2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Tyson Campbell

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Tyson Campbell, 6-2/185 Cornerback Georgia

Tyson Campbell Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Excellent height

Superb length

Good weight, strength

Strength to jam and reroute

Straight-line speed

Size to match up against big receivers

Quality instincts

Plays the ball well in air

Good feel in coverage

Skilled to slap passes away

Willing tackler

Physical

Does a good job of preventing separation

Good fit as a bump-and-run corner

Maintains correct positioning downfield

Contributed on special teams

Athletic upside

Weaknesses:

Not a serious interception threat

Outside corner only

Lacks twitch

Could have some change-of-directions problems

Not a good fit for off-man coverage

Summary: Georgia has produced a lot of good NFL prospects from the secondary under head coach Kirby Smart, so it illustrates how talented Campbell is to have earned playing time as a freshman in 2018. He had some inconsistencies in coverage that season, as one could expect with the jump from high school football to the SEC, which is the closest thing the NFL has to a minor league. Campbell totaled 45 tackles and a pass broken up in 2018. As a sophomore, he notched 15 tackles and four passes defended.

Campbell became more steady in pass coverage in 2020, putting together an excellent game against Auburn and holding his own against Alabama, but he had some struggles against Florida, including some plays on which he was abused by Gators super star tight end Kyle Pitts and big receiver Trevon Grimes. After the season, Campbell decided to enter the 2021 NFL Draft.

There is a lot to like about Campbell for the NFL, who looks like he could end up as a starter early in his pro career, especially if he is drafted into a system that plays a lot of press man. Campbell has excellent size, possessing height and length that make it very difficult to get passes around him. Campbell also has developed strength to fight off receivers and maintain good positioning for contested passes. Campbell is a physical corner who really challenges receivers. He is a tough at the line of scrimmage with strength to jam and reroute. His height and length also help him to have nice recoverability to narrow the space and close the window for completing passes.

As a corner, Tyson has good feel, flashes some instincts, and demonstrates nice technique to stay in good position. He plays the ball well, possessing solid ball skills to slap passes away, but he was not an interception threat at Georgia, recording only one pick over three years.



The big question with all large cornerbacks is how well they run, and Campbell has the speed to play in the NFL. He is fast in a straight line and able to turn and run with receivers. While Campbell does not have elite speed, he has enough quickness to run down the sideline and keep receivers from burning him over the top. He won’t be one of the fastest corners in the NFL, but his speed shouldn’t be a liability. Campbell does a good job coming downhill to defend perimeter runs or screens in the flat. He has a real burst to close and is aggressive to tackle. As a pro, he should be a solid run defender as long as he is motivated to get active and attack the ball-carrier.

There are some limitations for Campbell in the NFL, and his pro defensive coordinator would be wise to have him not match up against smaller speed receivers. Campbell is not a super twitchy corner and has some change-of-direction problems. Thus, Campbell is better suited to line up on the outside against big receivers and he is not a fit to move inside to the slot. Being an outside only corner is not the end of the world, but it cuts down on his versatility for his pro defense. His lack of twitch and change-of-direction issues are common with big corners and make him a better fit as a press-man corner. He is not a great fit to play off-man coverage against pro wide receivers.

Some team sources have graded Campbell in the second round in the 2021 NFL Draft. Multiple team contacts, however, think Campbell has a real shot at going in the back half of the first round. Some players with second-round grades go in the first round because there aren’t 32 graded first-rounders. Campbell is a top candidate to be one of those players because this is not a deep or especially talented cornerback draft. He also has upside to develop and looks reasonably safe to become a solid starting outside cornerback in the NFL.



Player Comparison: Xavier Rhodes. Campbell reminds me of a thinner Rhodes. Rhodes (6-1, 218) is a big corner who can play press man and defend big receivers. Campbell could do that as well in the NFL. In the 2013 NFL Draft, Rhodes was a late first-round pick, and Campbell could be a late first-rounder in the 2021 NFL Draft.I think Campbell could be a pro corner similar to Rhodes after he gains some weight in a pro strength and conditioning program.

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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