6’2″ – 204 lbs. – 4.67
Five-star recruit who played sparingly over seven games as a true freshman, then enjoyed two productive seasons at cornerback before declaring for the draft. Tall boundary cornerback with very long limbs. Typically lines up on the boundary side of the field, but will also take some snaps on the field side; plays a lot of press-man coverage, and the team trusted him in single coverage against opposing number-one receivers. Able to get low and match and opponent’s release at the line of scrimmage with pretty good footwork; wasn’t asked to backpedal much, but has good balance in his stance. Has the length to blanket an opponent in man coverage when they run patterns down the sidelines; deep speed is adequate but not outstanding. Exhibits some wasted motion but hips are pretty fluid overall. Also does a pretty good job of recognizing patterns over the middle of the field and staying in position to make plays on the ball when targeted on screens and drags. Length and timing allow him to bat down passes when he keeps the play in front of him. Has plus ball skills, having intercepted eight passes as a sophomore. Attacks blockers when defending against screens on the outside. Not a particularly physical player aside from that. Wasn’t asked to disrupt opposing receivers with his length at the line of scrimmage during the games reviewed. Can be overwhelmed at the point of attack by stronger blockers, and isn’t much of a factor as a tackler; overall positioning, angles, and tackling ability leave a lot to be desired. Didn’t do much except play press-man at the college level, and may need some time to adjust to the requirements of the pro game in terms of backpedaling, playing zone coverage, etc. When he was in zone (generally when teams didn’t line up a receiver to his side of the field), appeared to be responsible for a blown coverage by losing track of an opposing receiver behind him. May be a little bit too slow to be trusted with single coverage down the sidelines at the pro level. Size, length, press-man, and ball skills are major assets which could attract interest in the mid-rounds, although it remains to be seen whether he has the deep speed to stick with pro receivers down the sidelines and doesn’t have a lot of experience with other techniques.
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