2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Asante Samuel Jr.

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Asante Samuel Jr., 5-10/184 Cornerback Florida State

Asante Samuel Jr. Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Above-average athlete

Balanced in coverage

Quality strength for his size

Physical gritty defender

Has some ball skills

Solid tackler

Plus instincts

Weaknesses:

Undersized

Short

Not fast; lacks speed

Lacks long speed; could struggle to to run with speed receivers

Can gets bumped around, “out-physicaled”

Struggles with tall receivers making catches over him

Grabs too much

Prone to penalties

Limited to being a slot corner only

Summary: Being the son of legend is never easy given the accompanying big expectations, but Asante Samuel Jr. turned in a quality career for the Seminoles. In 2019, Samuel was able to get onto the field for a big role and totaled 48 tackles with an interception and 14 passes defended. He then racked up 30 tackles, three interceptions and six passes defended in 2020. Samuel could have returned for the 2021 season, but decided to enter the 2021 NFL Draft.

On the positive side, Samuel is an above-average athlete with good instincts, quality strength, and balance. He is a gritty corner who possesses some ball skills and a knack for making splash plays. Thanks to having functional power for a small corner, Samuel can tackle, and he really competes.



On the negative side, Samuel is not fast and is small. He does not have a short-area burst and lacks ideal long speed. In the NFL, Samuel is going to be challenged to run with receivers vertically downfield. His size also hurts him as he can get bumped and “out-physicaled” by bigger receivers. Tall receivers are able to make catches over Samuel with ease, and he gives the offense a size mismatch – see Notre Dame game in 2020. Samuel can get handsy in downfield coverage at times as well and was flagged for too many penalties in college.

For the NFL, Samuel looks like a backup slot corner who might develop into being a starter at nickel corner. He is small and slow though, so he might top out as a fourth or fifth corner whp contributes on special teams. There has been some media hype of Samuel going in the first or second round, but some team sources have told me they graded Samuel as a fourth-round pick.



Player Comparison: Mackensie Alexander. Similar to Samuel, Alexander (5-10, 192) had some media hype but teams were lower on him. They are almost identical in size, and Alexander has been limited to being a slot corner because of his lack of height and speed. Samuel could follow a similar path in the NFL.

2021 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2021 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford Tutu Atwell, WR, Louisville Jhamon Ausbon, WR, Texas A&M Aaron Banks, G, Notre Dame Christian Barmore, DT, Alabama Carlos Basham, DE, Wake Forest Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota Nick Bolton, LB, Missouri Baron Browning, LB, Ohio State Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa Tyson Campbell, CB, Georgia Jackson Carman, OT, Clemson Ja'Marr Chase, WR, LSU Andre Cisco, S, Syracuse Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa Sam Cosmi, OT, Texas Jabril Cox, LB, LSU Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky Wyatt Davis, G, Ohio State Landon Dickerson, C, Alabama Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame D'Wayne Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State Paris Ford, S, Pittsburgh Pat Freiermuth, TE, Penn State Kenny Gainwell, RB, Memphis Richie Grant, S, Central Florida Najee Harris, RB, Alabama Kylin Hill, RB, Mississippi State Trey Hill, C, Georgia Jevon Holland, S, Oregon Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina James Hudson, OT, Cincinnati Talanoa Hufanga, S, USC Creed Humphrey, C, Oklahoma Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State Mac Jones, QB, Alabama Patrick Jones, DE, Pittsburgh Brevin Jordan, TE, Miami Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama Walker Little, OT, Stanford Hunter Long, TE, Boston College Terrace Marshall Jr., WR, LSU Jalen Mayfield, OT, Michigan Tre' McKitty, TE, Georgia Davis Mills, QB, Stanford Trevon Moehrig, S, TCU Elijah Molden, CB, Washington Kellen Mond, QB, Texas A&M Dan Moore Jr., OT, Texas A&M Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss Rondale Moore, WR, Purdue Dylan Moses, LB, Alabama Israel Mukuamu, CB, South Carolina Jamie Newman, QB, Wake Forest Greg Newsome, CB, Northwestern Daviyon Nixon, DT, Iowa Dayo Odeyingbo, DE, Vanderbilt Osa Odighizuwa, DT, UCLA Azeez Ojulari, LB, Georgia Levi Onwuzurike, DT, Washington Joseph Ossai, LB, Texas Jayson Oweh, DE, Penn State Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah, LB, Notre Dame Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State Kwity Paye, DE, Michigan Ronnie Perkins, OLB, Oklahoma Jaelan Phillips, DE, Miami Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida Dillon Radunz, OT, North Dakota Aaron Robinson, CB, Central Florida Quincy Roche, OLB, Miami Larry Rountree, RB, Missouri Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami Asante Samuel Jr., CB, Florida State Trey Sermon, RB, Ohio State Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon Tyler Shelvin, DT, LSU Rashawn Slater, C, Northwestern DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama D'Ante Smith, OT, East Carolina Trey Smith, G, Tennessee Marquez Stevenson, WR, Houston Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, Oklahoma Eric Stokes, CB, Georgia Chazz Surratt, LB, North Carolina Sage Surratt, WR, Wake Forest Patrick Surtain, CB, Alabama Tamorrion Terry, WR, Florida State Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida Kyle Trask, QB, Florida Joe Tryon, DE, Washington Jay Tufele, DT, USC Payton Turner, DE, Houston T.J. Vasher, WR, Texas Tech Alijah Vera-Tucker, OT, USC Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama Tylan Wallace, WR, Oklahoma State Rashad Weaver, DE, Pittsburgh Javonte Williams, RB, North Carolina Rodarius Williams, CB, Oklahoma State Marvin Wilson, DT, Florida State Zach Wilson, QB, BYU

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