2025 Offensive Line Prospects

 

Kelvin Banks, OT, Texas

Banks is a clean, fundamentally sound tackle prospect with enough athletic tools to make it easy to select him in the top ten. He’s not the sort of freak athlete you normally see from a top draft selection, and he may struggle some with the quickest pass rushers he’ll face in the NFL. But the gifts he has combined with excellent footwork are enough to give him a fighting chance, and to let him dominate the average matchup he’s going to find himself facing.

Banks has quick feet that he deploys in a variety of ways as a pass blocker. He is very good at adjusting his drops as the situation dictates, and it’s rare to see him beaten at the snap of the ball. Once he engages, his feet are in constant motion, allowing him to easily shuffle back and forth to stay between the defender and the quarterback.

He doesn’t have a great punch, and he prefers to sit back and hand-fight rather than attacking pass rushers. This can leave him occasionally vulnerable to surrendering his chest and getting moved backwards, though he does a decent job of anchoring to prevent it from becoming too bad a loss. And when he does get his hands on the defender his strong upper body means that he can force them off his rushing lane, buying time to get his feet moved back into position to close off any opportunities.

In the running game Banks is a dominant downhill force. He blows defenders backwards off the ball and carves huge rushing lanes behind him. He’s pretty good working in space too, whether that’s moving to the second level or sliding laterally to cut off a defender in a zone run. He does seem to have a little trouble sustaining blocks, and if the ball comes near him a defender can slide off to make a play. But this is usually several yards downfield by the time it happens, and hand usage is something that can be developed in the NFL, no hindrance to him becoming a top-tier tackle.

 

Armand Membou, OT, Missouri

If you want athletic upside, Membou is the tackle who will catch your eye. At 334 pounds he ran a 4.91 in the forty and had a 30 inch vertical leap, and on the field his best plays show just what this sort of athleticism can accomplish. He can cover a tremendous amount of ground in his pass sets, erasing any ability to beat him around the edge. He moves easily to the second level and can change rushing attack angles by reaching defenders well outside of him. Membou’s best plays are the best of any lineman in this class.

The problem, of course, is consistency. Membou’s technique is still fairly raw, and it can lead to some ugly losses. For every play where he strikes a pass rusher with a powerful punch and knocks him off his lane, there will be a play where he misstimes his strike and winds up helplessly off balance. For every play where he gets out ahead to clear space in the running game, there will be a play where he takes a bad angle and lets his man run past him to make the tackle. He’ll blow defenders off the ball one play, then stand too high and get knocked backwards himself on the next.

Membou isn’t a completely raw athlete. He has enough going with his technique that I think he’ll figure out the rest in the long-term, even if I expect the first couple years of his career to be pretty rough. He has all the tools you need to be successful. Quick feet, strong hands, enough length to keep himself clean when deployed properly. These can cover for some of his flaws while he puts the rest together, and the upside still makes him worth taking in the middle of the first round.

 

Josh Conerly, OT, Oregon

If you miss out on Membou and still want to take a shot at a gifted but raw tackle, Conerly is a good option in the latter half of the first round. He’s not as athletic as Membou, and not as polished either, but he has enough tools in place to grow into a Pro Bowl caliber tackle in a couple of years. He has sufficient length to go along with fantastic movement skills, that here and there are harnessed to flash elite blocking upside.

The key for Conerly will be consistency. His best plays are up there with any others in the class. He gets very good position on his initial drops, and a couple times a game he pulls out a punch that can stop a rusher dead in his tracks. He struggles some at the top of his drop, and when he doesn’t get his hands on the defender—whether because he tries to play more patiently or just mistimes his strike—he doesn’t always have the footspeed to react to an inside move. He also surrenders ground too easily, and I expect him to struggle against the more powerful rushers he faces in the NFL until he can add more strength.

