Kelvin Joseph 2021 NFL Draft Profile

After an up-and-down college career, cornerback Kelvin Joseph is taking his talents to the next level in the 2021 NFL Draft. The redshirt sophomore is coming off the best season of his young career, playing in 535 snaps while allowing 19 receptions on 34 targets for 271 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. His highlight of the season came when he allowed zero receptions on three targets while also recording an interception against the high-flying Alabama offense.

Joseph originally entered the college football world as a four-star recruit. The Baton Rouge native originally had no shortage of suitors, but ultimately decided to join LSU for his freshman season. Joseph played in 222 snaps as a true freshman but missed the bowl game due to a suspension. Following the season, Joseph entered the transfer portal and missed the 2019 season.

Strengths

Ideal physical traits for the position with long arms and sturdy build;

Great athlete with above-average strength;

Fantastic acceleration with plus ability to close when beat;

Aggressive, physical player that doesn’t lack for confidence;

Sound tackler that should help out in the run game;

Played well against top competition.

Weaknesses

Still very raw – experienced players were able to get the better of him;

Reacts rather than acts – not much anticipation;

Little to no experience in man coverage;

Draws too many bad penalties

Reported character concerns stemming from a 2018 suspension.

NFL Comparison: Antrel Rolle

Projection: 3^rd-4^th Round

Bottom Line on Kelvin Joseph

Kelvin Joseph is a high-risk, high-reward project that is a year or two away from being ready to contribute on a regular basis. It’s easy to see what scouts like about him, as the Kentucky product has the ideal size, strength, and athleticism for the job. He’s able to recover when beat and can cover a surprising amount of distance in a short time. He’s one of the more confident players in the class, which is a very important trait for a cornerback. If coached up properly, he could easily become a starting-caliber player in the league.

That said, coaching him up is much easier said than done. Joseph is a very raw player and still needs to learn a lot about actually playing the position. He relies primarily on his athleticism to make plays, rather than anticipation. This can work at the college level, but it will be exploited at the NFL level. Additionally, Joseph is a little scheme-dependent, as Kentucky barely played any man coverage during his tenure. All this combined with some off-field issues means that Joseph carries a lot of risk.

Ideally, Joseph will land in a zone-heavy scheme with good cornerback depth and solid organizational structuring. A perfect surrounding could allow him to turn into a really good NFL player, there just aren’t that many perfect situations out there.

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2021 NFL Draft: Kelvin Joseph Player Profile