Jalen Tabor is one of the top cornerback recruits on the East Coast. He stars for Washington (D.C.) Friendship Academy.
Tabor is a consensus four-star recruit, and is widely regarded as one of the 10 best cornerback recruits nationally. He checks in at 6'1, 190. Tabor holds offers from Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Maryland, Michigan, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, plus about 20 more.
Bud Elliott, National Recruiting Analyst: Tabor is a really fine prospect. He has prototypical size for a cornerback recruit and is very long.
Tabor is a press corner. He uses his length and strength to press receivers at the line of scrimmage, disrupt and re-route them. Tabor should immediately be able to play press man coverage in college.
Some other parts of his game, however, do need work. Tabor does not profile as a cornerback who is set up to excel in off-man coverage. His hips are good for his size, but not great overall. And his top-end speed is nothing special.
Tabor can be an excellent pass defender if asked to press or play in short zones, but he does need help over the top. He contests balls very well, and should be a great asset in the red zone, with his height, length, strength and leaping ability.
Against the run, Tabor is pretty much perfect. He easily defeats blockers and takes out running backs with ease, resembling a safety more than a corner.
Tabor projects as a recruit who could start as a true freshman at many BCS schools. However, he has the best of the best offers in college football, and those schools recruit players of Tabor's caliber every season. Given that, he may see more playing time on special teams in 2014 before working his way into the lineup. Tabor is a very good prospect.