He's similarly inconsistent in the running game. Sometimes he gets push up the field, and he’s very good at widening the edge to open a lane between him and the guard. But he also has issues sustaining blocks, and too often allows his defender to cross his face to get to the ball. These are mostly technical issues, and if he’s given a couple of years to develop I think he can become a very good tackle. But he isn’t a guy you can immediately plug-and-play without giving him significant help, and there is enough risk of him never panning out to knock him to the next tier of the class.

 

Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State

Simmons missed most of his final college season and all of draft testing with a torn patellar tendon, and that adds some risk to a player who would otherwise be a safe if unspectacular selection. Simmons is another technically advanced pass protector, capable of a varied set of drops and possessing quick feet that keep him from ever getting off balance or out of position. He alternates between aggression and patience, between violence and technique, and it is difficult to get an edge on him. At times he can be overwhelmed with power, but typically he’s good enough with his hands and feet to stop a defender from getting into position to do so.

As a run blocker Simmons is less exciting. He doesn’t really move defenders backwards off the ball, and when he tries to do so he can overextend and let his man slide off to get into the backfield. He’s better just trying to move laterally and get into position to shield the defender from the play, but he doesn’t quite have the strength and flexibility to flip his hips around to seal off a running lane, leaving him vulnerable to allowing a tackle if the play comes near him.

Even before the injury Simmons projected as a pick in the second half of the first round. He’s a clean and reliable pass protector, and those are extremely valuable in the modern NFL. But I still like my linemen to be able to provide clear value in all facets of the game, and I don’t think Simmons has the tools to do this. With the added risk of the injury—I wouldn’t expect much from his rookie year, and it’s hard to know the long-term impacts of this—I’d be more comfortable waiting until the end of the first round before grabbing someone who projects as just a solid starter with limited upside.

 

Will Campbell, OT/OG, LSU

This is where I go on my annual rant about arm length. The ability to create separation between yourself and a defender is crucial for an offensive lineman, particularly on the outside where pass rushers have so much space to work with. In the past I’ve heard 33.5 inches listed as the threshold below which a lineman has difficulty succeeding at tackle, though in recent years we’ve see players like Penei Sewell and Rashawn Slater thrive with arms slightly shorter than that.

Campbell’s arms are more than slightly shorter (maybe). At the combine his arms measured 32-5/8 inches, nearly a full inch below this threshold. There really haven’t been any tackles succeed with arms this short, and this caused a lot of people to think he’ll need to move inside to guard. Then at his pro day, his arms measured at 33 inches. In fact, a lot of players had shorter arm measurements at the combine than at their pro days or the Senior Bowl, suggesting maybe something was wrong with the initial measurement.

I don’t know how long Campbell’s arms actually are. I do know that on the field, they are a problem. When Campbell can get his hands on a defender, he usually wins. He has a strong grip and a powerful upper body, and once he latches on he’s able to control the pass rusher ahead of him, at least enough to slow him down so his feet can get into good position. He holds like crazy, but it isn’t egregious enough to draw a lot of penalties, and at least in college he got away with it.

The problem is that far too often the defender is the one who gets his hands on Campbell, not the other way around. When that happens, there isn’t much he can do. He’s vulnerable to bull rushes that deposit him into the quarterback’s lap. He is regularly beaten by inside moves, sharp cuts and spins combined with swats at his arms. He’s a good athlete, and he gets good depth on his drops to cut off the angle on speed rushes. But without his hands to disrupt the defender, he doesn’t change direction quickly enough to crash down on the inside.

Typically when a player has this limited reach the proposal is to move him to guard, a suggestion I’ve made once or twice in the past. The thing is, Campbell isn’t necessarily someone who screams that he would excel if asked to change positions. He shows some ability to anchor and absorb contact when he doesn’t have to worry about being beaten outside, but I still think he’ll struggle with the most powerful interior rushers in the NFL. And as a run blocker, I don’t see a lot to be excited about either. He is a good athlete and takes good angles, but his feet stop when he makes contact, meaning he gets basically no push and struggles to rotate his hips to seal off a defender. I think he can develop into a very good run blocker in a zone scheme, but I’m not sure how much use he has in a more traditional downhill attack.

