting.
"A tall, long-armed safety prospect who has a strong frame and plays with a real passion for the game. Brings it every week and isn’t a guy who is afraid to throw his body around. Displays impressive pop and power as a striker, lowers his pad level into contact, wraps well through the play and consistently brings his legs. Does a nice job filling the alley when asked to attack downhill and is a good open-field tackler. Isn’t as impressive in pursuit. Struggles to consistently take proper angles, will underrun plays and is forced at times to open his hips and use his straight-line speed to track his man down toward the sideline."
I love the tools this kid brings to the table. He has so much to add considering his size and solid speed. Coach Coyle (DB coach) of the Bengals already said the day they drafted Sands he would be going from Free Safety at WVU to Strong Safety. His size and ability to drop the hammer gives him the ability to be the “extra linebacker” that Zimmer’s defense requires at the SS position. Another reason why his pick up is so intriguing is his ability to cover the pass so well. He was OK at his pass playing the Free, but considering how the bar is lowered just a tad for pass coverage by the Strong Safety position he’s considered much more of an asset in pass coverage. He may not become an instant starter, but in a year or 2 could be the starting safety for the Bengals. Expect to see him brought in for red zone situations, running downs and special teams.
To see some more about Robert “Sandman” Sands check out his sophomore highlight video.
Concerning his jersey number this year, Sands is currently listed as #49. But as he’s made mention on his twitter, he’s ” not feeling it”. It can be assumed that when the opportunity is available he will change his jersey to another number that becomes available due to Free Agency. The player with the longest tenure with 49 is former linebacker Guy Frazier who wore it from 1981-84. Frazier may be remembered as the special teams player who caused a fumble in the opening kickoff during Super Bowl XVI. But if he doesn’t change it’s safe to say Sands could make 49 his own.
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