Tyree
Gillespie.
Tyree
Gillespie.
Missouri· 5'12"· 207 lb· 4.38s 40
"A 5-11¾, 207-pound Missouri box safety with special-teams thump, sub-4.4 straight-line juice and 25 career starts, but tight hips and inconsistent angles — a Day 3 downhill sub-package bet."Pre-draft read
He aligns as a downhill box safety, excelling coming forward as an alley run defender in two-high shells or as a robber. He reads run keys quickly and gets skinny through traffic. His closing speed allows him to deliver impact tackles. False steps appear against play-action.
In man coverage, he displays enough short-area quickness to stay attached to tight ends and backs on shallow crossers. He played as a green-dot communicator in single-high looks. His hips are tight in transition, and he has a high pedal, struggling to carry vertical routes from a middle-of-the-field alignment. Ball skills are average, with him playing through hands rather than attacking the football.
Fangio two-high based defenses or Cover-3 match schemes, which stress run defense from their safeties and prioritize short-area coverage over deep-field ball skills.
Immediate Year 1 special teams ace and sub-package dimebacker who can develop into a versatile box safety with strong run support and green-dot communication capabilities.
Pure single-high defenses that require extensive deep-third coverage, particularly those that ask safeties to flip and carry vertical routes from the middle of the field.
A hard-hitting, downhill safety with excellent straight-line speed but limited fluidness in coverage transitions, he profiles best as an in-the-box defender who can match tight ends and contribute heavily on special teams.
Missouri Tigers Safety Tyree Gillespie Official Senior Year Highlights
Full 2020 senior-season reel showing downhill triggers, alley tackling and box blitz work.
Tyree Gillespie - S - 2021 NFL Draft
Pre-draft evaluation cut with route recognition and run-support tape.
Raiders Drafted S Tyree Gillespie
Draft-night reaction highlighting the athletic profile and special-teams fit in Las Vegas.
This player projects as a strong-safety/dime hybrid who operates primarily in the box, capable of blitzing on green-dog assignments and contributing on special teams. His best fit is with a team seeking a physical presence near the line of scrimmage who can contribute immediately in specific packages and coverage assignments due to his sub-4.4 forty-yard dash speed.
He served as a three-year starter at Missouri, primarily deployed as the strong safety. He accumulated 89 tackles, six pass breakups, and two interceptions across the 2019 and 2020 seasons, earning praise for his closing burst on run fits and physicality. He also wore the green-dot communicator in his senior year, aligning the secondary and diagnosing run/pass keys.
Evaluators generally saw him as a Day 3 prospect, with a clear split in opinion regarding his special teams value versus his coverage limitations, which included stiff transitions on tape and a 108-inch broad jump. The Raiders selected him in the fourth round, acknowledging potential coverage flags but valuing his athletic ceiling for a dime role and his profile as a core-four special teams contributor.
- 01
Sub-4.4 straight-line speed
He ran a 4.38 forty-yard dash at 207 pounds during Missouri's pro day, giving him sub-package range and closing burst that highlights his downhill trigger.
- 02
Physical run defender
He attacks alleys with significant impact, wrapping through contact and finishing tackles effectively. Missouri regularly used him as an eighth defender in short-yardage situations.
- 03
Special-teams profile
He was a three-year core contributor on Missouri's coverage units, possessing the size, speed, and finishing ability suitable for gunner and punt team roles.
- 04
Football IQ and communication
He wore the green dot as a senior, aligning the back end and quickly diagnosing run/pass keys. Coaches noted his film study and ability to redirect pre-snap fits.
- 05
Positional versatility in the box
He is comfortable stacking in the alley, blitzing off the edge, and covering tight ends and running backs man-to-man on short routes, fitting a modern dime linebacker role.
- 01
Tight hips in transition
His pedal-to-turn mechanics are labored, especially when opening to the boundary, which makes vertical carries from a middle-of-the-field alignment shaky.
- 02
Average length and catch radius
His 31¼-inch arms and 9⅝-inch hands limit his contest window, resulting in thin ball production and a tendency to play through hands over attacking the football.
- 03
Uneven explosive testing
His 108-inch broad jump and 4.39 short shuttle rank in the bottom quartile for safeties, suggesting his sub-4.4 forty might overstate his short-area burst.
- 04
Angles versus speed in space
Against outside runs and boot action, he occasionally overruns fits or takes flat angles, creating cutback lanes; his deep-third leverage is unproven.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.38sp50
- Vertical
- 35.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 108inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.06sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.39sp50
- Bench
- 15repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missouri | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Missouri | 13 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | Missouri | 12 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2020 | Missouri | 9 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Career | — | 41 | 146 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Physical box/dime safety with tight hips, quality run support and a coverage snap count capped by transition mechanics.
Ceiling as a heady, downhill strong safety who plays bigger than his frame and grows into a defensive-signal-caller role.
Special-teams-first fourth-rounder who never earns starter snaps and bounces between practice squads and 53s.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Bust. Rotational Year 1 (special teams), cut before Year 2. Signed with the Titans, Panthers on futures deals, out of the league by 2024.
Pre-draft context. Tyree Gillespie arrived at Missouri as a lightly recruited safety out of Ocala, Florida, and left as a three-year starter with 25 games at strong safety and the green-dot communicator role in 2020. He measured 5-11¾, 207 pounds with 31¼-inch arms and posted a 4.38 forty and 35½-inch vertical at his pro day, though the 108-inch broad jump and 4.39 shuttle flagged tighter hips than the straight-line time implied. Board consensus landed him in the fourth-to-fifth-round tier as a box safety and special-teams building block, with real questions about deep-half range.
NFL fit — Las Vegas Raiders. a single-high system needed a rangy free safety, but Las Vegas viewed Gillespie as a sub-package strong safety and core-four special-teamer at pick 143. As a rookie he appeared in 11 games with two starts, logging three tackles and living almost entirely on kick and punt units. He never carved out a defensive role, and the coaching change to Patrick Graham's more matchup-heavy scheme in 2022 accelerated his exit.
Retrospective. Gillespie was waived by the Raiders in August 2022, claimed by Jacksonville for three games, then bounced through Tennessee and Houston's rosters before washing out of the league. The verdict is a Day 3 miss: the sub-4.4 speed and physicality showed up on teams, but the coverage limitations that scouts flagged pre-draft — tight transitions, marginal ball production, thin experience matching verticals — capped his defensive snap count and never let him grow past the special-teams-only tier.