2022 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Martin Emerson

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Martin Emerson, 6-2/201 Cornerback Mississippi State

Martin Emerson Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Instinctive

Excellent size

Long cornerback

Physical to jam receivers

Experienced

Has some quickness

Closing burst

Will dish out some hard hits

Good zone corner

Smartly covers up receivers in his area

Advanced vision

Disciplined

Adept at taking on big receivers

Can outfight defenders on contested catches

Gritty, physical defender

Has "dog" to him

Can play zone coverage

Athletic upside

Weaknesses:

Lacks ball skills

Only one interception in college

Could have some problems with deep speed

Summary: Not many good players go under the radar in the SEC, but that was the case with Emerson. Mississippi State has churned out a lot of good NFL talent and defensive backs in the past decade, and Emerson will continue that tradition. Emerson's on-field debut came in 2019 when he had one interception and 31 tackles. In 2020, he recorded 72 tackles with 11 breakups. Emerson then racked up 49 tackles and three passes defended in 2021.

For the NFL, Emerson is a big, long, physical corner who fits well as a press man or zone corner. He has good instincts and is adept at covering up receivers who come into his area. With his height, length and strength, he is skilled at defending big receivers and battling them on contested catches. He might be able to do some man coverage on receiving tight ends as well at the next level.

Emerson is an ideal press-man corner with strength and physicality to jam receivers at the line. With his strong arm punch, Emerson is adept at stalling and re-routing receivers to disrupt the play for the offense. Emerson's height and length give the ideal build for playing as a natural press-man corner in the pro, and he has enough quickness and athleticism to turn and run with big wideouts down the field. He is a good weapon to defend fade passes in the red zone.

Emerson possesses enough speed to play corner and not move to safety, but he may not be a corner who his team wants to line Emerson up against a deep speed receiver like Tyreek Hill, Ja'Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle or Will Fuller. The super-fast receivers that stretch the field vertically could present a mismatch problem for Emerson, as evidenced by his 40 time at the combine. The speed issue is something to be cognizant of, but Emerson has enough speed to handle most NFL receivers, and he could develop into a corner capable of being competitive against bigger No. 1 wideouts like Mike Evans, Michael Thomas or DeAndre Hopkins. Emerson shows a closing burst and is a hard hitter in space.

The biggest negative with Emerson is a lack of ball skills. He had only one interception in college and seemed to content to slap passes away rather than trying to bring down interceptions. In the NFL, Emerson needs to improve his ball production and that will be a point of emphasis for his future defensive backs coach.

In scouting jargon, one of the best thing that can be said about a player is that he is a "dog." That means he is super competitive, a fighter, and a player that wants to win at all costs. Team sources have told me that Emerson is a dog, and that can go along way to Emerson panning out in the NFL.

In the 2022 NFL Draft, Emerson could be a late second-round or early third-round pick. He could end up being a quality starter with upside to potentially develop into a No. 1 corner for his team.

Player Comparison: Carlton Davis. Emerson reminds me of Davis coming out of Auburn. Both were big cornerbacks with length, strength, cover skills, and a dog mentality. Davis was a second-round pick, and Emerson could end up going in Round 2 of the 2022 NFL Draft.

2022 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2022 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Adam Anderson, OLB, Georgia Calvin Austin, WR, Memphis Tyler Badie, RB, Missouri Amaré Barno, OLB, Virginia Tech Andrew Booth, CB, Clemson David Bell, WR, Purdue Nik Bonitto, OLB, Oklahoma Jaquan Brisker, S, Penn State Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas Zachary Carter, DE, Florida Leo Chenal, LB, Wisconsin Lewis Cine, S, Georgia Damone Clark, LB, LSU Micheal Clemons, DE, Texas A&M Bryan Cook, S, Cincinnati James Cook, RB, Georgia Yusuf Corker, S, Kentucky Matt Corral, QB, Ole Miss Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State Nick Cross, S, Maryland Jordan Davis, DT, Georgia Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn State Greg Dulcich, TE, UCLA Arnold Ebiketie, DE, Penn State Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida Ikem Ekwonu, OT, N.C. State Martin Emerson, CB, Mississippi State Kingsley Enagbare, DE, South Carolina Daniel Faalele, OT, Minnesota Luke Fortner, C, Kentucky Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner, CB, Cincinnati Luke Goedeke, G, Central Michigan Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington Kenyon Green, G, Texas A&M Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State Logan Hall, DE, Houston Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame Christian Harris, LB, Alabama Daxton Hill, S, Michigan Chasen Hines, G, LSU Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan Ed Ingram, G, LSU Drake Jackson, DE, USC Jermaine Johnson, DE, Florida State Zion Johnson, G, Boston College Travis Jones, DT, Connecticut Kerby Joseph, S, Illinois Cam Jurgens, C, Nebraska George Karlaftis, DE, Purdue Darian Kinnard, OT, Kentucky Charlie Kolar, TE, Iowa State DeMarvin Leal, DT, Texas A&M Isaiah Likely, TE, Coastal Carolina Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa Devin Lloyd, LB, Utah Drake London, WR, USC Abraham Lucas, OT, Washington State Boye Mafe, DE, Minnesota Phidarian Mathis, DT, Alabama Trey McBride, TE, Colorado State Roger McCreary, CB, Auburn Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington Verone McKinley, S, Oregon John Metchie, WR, Alabama Skyy Moore, WR, Western Michigan Chad Muma, LB, Wyoming David Ojabo, DE, Michigan Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State Cade Otton, TE, Washington Evan Neal, OT, Alabama Josh Paschal, DE, Kentucky Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa Nick Petit-Frere, OT, Ohio State George Pickens, WR, Georgia Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh Alec Pierce, WR, Cincinnati Dameon Pierce, RB, Florida Jalen Pitre, S, Baylor Brock Purdy, QB, Iowa State Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati John Ridgeway, DT, Arkansas Brian Robinson, RB, Alabama Wan'Dale Robinson, WR, Kentucky Justyn Ross, WR, Clemson Jeremy Ruckert, TE, Ohio State Jamaree Salyer, G, Georgia Tyler Smith, OT, Tulsa Isaiah Spiller, RB, Texas A&M Derek Stingley, CB, LSU Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon Cameron Thomas, DE, San Diego State Tyquan Thornton, WR, Baylor Kenneth Walker, RB, Michigan State Rasheed Walker, OT, Penn State Quay Walker, LB, Georgia Travon Walker, DE, Georgia Christian Watson, WR, North Dakota State Zamir White, RB, Georgia Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama Malik Willis, QB, Liberty Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State Perrion Winfrey, DT, Oklahoma Tariq Woolen, CB, UTSA Devonte Wyatt, DT, Georgia Jalen Wydermyer, TE, Texas A&M

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