So where does that put Campbell? He tested as a first-round caliber athlete, and he shows flashes of that on the field, even if I didn’t see everything put together. And while I’m not sure if he has what it takes to make it at tackle, I think he’ll probably be at least a starting caliber guard. I’d take him in the second round based on experience and athletic upside.

 

Grey Zabel, OT/OG, North Dakota State

Zabel is another player who is likely destined to move to guard, though at least for him its an easier transition to project. He is at his best as a downhill mover of people. He absolutely buries people in the running game, carving big gashes behind him that any running back would love to run through. He combines this with very good athleticism to expand his range and cut defenders off, torquing their shoulders to seal them away from the play and giving his offense tons of options for how to design their blocking schemes.

The biggest concerns I have with Zabel are on a technical level. His footwork can be sloppy, both in pass protection and in the running game. He gets off balance far too often, and will frequently lunge trying to strike someone only to miss and give them a lane to surge past him. His quick feet and strong hands mean he is often able to find a way to recover from this, and there are a lot of reps where he loses early but still finds a way to win late. But playing that sort of game is much harder at the NFL, particularly compared to the lower level of competition he typically faced at NDSU.

There are a lot of little things for Zabel to clean up, and while I think he will eventually become an above average guard, it will take some time. He needs to work on his hand placement, too often playing with them spread wide and inviting a defender into his chest. He is big and strong enough to anchor against most bull rushes, but again this is a tough way to find consistent success in the NFL. As a day two pick though, I'm willing to wait and let him develop to get a chance at unlocking his upside.

 

Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama

Even for a guard, Booker is an underwhelming athlete. He has impressive size—6-5 and 321 pounds with arms longer than most of the tackles in this class—but he isn’t very good at anything that has to do with moving. He scored below the 40^th percentile in every single athletic test, and while he doesn’t look quite that bad on the field, it’s clearly something he struggles with. It’s a particular issue when asked to move laterally in the running game, where he struggles to reach defenders aligned outside his shoulder. Either they’re able to beat him frontside before he can cut them off, or they dip around him before he can change direction and recover. Either way, they end up in the backfield far too easily.

Get Booker going downhill though, and it’s a completely different story. He has the power to move piles of humanity back away from the line of scrimmage, and he combines that with excellent use of leverage and feet that never stop moving. He gets into position, and he drives, clamping on with powerful hands and twisting defenders out of the way so he can pivot his hips to seal them from the play. He is a weapon in a downhill running attack, every bit as good here as he is weak in a zone scheme.

As a pass blocker Booker is neither good nor bad. He’s mobile enough to work within the small spaces guards exist in, though he struggles some to react to late blitzes and stunts. His strong hands come in useful here as well, as he uses them to control any defender who has gotten the edge on him long enough for him to recover and bring his feet back underneath him. At times his handwork can get a bit sloppy, and he surrenders ground more often than I’d expect from someone as powerful as he is. I think this is mostly a technique issue. When he is in good position, he can drop his anchor and stick in the ground to stop the pocket from collapsing in the quarterback’s face.

I can’t justify spending a high pick on someone as limited as Booker, but if the third round rolls around and you’re a team that runs a scheme that fits his skills, he can be a very useful player for a couple of years. At least until a time comes when you want to change the way you do things on offense, then you’ll probably find yourself looking for someone more versatile.

2025 Running Back Prospects

 

There has been a lot of speculation about teams potentially reevaluating the way running backs have slid down draft boards in recent years. Many have pointed to Saquon Barkley, who joined the Eagles this year and helped them win the Super Bowl, his cheap contract a sign to some people that the devaluation of the position has gone too far. People have started to wonder if we might be due for a shift back, particularly with a strong running back class that could see multiple running backs go in the first round.

