6’1” – 202 lbs. – 4.62
Appeared in nine games as a 160-pound freshman, then took over a starting role the following year. Finished with 47 tackles, five breakups, and four interceptions, then followed that up with 49 tackles, eleven breakups, and one interception as a junior. Senior campaign consisted of 49 tackles, five breakups, and a pick-six. Tall, lanky cornerback who plays a lot of off-coverage on the left side of the field; comes down closer to the line of scrimmage or plays shuffle technique on occasion as well. May still need to add additional bulk and looks like he has the frame to do so, and he’s added forty pounds since arriving on campus. A little bit leggy, but has adequate balance and pretty quick feet when backpedaling and was asked to do so pretty often; would like to see him cover a little bit more ground with each step. Does have a little bit of a hitch when transitioning from the backpedal to driving on a spot, but it’s not too pronounced. When playing closer to the line of scrimmage, does a good job of using his length/arms to disrupt timing at the line of scrimmage in bump-and-run. Top-end speed is impressive for his size; fast enough to carry receivers down the sidelines, although it looks like he added too much weight and ran slowly at the Combine. More of a smooth athlete than an explosive one, but does have a little bit of burst to recover and get in-phase when targeted. Pattern recognition skills are below-average. When working against receivers one-on-one, sometimes looks a little bit slow to recognize what’s going on and provide tight coverage through the stem; trying to recover too often, and is even more susceptible to timing-based throws because of his generous cushions. Can get too aggressive and let defenders slip behind him; looks more like a fairly aggressive cornerback by temperament, but who’s playing in a scheme with conservative principles. When in-phase, actual on-ball production was pretty impressive at the college level, with a good combination of length and leaping ability to make plays. Has a pretty good feel for screens and swing passes developing underneath and comes up to attack blockers and funnel plays inside. Exhibits solid short-area quickness to slip by some blockers. However, tackling ability leaves a lot to be desired; while he has a good radius, isn’t particularly physical or reliable and slips off of too many attempts. Will also lapse into throwing his body at opponents in an attempt to torpedo them. Offers the type of size, athleticism, and ball skills to potentially convince teams to take a chance on him on the second day, but was able to be picked on a little too much during the games reviewed for a three-year starter, so might be more of a mid-round value in my view.
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