AnalysisPositives: Has adequate overall muscle tone and a frame that can carry at least another 10 pounds of bulk...Aggressive tackler who puts good power behind his hits...Shows quickness and agility and is aggressive to the ball...Has football intelligence and is able to learn and adjust on the field with ease...Makes the calls in the secondary and plays with good awareness, reacting quickly...Shows toughness and competitiveness on the field, going hard and making a few big plays...Delivers big hits and brings good, physical power when making initial contact...Works hard and shows competitive speed on the field...Shows a lot of pride in his work and training habits and is a team player...Works hard and is a coachable player who has been described as an "overachiever"...Alert and shows awareness to routes and receivers and is aggressive vs. the run...Plays with good field vision in zone coverage, adjusting on the move to routes and receivers, and he shows the ability to anticipate and get a jump on the ball...Though he lacks a burst and has questionable timed speed, he takes good angles and shows competitive speed while covering the deep outside...Shows aggressiveness and plays with a lot of desire...Has awareness and the ability to adjust to and make a play on the ball...Has the ability to extend and catch balls in his hands with ease...Shows good concentration while catching balls in traffic...Reacts quickly to and shows aggressiveness in run support...Has the ability to step up on the goal line and deliver a solid hit...His ability to read keys will generally put him in position to make plays on the ball...Uses his hands well to jam and reroute short-area receivers and is very physical using the press...Does a good job of squaring his shoulders, sinking his pads and driving through the ball carrier to impact the outside running game...Adds to his resume as a top-flight special teams player, showing good urgency getting down the field to cover on kicks.Negatives: Runs with a long stride and shows steady acceleration, but has questionable top-end speed...Foot quickness, flexibility and ability to redirect while on the move are suspect...Has marginal ability to learn and retain information...Reacts quickly and can run with tight ends in man coverage, but lacks good foot quickness and the ability to redirect, as well as a good burst and top-end speed...Not smooth in his backpedal and lacks the foot quickness and body control in his transition to quickly redirect, as well as the necessary burst to close on the ball...Shows ball awareness and will break and go for the ball, but has questionable leaping ability...Though his timing is good, his ability to jump for balls has been inconsistent...Struggles to break down and maintain good body control to tackle while on the move...Flashes a solid hit-and-wrap tackling technique and will make aggressive ankle tackles, but struggles to break down and to get the ballcarrier on the ground...Has questionable jumping ability...Inconsistent when on the move to break down, as he does not exhibit good body control...Struggles at times to break down and bring the runner down...Struggles to recover when a receiver gets behind him, as he tends to be a bit rigid opening his hips in attempts to turn and close on the ball...Needs to be more explosive coming out of his breaks, especially when playing deep in the secondary, as teams have had success attacking him underneath due to the big cushion he allows...Lacks natural hands due to a wrist dislocation in 2005 that took away his range of motion...Has had other injuries that could lead to durability concerns.Compares To: ERIC SMITH-New York Jets...Smith's physical style of play saw him push Erik Coleman off the Jets' roster in 2008 and Horton has the same physical approach in his game. He is a very tough player who has a nice combination of size and the ability to play in the box. He has valid field instincts, is rarely caught out of position and tackles well in the open field. He does struggle in man coverage and tends to get a bit cautious by allowing a big cushion, but he plays with a good motor. He's not really a great playmaker and because of his reckless, hard-hitting style, durability might be a concern, as he's been nicked up in recent seasons.