I’m still in the camp who thinks this is mostly nonsense. Yes, Barkley was a valuable for the Eagles last year, as was Derrick Henry for the Ravens or Josh Jacobs for the Packers or Aaron Jones for the Vikings. But notably none of these players were actually drafted by the teams they played for. They’re actually good proof that you don’t need to spend draft capital on the position, that you can find elite running backs available in the free agent market. And, notably, in the Super Bowl itself the biggest factor in the Eagles victory was their defensive line, where they have spent three first round selections in the past three years.

So I am still in the “don’t spend valuable draft picks on running backs” camp. And with that said…

 

Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State

It would require a very special player for me to spend a pick on a running back in the top half of the first round. Ashton Jeanty is a very special player.

The number one trait I look for in a running back is being difficult to tackle, and Jeanty is maybe the most difficult to tackle running back I have ever studied. He is short and compact, and he has absolutely remarkable contact balance, able to absorb hits from any direction without being knocked over. He bounces and weaves through traffic, and then he explodes when he gets into open space, able to turn a two yard gain into an eight yard gain and an eight yard gain into a sixty yard gain.

Jeanty’s physical tools aren’t the most overwhelming, but he is very advanced in utilizing them to attack defenses. He shows good patience and will use his eyes to pull defenders out of position, so that when he does make a cut he has enough space to outrun them to the edge. He doesn’t make the sort of sharp cuts that can get him to the far backside of the play, but he is very quick at identifying open lanes and then accelerating through them to hit the defense at full speed. His feet are always moving, and he is always working his way forward. He doesn’t dance behind the line unnecessarily, and he doesn’t run himself into a negative play trying to create something explosive.

If I have any qualms about Jeanty they’re in the passing game, where he is simply okay rather than extraordinary. He has good hands, but he wasn’t asked to do much as a receiver besides swing routes and screens. He knows what he’s doing as a pass blocker but can occasionally be overwhelmed. He’d probably be best in an offense that rotates him with a dedicated third-down back more suited to these areas, at least for the first couple years. But he also won’t be a liability if asked to be a every-play player. And with his skills as a runner, he can still be one of the most dangerous backs in the league even if he never develops into any sort of threat coming out of the backfield.

 

Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina

Hampton is the most physically gifted of the running backs I looked at. At 221 points he ran a 4.46 forty and had a 38 inch vertical leap, matching the explosiveness he plays with on the field. He is a downhill runner who hits the hole in a hurry. When there are defenders in the way, he slams into them and drives the pile forward for extra yardage. When there aren’t defenders in front of him, he accelerates to top speed and runs away for a home run play.

As a pure runner there is still work for Hampton to do. He shows pretty good vision for recognizing holes when they come available, but he doesn’t always give the time needed for that to happen. He’ll slam into the line whether the blocks are there or not, and while this at least keeps him from losing major yardage trying to make too much happen in the backfield, it robs him of some opportunities that could open up if he had a bit more patience. He’s not very shifty either, and he takes a lot of hits square-on. Of course, hitting him square-on doesn’t mean you bring him down. His balance isn’t great—he gets brought down by ankle tackles with frustrating frequency—but he almost always finds a way to drive forward through contact for an extra few yards.

One place he doesn’t have to do much to develop is as a pass blocker. He is smart and aggressive in the backfield, identifying a free rusher and stepping forward to meet him violently while giving the quarterback plenty of space to work behind him. As a receiver, he brings less to the table. His hands aren’t great, and he doesn’t really make people miss in space. He’s just a straight-ahead runner who is at his best working between the tackles. I think he’ll be somewhat limited schematically until he can develop better instincts in the runner, and that’s enough to keep me from having any interest until the second round.

 

Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State

Earlier I said that the most important thing I look for in a running back is being difficult to tackle. Well, in the non-Jeanty realm of things, Judkins is the most difficult running back to tackle in this draft class. He’s 221 pounds of brutal punishment between the tackles, with just enough lateral quickness to avoid taking contact head-on. When he gets up to full speed he’s able to simply bounce off of defenders on the second level to grind his way forward for first down yardage.

