The Guru Breakdown: Clay Burton

After a brief hiatus we bring back a little GUUUURRRUUUUU! This week we hone in on Florida recruit Clay Burton.

Clay Burton
Position: DE/LB
Height/Weight: 6'3 - 230lbs
Forty Time: 4.8
Hometown: Venice, Florida
Stats: 80 tackles, 13 sacks
Offer List: Tennessee, LSU, Clemson, Boston College, West Virginia, South Florida

Strengths: Plays with a ton of aggression and passion....has great size, athleticism, and strength.....good use of hands....moves well laterally.....great burst off of the line of scrimmage and plays until the whistle is blown....can track down plays from the backside....good combination of speed and power of the edge.

Weaknesses/Areas of Concern: A bit of a tweener.....plays Defensive End in HS but will likely be an OLB when he arrives at ND....tackles too high at times....The other concern with him is that he may get to big to be an OLB--his HS coach said he is an animal in the gym and could bulk up to 270.

Overall: Burton plays with a very high motor and is very athletic for his size. Burton fits perfectly into the Irish defensive scheme and should be a major contributor throughout his career. As Florida Varsity analyst Michael Langston has inferred, look for Clay's recruiting ranking to soar over the next six months. A great, underrated (at least for now) get for the 2011 class.

Comparison: I actually thought he was very similar to Kerry Neal (when he was coming out of Bunn HS). He does not have the burst like Darius Fleming has, but he is probably more athletic overall. I'm hesitant to compare him to Neal though because I think he will be more successful.