2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: CB Tyson Campbell, Georgia

You can never have too many cornerbacks, and Tyson Campbell, as a Day 2 prospect, certainly is intriguing.

CB TYSON CAMPBELL

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 185 lbs.
Class: Junior  
School: Georgia  

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Campbell was one of the more heavily recruited players in the 2018 cycle. He was the 226th all-time ranked recruit, according to 247 Sports. A former five-star recruit out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he attended the illustrious American Heritage High School, the same school that Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II attended.

In his senior year of high school, they went undefeated and were on a 27-game win streak. Campbell won two state championships in high school and was also a high school sprinting champion for the track team.

He only has one career interception but has nine passes defended to go along with 74 career tackles. Allowed seven total touchdowns in coverage, and 5 of those were in 2020; two of the touchdowns in 2020 were against the Florida Gators, where Campbell was dominated by both tight end Kyle Pitts and wide receiver Trevon Grimes--in a MOSS like manner.

Campbell is a very good athlete, and he ran two 40-yard-dashes at his Pro Day that were unofficially clocked at 4.34 and 4.39. The Pro Day allure was stolen by fellow cornerback Eric Stokes, who will more than likely be selected over Campbell in April--Stokes ran a 4.25 and had a 38.5” vertical.

Notables

He was dinged up through much of 2019 with a right foot injury that he attempted to play through but ultimately missed five games.

Traits

Campbell is a lean long cornerback who possesses very good athletic ability and speed. His athletic ability suggests that he can be an effective man cover cornerback, but his transitions weren’t as clean as I would like to see.

He has foot speed, but the footwork was hit or miss. He tended to lean into the receiver too much while moving laterally on horizontal routes, and he lost balance too often on quick cuts from receivers--not all the time, but enough to note.

There were times, in man coverage, where he showed great ability to limit space on horizontal breaking routes, and then he would stay in phase and ride the hip of his target, but it was inconsistent; there were also times where he would slip and fall on quick curls and comebacks.

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He has the hips, and he possesses quick feet to be a good man cover cornerback, but he seemed a bit relaxed at times and unbalanced - a good coaching staff can fix that.

Spatial awareness in zone wasn’t great. He would give too much of a cushion when he wasn’t being high-lowed, and it allowed for too many completions. He played a lot in a half-turn, and his feel for receivers behind him was solid.

Showed the ability to ride receivers off the red line with his back turned by quickly covering ground in that position. I wish his burst in click & close situations was a bit better underneath.

He has good recovery ability when beaten deep in zone coverage; was solid at playing through the catch point when moving horizontally, but struggled to do so on vertical routes against Florida in 2020.

Concentration at the catch point could be a bit better, which may lead to more passes defended and interceptions. Campbell has the range to cover ground--he does well to close width on horizontal breaking routes, but he needs to improve his balance once he’s in the receivership pocket.

Campbell is a willing tackler who uses his long arms to secure and wrap up ball carriers to the ground. He’s good overall as a tackler, but it doesn’t always look pretty. He can go up high sometimes, and he’s not super powerful, but he gets the job done.

Campbell has the movement ability and the length to be an effective man coverage player, but it’s not always consistent, and he’ll need NFL coaching to unlock his potential. He’s a high upside player who isn’t always situationally aware and who needs to work a bit on his transitions.

I understand why he’s receiving Day 2 talk, especially since the NFL loves former five-star recruits, but he’s not a finished product yet. If a team can coach him up, they’ll be making a high upside selection on the second day of the NFL draft. 

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