The condition in that last sentence is the critical part, because it does take Judkins a while to get up to full speed. He tested surprisingly well at the combine, running a 4.48 forty that caught me a little off guard based on what I saw on the field. He needs a few strides to get up to full speed, and even then he can be chased down from behind by defensive backs and even some linebackers. He’s not a home run threat in the backfield, more someone who will pick up a lot of solid mid-length gains to keep the chains moving.

Judkins is still a bit raw as a runner, and I think he can grow into more than he currently is in the NFL. He has moments displaying good vision to find a backside cutback, but also moments where he’ll slam blindly into his blockers. In the passing game he has the physical tools to be an excellent blocker, but mentally he doesn’t always make the right reads or go the right direction. He wasn’t used much as a receiver, but he looked good while doing so, able to catch the ball with ease and transitioning into a runner in space where his physical tools were able to overwhelm defenders. In a couple years I think he can develop into a very versatile offensive weapon, if one with a slightly limited upside. I’d take him in the third round, and could maybe justify it at the end of the second.

 

TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State

Henderson has all the burst that Judkins is lacking. He is pretty much always moving at top speed, and that top speed is impressive, a threat to go the distance every time he touches the ball. He can outrun defenders to the corner or knife through them on quick-hitting runs up the middle. And once he hits the second level as either a runner or as a receiver, his speed can wreck angles and change the game.

Henderson is a weapon in the passing game. He can run a variety of routes out of the backfield, and he is always dangerous on screen passes, doing a good job reading and setting up his blocks before hitting top gear. As a pass blocker he alternates between delivering devastating chips on edge rushers and stepping forward to absorb blitzing linebackers. At times his small stature means he can get knocked backwards by larger rushers, but he usually attacks aggressively enough to be able to survive being knocked backwards without winding up in the quarterback's lap.

I have a few concerns with Henderson that make it difficult to justify taking him before the third round. As I mentioned, he is fairly small, barely crossing the 200 pound mark at the combine. He’s not afraid of contact, plenty willing to lower his shoulder into a defender’s chest, but it often doesn’t accomplish much. He frequently gets knocked backwards by initial contact, and while he has good quickness, it’s not the sort that leaves defenders on their knees grasping at air while he darts past. More often than not, the first guy to get to him brings him down.

As a runner Henderson displays good vision and patience, but he can run into trouble if there is genuinely nothing there. He tries too hard to bounce plays to the edge, including in costly moments like short yardage. He’ll need to rein these habits in to grow into a reliable lead runner in the NFL. I think he can do this in a couple of years, but even if he doesn’t, he has all the makings of an elite third-down back.

 

Kaleb Johnson, RB, Iowa

Johnson can be a useful running back for specific offenses. He thrives in a zone blocking scheme, where he uses patience and the ability to explode off a single cut to identify backside lanes and get downhill. He’s very good at setting up his blocks and waiting for the right moment to accelerate, though he can occasionally be too patient, standing and waiting for a backside opportunity when he should just get what he can on the front. Once he gets moving he can build up pretty good speed on the second level. He isn’t a great athlete, but at 224 pounds he has enough juice to avoid being stuck as a dull, short-yardage plodder.

Johnson doesn’t do a lot to escape tackles. At the point of contact he is occasionally strong enough to muscle through, but most of the time the best he can do is fall forward. He has no real lateral quickness, and most of the time the first guy to get to him is able to bring him to the ground. He is good at not being knocked backwards and can be an effective short-yardage rusher, but he doesn’t often erase tacklers on his own in the way top backs do to turn a good run into a great one.

In the passing game he doesn’t offer much. In his first two seasons of college football he had a total of seven receptions, and while that picked up in his final year, it still ended up averaging less than two a game. In pass protection he mostly held up in the reps I saw, though did seem to be a beat slow in responding to the pressure packages happening in front of him. I think he’ll be enough here to avoid being a liability, provided you get enough out of him in the running game to justify it. If you’re a team that runs the right sort of offense for Johnson, he’s probably worth a pick in the third round as someone you can plug into your scheme and count on to produce slightly above-average running back production.

