Dontay Corleone or better known as “The Godfather”, is a 2 gapping monster for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Rated as a 3 star recruit and a top 50 player in the state of Ohio, Corleone stayed home and committed to the Bearcats in 2019 signing in 2021.
He didn’t see any action in his freshman campaign redshirting. In his RS Freshman season however, Corleone earned Third Team All-American awards from PFF and the Associated Press in 2022. Following up a successful RS Freshman year as a sophomore Corleone earned Second Team All-Big 12 honors and boasted the third highest PFF grade (83.6) out of all Big 12 interior defensive lineman. With this Corleone was also named #16 on Bruce Feldman’s “Freak’s list”.
Despite a tragic setback of being diagnosed with blood clots to begin the 2024 season, Corleone has now bounced back and picked up right where he left off wreaking havoc among the landscape of CFB.
Player Info
Name: Dontay Corleone
Jersey: No. 2
Position: Interior Defensive Line
School: Cincinnati
Class: Redshirt Junior
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 320 lbs.
Dontay Corleone’s Strengths
Corleone is a freakish mover at 320, Cincinnatis base defensive front is an odd front with a 0 and Corleone plays that 0 with intent to harm. He has quick lateral agility and a snappy get off, pairing that with the use of his violent hands makes for a great run defender.
He’s got big paws and him grabbing ahold of opposing OL is never good for them. As a pass rusher he has quick hands and fluid hip mobility that allows for Corleone to get inside of Centers and Guards to earn quick pressures on QBs.
His pad level and understanding of leverage is some of the best in the class for this IDL group. Going back to his get off it all pairs together with how athletic he is getting clocked in at running at speeds of 18 MPH. Pair this athletic ability with the high motor Corleone has and he will begin to rise up NFL draft boards after the combine.
Dontay Corleone’s Weaknesses
The clear weakness for Corleone is his health, the medicals will be a question mark for many evaluators and scouts until pro days and the Senior Bowl.
With this, Corleone also needs to work on his conditioning, he leaves many reps on the field due to being sidelined for breaks and I would love to see him get that fixed to get a full NFL workload. His pass rushing bag needs to be improved consisting of really only 2-3 moves that are all relatively similar and repetitive.
Corleone on occasion struggles to disengage from OL as well getting caught up on blocks for too long and getting silenced from the play.
Draft Projection
Corleone is a top 50 lock in my eyes and is the no.2 IDL prospect on my board as it stands right now. His combination of burst, get off, and raw strength is enough to make any GM fall in love with him as a prospect. He will be a high floor long term starter for many teams and if used right has Pro-Bowl potential at DT.
Teams that are heavy in ODD front usage or 4-3 Under usage would be great fits for Corleone allowing him to “2-gap” and sit anywhere from a 0T-3T. Some fits for him I really like: Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
