Film Room: Zion Childress

Thanks to the team building options that the transfer portal now provides, roster construction never sleeps in college football. With a couple of available scholarships, Kentucky went after Texas State defensive back Zion Childress late in the process.

After considering both TCU and Washington, the Wildcats won out in this recruitment as defensive coordinator Brad White has added a third transfer to his secondary following a commitment from Zion Childress. The former high school quarterback out of New Caney (Texas) High hails from the Houston metro area and did not play defense until enrolling at Texas State. However, the low three-star recruitment made an immediate impact for head coach Jake Spavital.

Zion Childress appeared in 24 games over two seasons with the Bobcats drawing 14 starting assignments with 135 tackles and nine pass breakups over two seasons in the Sun Belt. The rising junior entered the transfer portal on April 25 and would find a home a couple of weeks later.

The transfer will report to campus when the Kentucky program begins their summer offseason training in June in preparation of fall camp beginning in August. Before that arrives, we’re going to dive into the tape at KSR to see what the eighth transfer addition of the season will bring to the Wildcats.

When digging into Zion Childress as a prospect, his statistical profile immediately sticks out. The Texas product was an immediate producer at the Sun Belt level and the havoc production stands out. In just two seasons, Childress has produced multiple pass breakups (9), tackles for loss (2), and forced fumbles (2). That disruption occurs when Childress is aggressive and plays downhill.

As Baylor comes out in a formation into the boundary, Zion Childress is aligned as a strong safety who slides down into the box to act as an extra run support player on the red zone ep. At the snap, Baylor runs a speed option into the boundary. Childress does a great job with play recognition and then sticks to his assignment as the edge player has the back and Childress draws the quarterback. Upon arrival, Childress plays with good pad level placing his helmet towards the sideline allowing him to gain outside leverage over the offensive player. That leads to a hit on the football that causes a potential turnover play in situational football.

Alignment, assignment, and suddeness are all flashed in this rep.

Texas State moved Zion Childress around quite a lot in the secondary and the defensive back never hesitated when it came time to pop some pads. On the inside zone action, Childress quickly recognizes the run concepts and gets downhill in a hurry to make a play on the football.

Childress does a good job finding the ball to put himself in position to get a solid stop in run support. The lunge nearly takes him out of the play, but he just does enough to slow the runner down and get the offensive player on the ground. Once again, the defensive back flashes instincts and is not afraid of contact. Add that in with solid burst and there is an intriguing skillset.

Zion Childress is listed at 6-foot and 195 pounds, but the defensive player appears to be bigger than that on tape. The transfer has some real length for his position and that shows up in pass coverage.

Against Boston College as a true freshman, Childress is being used in the box and draws the No. 3 receiver (count from outside-in) into the field (large side of the field) for his coverage assignment. On the vertical release, the safety does a good job trailing the route and makes a play on the ball when the throw arrives.

Good technique helps force an incompletion as Childress does a solid job of not getting handsy and using his length to make a play on the ball.

The loss of Vito Tisdale created another void in a Kentucky secondary that already had some obvious holes to fill. After going through spring practice, the coaching staff addressed those by adding both Jordan Robinson and Keidron Smith from the portal. However, the third safety position that could be described as a nickel was left untouched.

Adding Zion Childress to the roster helps address that. The Texas State transfer played mainly a traditional safety last season, but there is good tape available as a true freshman playing a nickel role in the Sun Belt. Childress has length, suddenness, and is willing to get physical. That gives the junior a good starting point when transitioning to the SEC.

There is some inefficient tackling through two years and that is a concern, but Childress is on record about being more comfortable in coverage and that appears where Kentucky will utilize him most. Expect the transfer to compete with Joel Williams for playing time at Kentucky’s medium position as Childress provides some coverage skills along with physicality.