2025 Defensive Back Prospects

Travis Hunter, CB, Colorado

As with my wide receiver breakdown earlier this week, here I am evaluating Hunter only based on his performance on one side of the ball. Fortunately, this is easier when looking at him as a cornerback. Even if he never plays another snap on offense, his abilities at cornerback make him the best in the class, a clear top five selection with the upside to be the best in the league.

Hunter’s movement skills are evident on both sides of the ball, but cornerback is where he really shows what that can do. He is in supreme control of every movement he makes, able to stop and start without any wasted motion to mirror every break of the receiver in front of him. He sits in the receiver’s hip pocket for every step of his route, never off balance and never in position to be exploited by a sharp cut.

And even when the opposing receiver is able to create some separation, Hunter’s burst is enough to erase it in less than a second. He’s incredibly smooth in everything he does, whether it’s flipping his hips to run vertically or breaking on a quick route underneath or tracking a drag through traffic across the middle. And on the rare occasion when the ball is thrown his way, his skills at the catch point are rare for a cornerback. Not just leaping to make interceptions on jump balls, but understanding how to play around the receiver rather than through him to swat the ball down with his long arms.

Hunter isn’t a perfect cornerback prospect, but he’s one of the best I’ve ever scouted. The biggest concerns I have are physicality. He can occasionally disrupt a route with a jam, but that wasn’t something he was asked to do often in college, and it could limit him a little in the NFL. And as a run defender he is a genuine liability. Every now and then he makes a play that shows he is very capable of making good tackles, so I think this was an effort issue more than anything else, a choice he made to conserve energy so he could play his insane snap count. If he continues to play both ways, it might keep him from reaching his true potential as a cornerback. But even if that happens, I still think he settles in as a top ten player at the position in the NFL.

 

Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas

Barron bounced around between a few different positions in college, and you can see that versatility on the field. He is comfortable playing in a variety of alignments and schemes. Both zone and man, split outside and in the slot. He has good instincts in coverage and is willing to mix things up navigating in traffic in the box. He’s a willing tackler, if not always a successful one, and I think his best position is to spend most of his time playing out wide, with the option to rotate inside if the matchup dictates it.

The variety of things he was asked to do in college means there’s less tape of him locking receivers up one-on-one, and more moments where he looks a little less than comfortable doing so. He is a tremendous athlete, and he has the ability to rotate his hips and run vertically without fear of being beaten over the top, but he plays a bit more passive than I’d like, surrendering some space underneath. He has the quickness to match routes step-for-step, but sometimes leans a little too much on physicality to rescue him, in a way that will draw penalties in the NFL. When he trusts himself and attacks downhill he can close in an instant and erase any throwing windows. He just needs the comfort to do so more consistently.

There is some stuff to clean up, but Barron has all the makings of an elite cornerback. He’s a little on the small size, but he plays big at the catch point, and if properly harnessed his athletic ability can cover for any shortcomings in length. The risks would probably make me hesitant to call him a top ten prospect, but in the middle of the first round he’d be an excellent high-upside addition.

 

Will Johnson, CB, Michigan

Johnson is a bit unique as a cornerback prospect, and that limits his versatility in the NFL. His movement skills aren’t bad, but they aren’t what you’d typically expect from a first round cornerback. He doesn’t have the quick-twitch ability to stay with every break of the receiver in front of him, and he doesn’t have the pure speed to erase openings when he makes mistakes. He definitely can’t play in the slot, and his defense will have to be smart about building around his strengths and hiding his weaknesses, which drops his value outside the top twenty.

What Johnson does well though, he does very well. His downhill burst is genuinely elite, and it combines with excellent instincts to make him the ultimate big-play cornerback. Most of the time he prefers to sit about 5-10 yards off the ball, lurking and waiting to make a break on a pass in front of him. This means he surrenders some open opportunities underneath, but often quarterbacks are afraid to try it, as Johnson frequently anticipates and undercuts these passes for interceptions that often turn into touchdowns.

