Top 10 cornerbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft

#10 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Tyson Campbell (Georgia)

6’ 2”, 185 pounds; JR

Tyson Cambell

A former five-star recruit, Tyson Campbell quickly entered the lineup for an excellent Bulldog defense, starting 11 of 14 games as a freshman. He only appeared in seven games in 2019 due to turf toe and DJ Daniel made most of the extra playing time. However, Campbell returned to the starting lineup last season and lived up to his high status coming to UGA, tying for the team-lead with five passes broken up and coming up with his first career interception.

Campbell has always been a gifted athlete, but his technique really improved in 2020 I thought, when he lined up for 88 percent of career snaps out wide, playing a lot of man and often times covering the X receiver. He shows patience off the line and does a great job of establishing first contact with those long arms, to widen the releases of his man.

He has the speed and loose hips to turn and run with go routes, while arm-barring and controlling he receiver throughout the play. You see the quick feet to mirror slide and hesitation releases, before taking off with guys down the field, while doing a really good job of working the receiver into the boundary and reading his hips from the inside position.

No matter which way his man releases, what he really excels at is keeping his hands on-target without having to grab cloth. Plus, the ability to stop his weight is much better than you’d expect from such a long corner. He basically shut down Auburn’s Seth Williams throughout their 2020 matchup, outside of one 20-yard grab, where Campbell was all over the receiver.

You see that a bunch on tape, where he gets charged with allowing a catch, but he is right there in the hip-pocket of the opponent. That was the case in last year’s Alabama game, where Devonta Smith made a couple of catches working back to the ball hard and then Campbell had to switch off to Jaylen Waddle late, where he tripped on a 90-yard touchdown.

While Georgia’s defensive scheme is pretty man-heavy, where they utilized Campbell on the as a perimeter corner, he has plenty of experience in different zone patterns. It’s pretty crazy how fast he is with his butt to the sideline and crossing his legs in cover-three bail and he moves closer to the sideline as he loses vision on the receiver on those outside releases.

Moreover, he has the natural skills to get back into the picture if there is some separation, as the receiver has the upper hand, not seeing the break across his face be initiated. Campbell shows great urgency to come up against the run and get involved as a tackler, while supplying good pursuit from the backside.

He only had five missed tackles in coverage on 67 career attempts. And he doesn’t shy away from contact against blockers or the ball-carrier – I’ve even seen him dip the shoulder on a pulling guard on tape. He is a ferocious blitzer coming off the corner, where he doesn’t indicate prematurely, but then is explosive out of his stance and can get to the quarterback in a hurry.

Campbell doesn’t slow down just because he sees the offensive tackle slide his way, like many other corners would. When you look at the 2019 numbers, on 185 coverage snaps he allowed only eight of 20 targets to be completed for less than 100 yards and no touchdowns.

However, last season on about twice as many snaps in coverage, he gave up 30 completions on 46 targets for 340 yards and five TDs, to go with his one pick. So there was a significant drop-off with more playing time. Campbell is certainly still on the skinny side and allows some separation at the top of the route, when receivers throw him a little chicken-wing.

He comes in with very low ball-production, with only a 10.3% forced incompletion rate over his career. He did not have an interceptions and only five total PBUs through his first two years (21 games). Campbell has some issues finding the right balance between looking at the receiver and trying to find the ball when it’s in the air. And he is not super reliable with contain responsibilities in the run game always, peaking inside too much.

In terms of the pure athletic profile, Campbell is one of the more impressive corners in this class. While he may be the strongest player, his length and ability to stop his feet make him a very intriguing prospect. He just ran an unofficial 4.38 at the Georgia pro day and looked good attacking the ball in the air.

The highly limited amount of plays on the ball is probably the biggest question mark and being in great position but allowing the catch to be made won’t make a change on the stat sheet, but if he can just work on that part of his game, he could be a high-level starter on the outside.