On National Signing Day eve, UofL Football gets a huge commitment from 3 Star AZ TE prospect Dez Melton.
— Dez Melton (@bigdes01) February 5, 2019
With only one scholarship TE and with Scott Satterfield’s offense heavily reliant on TEs, Melton is a welcome addition to the team.
The 6’4 210 lbs Melton played for Deer Valley High School in Glendale, AZ. He chose UofL over offers from Iowa State, Arizona State, Arizona, Nebraska, San Diego State, and Northern Arizona per 247sports.
In reviewing his highlights, Melton is an athlete with speed, power, balance, and excellent hands. He showed the ability to make tacklers miss, pick up blitzes and block in general, and the ability to break away from defenses for big gains. Primarily used as a RB and WR in high school, he will be a TE for Scott Satterfield. All of the traits he exhibited as a RB/TE should translate to the TE position.
Blocking
Satterfield loves using his TEs as blockers in the run game. Dez Melton will be able to do that for Satterfield. He displayed the ability to move quickly to engage his defender and block them; and he displayed a nastiness in his blocking. I imagine he will be really excellent blocking in the screen game for bubble screens and standard screens as well.
Catching and Yards After Catch
Melton can be a huge weapon in the passing game. He has great hands and catches the ball with his hands and not his body. He’s a big target at 6’4 and has a wide catch radius. Melton will use his size to go up and high point the ball.
After he catches the ball, Melton is a terror. For his size, Melton is shifty. He uses a variety of cuts and jukes to make tacklers miss and get a lot of yards after the catch. His sheer size also makes him very hard to bring down when defenders actually get their hands on him. Once he gets in the open field, Melton actually has some jets and can pull away from defenders.
Strength and Power
Melton is naturally strong. As mentioned above, he is an excellent blocker; his strength shines in this aspect of his game. It also shines when he plows through would-be tacklers as a runner. They fall by the wayside as he advances the ball down the field. The scary thing for the ACC defenders he will face is that he will put on more muscle once he gets in UofL’s strength and conditioning program; making him even stronger.
Satterfield has again plugged a gaping hole in the roster with a very talented player in Dez Melton. Melton gives him a very versatile player. While Melton will be a TE, with his skills, I wouldn’t be surprised if UofL uses him in a variety of ways. Regardless, Melton is a great addition and has the opportunity to be a big-time playmaker for the Cards.
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