Bryan Mills NFL Draft Overview
Position: Cornerback
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 180lb
School: North Carolina Central Eagles
Pro Day Measurables
Vertical Jump: 37in
Broad Jump: 124in
Three Cone: 7.31 sec
40-yd Dash: 4.55 sec
Bryan Mills 2021 NFL Draft Profile
One of the most highly touted HBCU prospects coming out in the 2021 NFL Draft is cornerback Bryan Mills. Beginning his college football career at JUCO College of the Canyons, he played eight games for the school in 2018 before transferring to North Carolina Central University.
A starter after just two games, Mills started the final ten games for the Eagles in 2019, establishing himself as a key part of their defense. In the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference, he quickly became one of the conference’s very top players, earning First-Team All-MEAC honors, as well as nationally recognized HBCU honors. His 2019 season was garnished by his performance against Morgan State, in which he tied the NCCU record for interceptions in a single game with three. With two of these in the end zone, Mills’ added another clutch performance to his resume. Earlier that season he secured a win against Delaware State with another goal line interception.
Heading into 2020, Mills chose to opt out prior to the season, with the NCCU moving its football program to the spring. Instead, Mills spent the 2020 season preparing to enter the 2021 NFL Draft. He was, however, invited to participate in the Senior Bowl, working out in front of NFL coaches against a pool of wide receivers that included Florida’s Kadarius Toney and South Carolina’s Shi Smith.
Strengths
- Elite length and reach; his frame is built for disrupting pass attempts;
- Incredibly smooth footwork, in and out of transitions in the open field;
- Tackles much bigger than his weight would suggest;
- Top-tier playmaking ability; strong hands and plays the ball aggressively at the point of attack;
- Doesn’t miss steps often;
- Doesn’t regularly over-commit to route running feints.
Weaknesses
- Although fluid, he isn’t exceptionally sharp; lacks some explosiveness;
- Lacks elite speed, although his long strides cover up for it;
- Needs to improve aggression in man coverage; develop press and hand fighting technique;
- Below average play recognition and awareness, particularly against the run.
Teams With Need At Position: Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals
NFL Comparison: Kevin King
Bottom Line on Bryan Mills
Mills is a project, but maybe one worth investing in. His frame, although slender, has the length and overall sizes attractive to NFL coaches. His ball skills and playmaking ability have been on full display throughout his admittedly short college career, showing both the willingness and ability to go after the football in the air. Despite playing for a smaller school and therefore largely playing against a lesser pool of talent, he was able to demonstrate his ability against some NFL-bound talent at the Senior Bowl.
Mills can be an NFL-level press man corner, but he has to work on the press element. He is adept at using his length against the thrown ball but hasn’t really shown proficiency in using it to control the route. NFL coaches like lengthy corners because of their propensity to create leverage at the line of scrimmage. At the NFL level, this will be especially important given that he lacks explosive speed, both in short areas and down the field. If he can hone the press element, then he can create turnovers, but quicker players will exploit him if he allows them the space to do so.
He played for a small school and only one year at that. Yet Bryan Mills has demonstrated enough isolated talent and potential to earn himself a way into the NFL. The situation could define him in the league; he will excel in a press man, ‘Cover-1’ system, provided he is given the time and is surrounded by veterans to help develop the core principles that make the technique so effective. It’s a wiry frame, but one that has the potential to fill out into an NFL-level cornerback.
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