Las Vegas Raiders: In-depth scouting report of Tanner Muse
By Nico Di Fede
1. The Basics
Tanner Muse has good size for a safety, but he also has good size for what teams want in a modern-day WILL. Muse stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 227 pounds. He had one of the best Combine showings among both safeties and cornerbacks.
His 4.41 40-yard dash was second among safeties and also second among linebackers (he actually ran a 4.32 pre-college, per 247Sports).
His 20 bench press reps were fourth among safeties. His times combined earned him a 132.6 SPARQ score which is well above the average NFL athlete, in the 93rd percentile.
Muse grew up in the small town of Belmont, North Carolina, and attended South Point High School where he played football, basketball, and baseball.
He earned first-team All-State honors as a senior when he accumulated 150 tackles and four interceptions on defense as a safety while rushing for 1,200 yards on offense as a running back.
While he ultimately committed to Clemson, he had offers from nine different schools, most notably Florida and Michigan.
Las Vegas Raiders News: NFL executive sees Aaron Rodgers in Vegas. light. Hot
Now on to his college career where Muse redshirted as a freshman. As a redshirt freshman, he didn’t start but earned Co-Special Teams Defensive Player of the Year honors with 10 special teams tackles.
As a redshirt sophomore, he made nine starts. The next season he started every game (2018) and was named third-team All-ACC finishing the season with 61 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, two interceptions, and five pass deflections.
His best season came as a senior in 2019. Muse was named a third-team All-American, a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, and earned first-team All-ACC honors.
He lined up all over in much of the same vein as Clemson teammate Isaiah Simmons, ending the season with 54 total tackles and career highs in tackles for a loss and interceptions with 5.5 and four respectively.
Playing for Clemson, a school that went to two National Championships in his time there, he definitely fits the mold of well-coached, big-game tested guys Mayock and Gruden have coveted these past two drafts as stated earlier.