2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Kelee Ringo

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Kelee Ringo, 6-2/205 Cornerback Georgia

Kelee Ringo 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

Skilled to slap passes away

Willing tackler

Physical

Good fit as a press-man corner

Weaknesses:

Extremely stiff

Struggles with change of direction

Will give up separation to shifty route-runners

Press-man corner only

Outsde corner only

Not a good fit for off-man coverage

Not a good fit in zone coverage

Summary: Georgia has produced a lot of good NFL prospects from its secondary under head coach Kirby Smart, and Ringo will keep that tradition going for the 2023 NFL Draft. In 2021, Ringo collected 34 tackles, two interceptions and eight passes broken up, helping the Bulldogs to their first National Championship since 1980. In 2022, Ringo recorded 42 tackles, two interceptions and seven passes broken up. He had a solid season, but he was picked on and abused in the SEC Championship Game and by Ohio State in the playoff semi-final.

For the NFL, Ringo is a pure press-man corner. He has excellent size, including height and length, that makes it very difficult to get passes around him. Along with those physical features, Ringo is very fast, and his straight line speed is superb. He has the ability to run with speed receivers down the sideline and keep them from running past him over the top. Helped by his size, Ringo is adept at battling wideouts, and Ringo has the developed strength to fight off receivers and maintain good positioning for contested passes. Ringo is a physical corner who really challenges receivers. He is a tough at the line of scrimmage, displaying the strength to jam and reroute. Ringo’s height and length also help him to have nice recoverability to narrow the space and close the window for completing passes. As a corner, he has solid ball skills and does a nice job of playing the football.



Ringo faces some limitations for the NFL, and his pro defensive coordinator would be wise to have him not match up against smaller speed receivers. Ringo is very stiff, possessing major problems in changing direction. Thus, Ringo is suited to line up on the outside against big receivers and 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 Ringo’s versatility for his NFL defense. Lacking change-of-direction issues is common among big corners, and that makes him a better fit as a press-man corner. Smaller shifty route runners give Ringo a lot of problems because he lacks the agility and loose hips to stay with them out of their cuts. He is going to have to be protected in terms of who he lines up against at the pro level. LSU wide receivers Malik Nabers and Kayshon Boutte gave clear proof of that in the SEC Championship Game, and then Ohio State reinforced it by picking on Ringo repeatedly. In the semi-final against the Buckeyes, he gave up a number of chunk completions and had a pass interference deep downfield where he had to grab the receiver to prevent a touchdown. With his stiffness, Ringo is not a fit to play off-man or zone coverage as a pro.

Ringo has received high first-round hype from the media for the 2023 NFL Draft. Sources from a handful of NFL teams, however, shared with WalterFootball.com that they were all projecting Ringo to Round 2. A number of sources said independently that they liked Ringo’s size and speed, but felt he has some stiffness and that change-of-direction receivers are going to give him problems in the NFL. Hence, they see Ringo as more of a second-round pick rather than a true first-rounder, like some have hyped him to be.



Player Comparison: Tyson Campbell. Ringo is akin to a thinner Campbell, but slightly slower and more stiff than Campbell. Both are big corners who can play press man and defend big receivers. Ringo could do that as well in the NFL. In the 2021 NFL Draft, Campbell was a high second-round pick, and Ringo could be a late first-rounder or second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Devon Achane, RB, Texas A&M Adetomiwa Adebawore, DE, Northwestern Jordan Addison, WR, USC Will Anderson, DE, Alabama Felix Anudike-Uzomah, DE, Kansas State Steve Avila, G, TCU Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland Micah Baskerville, LB, LSU Keeanu Benton, DT, Wisconsin Matthew Bergeron, OT, Syracuse Mekhi Blackmon, CB, USC Kayshon Boutte, WR, LSU Brian Branch, S, Alabama Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State Bryan Bresee, DT, Clemson Chase Brown, RB, Illinois Sydney Brown, S, Illinois Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA Malik Cunningham, QB, Louisvile Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina Max Duggan, QB, TCU Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Notre Dame Isaiah Foskey, DE, Notre Dame Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon Derick Hall, OLB, Auburn Jaren Hall, QB, BYU Anton Harrison, OT, Oklahoma Daiyan Henley, LB, Washington State Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee Siaki Ika, DT, Baylor Antonio Johnson, S, Texas A&M Paris Johnson, OT, Ohio State Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU Broderick Jones, G, Georgia Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa Will Levis, QB, Kentucky Quan Martin, CB, Illinois Cody Mauch, G, North Dakota State Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame Will McDonald, DE, Iowa State Kenny McIntosh, RB, Georgia Tanner McKee, QB, Stanford Kendre Miller, RB, TCU Jonathan Mingo, WR, Ole Miss Cam Mitchell, CB, Northwestern Malachi Moore, S, Alabama Mike Morris, DE, Michigan Wanya Morris, OT, Oklahoma Myles Murphy, DE, Clemson Luke Musgrave, TE, Oregon State Zion Nelson, OT, Miami B.J. Ojulari, OLB, LSU Demarvion Overshown, LB, Texas Owen Pappoe, LB, Auburn Jarrett Patterson, C, Notre Dame Clark Phillips, CB, Utah Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas Chris Rodriguez, RB, Kentucky Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas Noah Sewell, LB, Oregon Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan Nolan Smith, DE, Georgia Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota Tyler Steen, OT, Alabama Tyrique Stevenson, CB, Miami C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee Joe Tippman, C, Wisconsin O'Cyrus Torrence, G, Florida Henry To'oTo'o, LB, Alabama Tuli Tuipulotu, DE, USC D.J. Turner, CB, Michigan Lukas Van Ness, DE, Iowa Deuce Vaughn, RB, Kansas State Tyree Wilson, DE, Texas Tech Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia Keion White, DE, Georgia Tech Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee Bryce Young, QB, Alabama

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