Top 10 cornerbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft

#8 2021 NFL Prospect: Paulson Adebo (Stanford)

6’ 1” 190 pounds; SR

Paulson Adebo

Right around the top-100 overall recruits, Paulson Adebo spent his first year on campus on the scout-team as a redshirt. He proceeded to start all but one game in 2018 and had one of the best freshman seasons I can remember from any college player.

He intercepted four passes and deflected another 17 passes on top of it. Adebo picked off another four balls and had double-digit PBUs the following season. And he was named a first-team All-Pac-12 selection in both of them.

When I first laid my eyes on this kid, I thought he was an incredible talent. Adebo already showed a great feel for the game as a freshman and the Stanford coaches said they think he can be a Richard Sherman-type player, but with better speed actually. Which, even if you have to correct it a little bit, is probably true, considering this guy ran a 4.45 in the 40-yard dash at the Cardinal pro day.

Adebo almost exclusively lined up on the left outside for the Cardinal and despite a rather lanky build, he was primary asked to play off-coverage. He displays an easy pedal, and some of the best, most fluid transitions at the position, without many wasted steps towards the latter half of year two. You already saw it as a freshman, where Adebo wasn’t as technically sound and it was more just about his natural talent, being able to stop his feet and disrupt the catch point with his click-and-close speed.

When he sees or feels routes coming, he can really plant and drive on them. And then he also played some soft press, where he has bouncy steps and forces opponents to work around him, as they try to release. He has that gliding speed to carry receivers vertically and then drop his weight, to barely allow any separation on deep comeback routes, which are one the toughest thing to cover.

In 2018, Adebo surrendered a passer rating of just 54.6 when targeted in and defended an FBS-high 21 on just over 500 coverage snaps, with one touchdown compared to his four picks, The following season, the numbers increased across the board, including four TDs, but he still a great year and made a bunch of plays on the ball – and he dropped four more potential picks.

Adebo really climbs the ladder and attacks the ball at its highest point, as well as showing very natural hands as a former wide receiver in high school, And he has that rare ability to play the ball through contact with the receiver, as well as consistently pulling at the near-arm of the receiver just as the ball arrives there.

He had an unreal one-handed interception in the end-zone versus Cal in 2018 and in the Oregon game, he denied Dillon Mitchell on three passes into the end-zone in overtime of their 2018 matchup, after which Justin Herbert decided to go elsewhere and was picked off on his final throw of the night.

In zone coverage, Adebo won’t allow offenses to manipulate him with crossers or screen fakes, to give up his deep-third/quarter responsibilities. He is not afraid of staying flat-footed whilst deciphering route-patterns and can make up ground as he identifies, who he’ll match up with ultimately.

On certain motions, Adebo was even asked to rotate to the deep middle, if they couldn’t change pre-snap anymore. I don’t think there’s another corner in this draft, who works upfield against the run with as much conviction as Adebo. He rarely allows receivers to block him at all and he often engages with offensive linemen, to where I’ve even seen him actively attack pulling guards at times.

That’s why the Cardinal had no issues keeping him on his side, even if there was no receiver left and he was part of the box count. And he races up very aggressively against underneath completions as well. Stanford likes to blitz their corners on run-downs quite a bit, where the way he charged in earned Adebo five tackles for loss in 2018.

What I think Adebo he has to do a little better job of is not giving that inside access in off-coverage that easily and getting back on top of dig and deep-in routes. He would benefit from adding some muscle to his frame, in order to deal with those bigger wideouts and he rarely actually re-routes them with a hands-on approach.

As much of a playmaker as he may be, Adebo got burnt on several double-moves as a sophomore, because opposing teams knew how aggressive he was with jumping routes. His tendency of playing off and kind of catching receivers will get flagged in the NFL, where you’re not allowed to initiate contact more than five yards downfield. And he is just so reckless as a tackler, just running to the ball and not breaking down at all, often times basically diving forward. Because of that, he missed 25 of his 135 career tackling attempts.

Adebo, for me, is sort of the forgotten man in this cornerback class and the fact he isn’t even higher on this list has more to do with how good this class actually is in terms of the talent that will likely come off the first two days of the draft. His change-of-direction, the ability to make plays on the ball in the air and how good he was in just two years as a college player gives me very high hopes.

He just ran a 6.69 in the three-one drill (91st percentile) at his pro day, to back up those skills he has, transitioning from off-coverage and he has the athletic skill-set to play closer to the line, if he adds a little more to his frame, while displaying great football IQ at his age already.