This can be an effective strategy, but it relies on a couple of things that give me some concerns with Johnson. First, you have to be a good enough tackler to keep these underneath completions from turning into bigger plays. Johnson is not. Second, you can’t be fooled by double-moves. Johnson is usually pretty good at reading and knowing when to make his breaks, but every so often he does get tricked, and when this happens he doesn’t have the recovery speed to avoid being burned deep. His fallback plan is to just grab the opposing receiver, and he’s pretty good at this, at least managing to prevent a big play by just surrendering a first down on a penalty.

There are enough strengths in Johnson’s game that he could be solid even if he’s forced to play as a more passive traditional cornerback in the NFL. He wasn’t asked to play press much in college but showed some ability to disrupt receivers with his jam, though he needs more practice transitioning from this into a coverage position. And he’s not a bad athlete, just not good enough to be a cornerback who erases opposing receivers. In the right scheme he can perform at a Pro Bowl level, but in most systems I think he projects as just an average starter. 

 

Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina

Emmanwori is a special athlete. He’s 6-3 and 220 pounds, and he runs a 4.4 forty with an insane 43 inch vertical leap. And that athleticism has moments when it really shows up on the field, when he fires down aggressively into the box to make a play against the run or smoothly pivots to run stride-for-stride with receivers down the field. He’s the best athlete on the field at pretty much all times, and that can cover for a lot of other shortcomings.

As a football player, there are enough pieces there to make me think he can develop his athletic ability into something special. He’s generally pretty good in coverage, whether he’s dropping into a deep zone or settling underneath or matched up man-to-man in the slot. He’s still a little unrefined in this area. He can get out of position biting on play-action fakes, and his athleticism is only occasionally enough to make up for it. He shows moments of good anticipation on routes to jump underneath and cut them off, but also sometimes will play too hesitant and let passes be completed in front of him. Other times he can bite on fakes and let receivers run past him over the top. I think these issues are mostly mental, and with more experience he can grow into an above-average coverage safety.

His athletic profile and splash plays cover for the fact that he’s a pretty poor player against the run. He can flow through traffic and handle the physicality of playing in the box, but he struggles at the point of the tackle. He takes bad angles, and he doesn’t bring nearly as much physicality as you’d expect from someone his size, regularly being knocked backwards when trying to meet a runner in the hole.

The physical tools are there for Emmanwori to grow into a very good player, and he does enough good things right now that I’d probably be willing to gamble on that athletic upside at the end of the first round. My biggest concern is that right now there’s nothing he is great at, just a lot of okay to pretty good things that may or may not get better with time. This makes it hard to project a clear role for him in the NFL, and hard to believe he’ll fix everything and become a real elite player.

 

Malaki Starks, S, Georgia

Starks does his job. He doesn’t get out of position, and he doesn’t get fooled by fakes. When he needs to come downhill to support the run, he typically takes good angles, and most of the time he’s able to get the ball carrier to the ground (even if he does tend to get dragged for a couple extra yards). When the ball is thrown his way, he has tremendous ball skills, able to expand his undersized frame to close down throwing windows for deflections and interceptions.

As an athlete, Starks is underwhelming. He ran a 4.5 forty, and he can play that speed on the field, which is good but not great, particularly for someone under 200 pounds. And straight-line speed is actually his best attribute. He can run with receivers in man coverage when they go vertically, but he struggles to keep up when they change direction, which is backed up by his poor testing in the agility drills. He’s a very linear athlete, and he will struggle to keep up if asked to track most NFL receiver in man coverage.

Starks doesn’t play well through congestion and will get physically manhandled if you put a blocker in his way, so I would try to keep him as far from the box as possible. I think there’s a role for him as a safety who hovers back in a deep zone and occasionally comes down to fill lanes in the running game. He’s a fairly safe pick, and I think he’ll be a starter in the NFL for years to come. But for this position and with this limited ceiling, he’s not someone I’d want to spend a pick on until day 2.