Name: Jordan Mack
High School: Wesleyan (Norcross GA)
Height/Weight: 6-3, 194 pounds
Ranking: Rivals 3*, 247 3*, ESPN 3*
Additional Offers: Georgia Tech, South Florida, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, & Wisconsin among others.
The Skinny:
Typically, we're not in the business of comparing high school seniors to already established college players, but the Wahoos may have another Quin Blanding-type safety in incoming freshman Jordan Mack. Like Blanding, Mack breaks the mold of a traditional safety, and is built like a linebacker. Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing nearly 200 pounds, Mack is a hard-hitting defensive back that is unafraid to come up and help in run support.
If UVa does indeed switch to a 3-4 defense under new head coach Bronco Mendenhall, the Wahoos could throw in a few 3-5-3 looks, with Mack playing closer to the line of scrimmage in several packages. Mack has a tremendous nose for the football, and often uses his 194-pound frame to launch himself into an opposing ball carrier.
As seen in the film above, Mack can lay the lumber. The future Wahoo does a great job of closing out potential holes in the defense and coming from his spot in the secondary to make a hit at the line of scrimmage. Obviously, He won't be able to pop everybody at the college level like he did on the film above, but Mack has all of the tools to grow into a quality tackler at the next level.
Mack played wide receiver in addition to safety during his time at Wesleyan. The outgoing senior is not the fastest defensive back, but his size will allow Mack to cover bigger targets, particularly in the red zone. Mack plays better in zone coverage than one-on-one, but he his instincts/ball skills combined with his overall size will make him an intimidating counterpart for opposing receivers.
Mack has a high ceiling and is probably one of the best candidates in the class to see the field as a freshman. The staff will have an interesting decision to make in regards to Mack's role in 2016. On one hand, Mack could greatly benefit from a redshirt season before he sees the field. On the other hand, Blanding will likely not be in Charlottesville in 2017. With Mack as a prime candidate to be Blanding's replacement, it would be nice for the former to have some game experience before too much is asked of him.
One thing is for sure, with rising sophomore Juan Thornhill at free safety and Mack at strong, Virginia is in good shape at the safety position for years to come.