Andrew Booth Jr. NFL Draft Overview
Position: Cornerback
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 194 lbs
School: Clemson
Andrew Booth Jr. 2022 NFL Draft Profile
Booth lined up at outside cornerback for the Tigers in 2021. He came to Clemson as a consensus five-star and top-50 overall recruit after playing both cornerback and wide receiver while returning kicks for Archer High School in Dacula, Georgia.
Booth was seldomly used as a freshman but exploded onto the scene as a sophomore in the Tigers’ defense. In his second year in Death Valley, Booth recorded a total of 30 tackles, four pass defenses, two picks, and one of the most impressive one-handed interceptions a defensive back has ever made in college football. He was awarded ACC All-Academic honors for the second straight season at the end of the year. As a Junior, Booth was once again given an expanded role before recording 37 total tackles, five pass defenses, and three interceptions. He and teammate Mario Goodrich became the first cornerback duo in Clemson history to sweep first-team All-ACC honors in 2021.
Booth is built in the prototype of a modern-day man-to-man NFL cornerback. He stands just over six feet and has tremendous length to pair with 9’3/8” hands. His calling card is his footwork. Booth’s feet are incredibly agile and they allow him the opportunity to fluidly mirror wide receivers and trigger with a ton of explosiveness when tracking down running backs. It is incredibly hard to maneuver around Booth as a ball carrier or receiver. Booth naturally finds the ball when he is targeted and uses his long frame to pull down runners outside of his range with ease.
In zone coverage, he is smart and quick enough to break on the ball but can become too committed to his landmarks. Booth is an incredibly willing tackler but he can let his competitiveness and hot motor get the better of him at times. There are multiple instances (see the fourth quarter of Pitt game) of Booth leaving his feat early and missing instead of making the big tackle.
Strengths
- Agile feet allow him to trigger from many different foot positions
- Incredibly quick when coming downhill to attack the run
- Ultra competitive player whose motor allows him the ability to get involved in any play he chooses
- Long arms paired with incredible ball skills allow him to overextend his range as an in-air defender and tackler
- Smooth backpedal makes falling into position and mirroring receivers’ natural
Weaknesses
- Can be overaggressive and reckless with his tackling
- Occasionally guesses and can be over-predictive when reacting to the receiver’s route
- Multiple injuries throughout his college career including a quad injury that led to Booth missing the NFL combine
- Sometimes overly handsy on and near the line of scrimmage
- Less than stellar burst when adjusting to receivers’ routes
NFL Comparison: Janoris Jenkins
Teams with need at the position: Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks
Projection: 1st round
Bottom line on Andrew Booth Jr.
Booth fits the mold of a prototypical NFL man-to-man corner. He pairs great length with incredible ball skills, and high effort play, to make him a very tough cornerback to beat off the line of scrimmage and in tight coverage. He is a more than willing tackler in the run game and will likely be able to turn his ability to trigger and explode towards the ball carrier into value as a blitzer. Booth looked like a five-star athlete and played like a five-star recruit during his Clemson career. There is very little missing from Booth’s game and any team that runs a lot of man coverage will be hard-pressed to pass on him in the first round.
Games Watched: Georgia (2021), NC State (2021), Boston College (2021), Pitt (2021), Iowa State (2021)
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
