OVERVIEW

Alston is a good athlete with the quick feet, agility and flexibility to make plays consistently out in space -- he can bend his knees, sink his hips and adjust and tackle well. When he has a clear path to the ball, he has good playing speed chasing plays down and making tackles in pursuit. He is a very smart football player who consistently handles his assignments -- he maintains good position, takes on the lead blocker strong at the point of attack and forces the play back inside where his teammates can make the tackle. He does a good job dropping off the ball into zone coverage, reads the quarterback/pass well, closes on passes in front of him and makes hard hits right after the ball gets to the receiver. He has experience rushing the passer as a blitzer and when he lines up at defensive end in passing situations and will be a good pass rusher in the NFL. Overall, Alston is the type of linebacker who often gets overlooked because he is not flashy and does not make big, impact plays. But he is a good athlete who is consistently in good position, does his job well and is versatile enough to make plays vs. the run, dropping into coverage and rushing the quarterback.

STRONG POINTS

Alston is a good athlete with the agility, quick feet and flexibility to move and make plays well out in space. He can sink his hips to tackle with a wide base, which helps him to adjust and tackle well. When he is left unblocked on the backside, he does a good job of coming down the line of scrimmage and making tackles in pursuit. He does a very good job of playing outside and handling his contain assignment -- he stands up the lead blocker and maintains outside position to keep the run inside. He is very smooth dropping quickly off the ball into zone coverage, reads and reacts to the pass well, can close to make plays on the ball consistently and has very good hands to step in front of the receiver to make the interception. He can cover tight ends/running backs well on short and medium routes and has shown an ability to break up passes.

Bios courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com