2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: CB Bryan Mills, North Carolina Central

North Carolina Central CB Bryan Mills is a tallish cornerback with a lot of tools that could be developed at the next level.

CB BRYAN MILLS 

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Class: Senior
School: North Carolina Central

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The Reese’s Senior Bowl does an excellent job locating talent from smaller levels and inviting them to play with Power 5 conference players. This year, Mills is one of those players. 

He went from a JUCO playThe Reese’s Senior Bowl does an excellent job locating talent from smaller levels and inviting them to play with Power 5 conference players. This year, Mills is one of those players.

He went from a JUCO player at the College of Canyons to a dominant starter at the FCS North Carolina Central program. Before the 2020 season, he was voted to the All-MEAC First Team starting cornerback.

Notables

He had five interceptions for North Carolina Central in his junior season, and he was voted All-MEAC First Team. He also had eight passes defended in that season. Mills is from Palmdale, California, but chose to play his college football in North Carolina at an HBCU.

He was named to the BOXTOROW All-American Team, which recognizes players from HBCUs. He was also selected to Phil Steele’s All-MEAC’s first team in 2019. Mills is an intriguing prospect that NFL teams must investigate.

Traits

A former JUCO transfer that ended up playing very well at the FCS level. Mills is a tall, long, yet slim, explosive defensive back who played field corner for NCCU. Mills was playing inferior talent and dominated at that level.

He has good overall athletic ability, displaying solid speed, and good change of direction skills, lateral agility, and burst to close width. Didn’t need to rely on elite technique or skills at the line of scrimmage, or up the stem of receivers routes, due to his superior ability, but the tools to build are present.

Played press effectively in the FCS; has quick feet and fluid hips to jam and bail. However, he’s a bit high cut in the hips, and smaller, quicker receivers may make him struggle at the next level.

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Mills’ frame suggests that he may struggle with larger wide receivers at the next level, but it’s a projection. He plays with a lot of competitive toughness and confidence, which is an excellent character trait to have for a cornerback from a smaller program.

He did a very good job getting himself into a position to make plays on the football. He has good hands, concentration, and secures interceptions well; he had three interceptions against Morgan State (two of them were in the end zone, which helped earn him Defensive Player of the Week).

Mills is aggressive while tackling, has a long tackling radius, but doesn’t have a lot of power that would translate to a higher level of competition. Overall, Mills is a raw athletic cornerback who has the necessary length to intrigue NFL teams. 

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