Javelin Guidry Overview
Position: Cornerback
Height: 5’-9”
Weight: 191 pounds
School: Utah
NFL Draft Performance Data
40 Yard Dash: 4.29 seconds (unofficial)
Bench Press: 21 reps
Javelin Guidry 2020 NFL Draft Profile
After three seasons at Utah, cornerback Javelin Guidry is looking to take his talents to the NFL level. The speedy cornerback enters the NFL Draft on the heels of the busiest season of his career. Playing in a career-high 683 snaps, Guidry allowed 48 receptions on 69 targets for 538 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a 96.2 passer rating.
Guidry initially started his college football career as a three-star recruit. A high school state champion in track, Guidry committed to Utah after receiving multiple offers from major programs. The 5’-9” cornerback earned a role on the defense right out of the gate, playing in 403 snaps as a true freshman. While on the field, he allowed 25 receptions on 45 targets for 262 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and an 85.6 passer rating. He followed this up in 2018 by allowed 54 receptions on 75 targets for 466 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and an 86.9 passer rating.
Strengths
- Unrivaled speed, can go stride for stride with any receiver in the league;
- Impressive strength testing at the NFL Combine;
- Combination of speed and strength could theoretically make him a solid press cornerback;
- Sound tackling fundamentals;
- High special teams upside;
- Typically recovers well when beaten.
Weaknesses
- Below-average size and will probably spend his career in the slot;
- Struggles to diagnose plays and route coverages;
- Outward liability in zone coverage despite his speed;
- Struggles to break up passes, even if he’s in the position to do so;
- Subpar ball awareness;
- Allowed a 69.6% completion rate and only forced 8.7% of his targets to fall incomplete;
NFL Comparison: Jonathan Wilhite
Teams With Need at Position: Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins
Projection: 6th/7th Round
Bottom Line on Javelin Guidry
Javelin Guidry is the walking, breathing definition of a special teams cornerback with long-term upside. The Utah product has speed that you just cannot teach and is one of most sound tacklers among cornerbacks in this draft class. This alone should give him an inside track to winning a special teams job, and he has defensive upside that a team could try to develop. His combination of speed and strength doesn’t come along that often, so some team will try to make him a starting-caliber slot cornerback. However, there are a lot of obstacles in the way of that happening.
Guidry has the speed and recovery skills to stick with just about anyone, but he still gives up a ton of completions. This is partially because he’s short for the position and thus struggles to break up passes against larger targets. Additionally, he has subpar ball skills and struggles to sense when a pass is coming. These issues compound in zone coverage, as he struggles to diagnose routes and usually gets to the play one step too late. He’s a work in progress on defense, but he’s worth a late-round pick for his special teams potential alone. If he develops into a decent cornerback, that’s just a bonus.
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