Fourth Round gamble for the Phins: Is Walt Aikens worth the risk?
In the 4th round of the Draft the Dolphins decided to go away from their trend of taking captains and high character individuals, and took a chance on Walt Aikens the Cornerback from a small school called Liberty. He was recruited by Clemson and Louisville, but decided to go to Illinois. He actually started 5 games at safety his freshman year, and recorded 32 tackles and 2 passes broken up. Unfortunately he was kicked off the team for pleading guilty for possessing a computer taken from a dorm room. As a result he transferred to a small school called Liberty and played cornerback there.
He immediately becomes the tallest player in the Phins secondary standing at 6’1” and 203 pounds, has nice long arms (32 1/4”) and an athletic body. He has loose hips, can play either press-man or off man and has bit of a swagger. Even though he was from a Division I-AA school he was invited to the Senior Bowl, and showed off his confidence, and with his solid play, he proved he belongs with the big boys from Division I. He also has a quick burst and displays solid ball skills proven by his 7 career interceptions. In addition he is very active in the run defense, and does not shy away from making a tackle. He also is known for trying to rip the ball free from ball carriers with his 6 forced fumbles in his career.
He may not be a starter but he is definitely going to add some competition with last year’s two rookies and Cortland Finnegan for the last remaining CB spot opposite Brent Grimes. But he should definitely get some chances to play in the nickle package. He was projected as a third rounder, but slid because of character concerns, but there is no denying this guy can play and that he makes plays that have an impact on the game, which is evident from his 7 interceptions and 6 forced fumbles. One other side note is that he was actually a 3 sport college athlete participating in football, basketball and track, which any football gambling fan would say is an impressive achievement on its own
