When the first day of Shrine Bowl practices got underway, I was on a mission to identify the best talent here in Las Vegas at the defensive back position, my traditional position of expertise in scouting. Thus, I decided to pay particularly close attention to the first WR/DB 1v1 session. Enter Nick Muse, standing at a towering 6’5” 260 pounds, and tormenting the East squad’s safeties with a unique combination of high-level route running, physicality to release at the second level, and impenetrable grip at the catch point.
Over the next four days, I witnessed the South Carolina product win in a variety of ways, including crafty route running to beat man coverage in short areas, an understanding of how to find windows in zone coverage, and repeatedly hauling on contested catches with defenders draped all over him.