Absolutely fantastic Football Outsiders writeup on Kenny Vaccaro

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What should make several NFL teams take notice is Vaccaro’s ability to limit a bigger receiver like Allen and then shut down a slot man like West Virginia’s Austin. Quarterback Geno Smith had 35 attempts in the contest with Austin catching 10 of them for 102 yards and a score. It was a good day for Austin –- when he didn’t have to deal with Vaccaro.

Vaccaro had responsibility in some form of coverage on Austin on 26 of Smith’s throws, but Austin’s production on those plays was minimal. Six of these plays were attempts with Vaccaro in shallow zone coverage. On those plays Austin had 21 yards on two catches –- and the longest came after he left the free safety’s zone. Austin was open four times and only once was this in Vaccaro’s area. On that play, the safety made the tackle.

What’s far more impressive is the number of times Vaccaro faced Austin in single coverage. The safety had Austin one-on-one on 18 pass plays; only three times did Vaccaro receive help from an additional defender in bracket coverage. The other 15 times Vaccaro covered Austin heads-up.

On those snaps in man coverage, I only saw Austin come open once; catching an out in the fourth quarter on third-and-11 for eight yards. Vaccaro made the tackle to prevent the first down. The remaining 14 times Vaccaro covered the slot receiver, Austin was only targeted three times. One of these plays was a crossing route where Vaccaro didn’t bite on Austin’s double move and forced Smith to throw the ball wide of the target. Smith was sacked five times and lost two fumbles on plays where Vaccaro had man coverage on Austin.

When the first half was over, West Virgina knew it had to work away from Vaccaro and they began using shovel passes where they motioned Austin towards the formation. The Texas safety still had responsibility for Austin on both of these "targets," tackling Austin after an eight-yard gain on one. The other resulted in a four-yard loss thanks to the defensive line. The rest of the attempts Austin received were on routes where the offense targeted him away from Vaccaro’s zone.

Excluding these shovel passes behind the line of scrimmage, Vaccaro neutralized one of the most dangerous slot receivers in the college game. He may still take bad angles to the ball carrier, get too reckless with his play, and have difficulty shedding blockers, but this quarterback of the defense is going to make an NFL team happy come April.

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