Alabama Game Week Scouting Report: Cincinnati Cornerback Coby Bryant

BamaCentral and NFL Draft Bible team up to profile key players Alabama will face this season, who have a chance to be selected in the 2022 NFL Draft.

SI.com

Yes, the name is not a coincidence. Coby Bryant is named after NBA legend Kobe Bryant. 

"It’s just spelled differently,” he says.  

The are two other things Alabama fans need to know about Bryant upfront:

1) He took advantage of his extra year of eligibility and is wrapping up his fifth season. So when you see things about him having played 62 games for Cincinnati, it's not a typo.  

2) Bryant recently won the Thorpe Award, given annually to the nation's top defensive back.

For the season he has 42 tackles, including one for a loss, three interceptions and 11 passes broken up. One of the picks, against UCF, he returned 74 yards for a touchdown. Bryant leads the Bearcats in forced fumbles with three.

Cincinnati's defense ranks No. 1 nationally in pass-efficiency defense (100.47), fourth in opponent completion percentage (53.5 percent), third in interceptions (18), fifth in touchdown passes allowed (10) and No. 3 in passing yards allowed (168.3).

"They're very, very good," Alabama coach Nick Saban said of the Cincinnati secondary. "I mean, I'm a secondary coach, and if your pass efficiency defense is what theirs is, they've got to be pretty good."

Bryant, who has 10 career interceptions, joined kicker Jonathan Ruffin (Lou Groza in 2000) as the second Cincinnati player to claim a major national award. He's also just one of two winners in Jim Thorpe Award history to come from non-Power 5 schools (Colorado State's Greg Meyers). 

His former defensive coordinator, Marcus Freeman, now the head coach at Notre Dame, once said Bryant: “The best way to describe him is elite competitor. It can be a fault sometimes because he hates to lose and be wrong sometimes. That's a great problem to have”.

Coby Bryant

Jersey: No. 7
Position: Cornerback
Height: 6-1
Weight: 198
Draft eligible: 2022
Hometown: Akron, Ohio 
High School: Glenville 

Background

Coby Bryant was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His older brother, Christian, played defensive back at Ohio State (2010-14) and was part of some practice squads in the NFL after being a seventh-round draft pick. Bryant attended Glenville High School in Cleveland where he helped lead the Tarblooders to a 7-0 record in Senate League play in 2016. Other standouts from Glenville include Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, former Ohio State and NFL players Ted Ginn Jr., Donte Whitner, Cardale Jones, and 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith. 

Bryant played both cornerback and safety as a junior, totaling 50 tackles, five PBUs and an interception. Scout.com ranked him as one of the top three cornerbacks in Ohio in the 2017 class. After high school, 247Sports ranked him as a 3-Star recruit, the 1644th-best recruit nationally, the 170th-ranked cornerback and the 66th recruit in the state of Ohio. During his 2017 freshman year, Bryant played in all 12 games on special teams and in the defensive backfield and tallied four tackles. As a sophomore he played in 13 games, making 12 starts at cornerback, as well as playing nine games with a cast on his hand. He tallied 33 tackles, 30 of which were solo stops. During his 2019 junior year, Bryant started 14 games at cornerback and finished fifth on the team with 54 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss, eight pass breakups, two QB hurries and an interception at Houston. In 2020, he was a 10-game starter as Cincinnati ranked in the NCAA's top-15 in five categories, including tied for No. 3 in both interceptions (16) and No. 3 in team passing-efficiency defense 

Pros

Coby Bryant plays cornerback like a wide receiver and possesses scheme diverse traits plus fluid athletic ability which make him an intriguing prospect. He’s mostly asked to play zone coverage in the Bearcat’s defense and is proficient in off-cover two, four and six. While in flat zones or deep thirds+quarters, Bryant has hawk eyes towards the quarterback and reads the number one and two wide receivers to his side very well. He displays a keen understanding of route combinations and anticipates high-lows, aggressively breaking towards the ball and tracking it while maintaining speed and then high points it, all like a wide receiver would. It’s evident that Bryant watches film and understands route combination tendencies out of certain formations and from specific areas of the field, occasionally gaining drastic inside leverage pre-snap vs. a dig route he knows is coming, for example. While he’s mostly in zone, Bryant shows a good baseline to work within press-man. He starts in a solid stance with good weight distribution and low pad level, is patient off the release, not biting on head fakes, displays a smooth backpedal with lightning-quick feet and also has very fluid hips to transition and stay in phase. When trailing downfield, Bryant does a commendable job of turning his head to track the ball and get a hand into the catch point. Furthermore, he really understands how to use his length and physicality when necessary, whether it’s squeezing a receiver down the sideline or boxing them out in the end zone, Bryant brings a dog mentality to the secondary.

Cons

Going into his fifth season, Bryant had a few areas to clean up, and some limitations that might always lower his ceiling. Firstly, in terms of what he could improve on, Bryant could be much more patient in zone coverage. His aggressiveness to attack the ball comes back to bite him on double moves and he was especially susceptible to stutter-gos and post-curls. Furthermore while in off coverage, he transitions from his backpedal to running downfield too early at times, seemingly not trusting his deep speed, and occasionally punished with underneath routes as a result. In addition, Bryant could look to improve his tackling technique, too often he doesn’t track the inside hip and dives at the ball carrier’s ankles from too far away before closing enough space. Now for the areas of Bryant’s game that he may never be able to improve substantially: He doesn’t have elite speed or explosiveness. This has led Cincinnati to playing him in plenty of off-zone coverage and also hurts Bryant’s ability to break on the ball when working downfield which is coupled with not being the quickest processor. When Bryant bails and plays with his back to the sideline in zone, he is slow to recognize a receiver stopping on a go and looks back to the QB to ensure they are throwing it, before breaking on the route, leaving him a step behind.

Summary

Fluid cornerback with great size, length and has ball skills like a wide receiver. Excels in cover two, four and six and anticipates route combinations exceptionally well. Understands how to use his physicality and length to make the receivers’ job extremely tough at the catch point. Can be over-aggressive at times in zone coverage and punished with double moves. Lacks elite speed and explosiveness which is becoming more important for cornerbacks at the next level. Not a dependable tackler in space or run defender. Has good starting potential in an off-zone-heavy system.

Grades

Current value 7.7/potential value 8.7

BamaCentral Analysis 

Bryant is known to be detail-oriented and precise, but on the Bearcats he's considered the second-best NFL prospect at cornerback, which is really saying something. He's fluid, has good size, but looks for Alabama to match up some speed guys on him and see how he tries to handle them. That isn't just with Jameson Williams, but some of the freshmen wide receivers as well, 

As part of the buildup to the College Football Playoff semifinal, BamaCentral will profile numerous Cincinnati players as the Crimson Tide returns to the Cotton Bowl. Also check out NFL Draft Bible for more evaluations.