2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Israel Mukuamu

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Israel Mukuamu, 6-4/205 Cornerback South Carolina

Israel Mukuamu Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Huge height

Excellent length

Quality ball skills

Skilled to slap passes away

Adept at defending 50-50 passes

Packs a punch to reroute

Tough run defender

Willing tackler

Physical

Press-man corner

Weaknesses:

Not fast

Could have issues with NFL deep speed

Lacks some explosion

Not a twitchy athlete

Struggles to run the route

Will struggle to prevent separation against pro wideouts

Needs to improve eye discipline

Needs to improve mechanics

Summary: After the Seattle Seahawks won a Super Bowl with the Legion of Boom secondary leading their powerful defense, a lot of other teams across the league implemented a similar style defense. Tall cornerbacks who can play press-man coverage and have the ability to use their size and length to blanket receivers have been in demand ever since. Mukuamu is going to have some teams interested in him in the mid-rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft because he has those traits.

Back in 2019 when NFL eyes were evaluating Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm for the next level, Mukuamu made his own impression by putting together his best game of the year – including picking off Fromm three times to help lead the Gamecocks to a shocking upset of the Bulldogs. That game put Mukuamu on the map as a prospect for the 2021 NFL Draft. The sophomore totaled four interceptions, nine passes broken up and 59 tackles that season, improving the 17 tackles, one interception and one pass batted he recorded as a freshman. Mukuamu then recorded 10 tackles and two interceptions in his five-game 2020 season. The junior dealt with some injuries and ended his year early after Will Muschamp was fired as head coach.



Mukuamu has great size for the next level, clearly possessing height, length and physicality. He can play high to low with press-man ability on big receivers. Mukuamu is a good fit to face tall receivers and is an asset in the red zone to take away fade routes or jump balls. Mukuamu showed a nice ability to play the ball as well during his career at South Carolina.

“I love the length and physical traits to work with,” said one director of college scouting. “[Mukuamu] needs some work in a lot of areas like eye discipline [and] mechanics … – I doubt he can run.”

Mukuamu has limitations in a lack of speed and twitch. His stiffness makes him a poor fit for off-man coverage and receivers can generate separation coming out of breaks. Mukuamu’s issues with stiffness and transitioning are common problems for big corners, and he will need to improve his mechanics to help him keep receivers from getting separation when they go in and out of their breaks.

As a pro, Mukuamu could be limited to being a press-man corner primarily who could mix in some zone coverage as well. He is not a corner who should take on fast or shifty NFL receivers, and he should be limited to matching up against only big wideouts. Hence, Mukuamu is more of a mid-round pick for the 2021 NFL Draft.



Player Comparison: Brandon Browner. Mukuamu reminds me of a thinner Browner. Browner (6-4, 220) was a successful press-man corner for a time with the Seahawks. Browner was able to stick in the NFL after a stretch in Canada, but he ultimately had limitations for the NFL. I could see Mukuamu being a similar caliber of player during his career.

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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