Coby Bryant NFL Draft Overview
Position: Cornerback
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 193lb
School: Cincinnati
Coby Bryant 2022 NFL Draft Profile
Coming out of Cincinnati, cornerback Coby Bryant is somewhat dwarfed by the hype surrounding his teammate, Sauce Gardner. However, Bryant is a talent in his own right and could be a steal in this year’s draft.
An Ohio native, Bryant was a three-star recruit out of high school, committing in-state to Cincinnati and the Bearcats. As a freshman, he featured sparingly, seeing his role limited to special teams work. However, as a sophomore, his role expanded significantly. He featured in all 13 of Cincinnati’s games, starting 12 of them at cornerback. Statistically, he improved, relatively to his increased playing time, and Bryant was a key piece in the AAC’s top defense; one of the best in FBS in 2018.
2019 and 2020 followed a similar trajectory, Bryant continuing his role as an all-action corner for the Bearcats. In 2020, Bryant earned All-AAC First-Team honors as he led the league in PBUs, as well as leading Cincinnati in both PBUs and interceptions. Despite briefly considering declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft, Bryant opted to use his final year of eligibility and returned in 2021.
In 2021, Bryant was excellent. The Jim Thorpe Award winner, Bryant, along with Gardner, made the Bearcats the top pass defense in the nation this past season. Again selected to the All-AAC First-Team, Bryant enters the 2022 Draft as somewhat of an underrated prospect, despite his career achievements in college football.
Strengths
- Good size and length;
- Good leaping ability;
- Sharp in transition;
- Good decision-making with the ball in the air; knows when to prioritize receiver > ball;
- Superb athletic ability;
- Attacks the ball well;
- Good hands;
- Ability to locate the ball downfield.
Weaknesses
- Average responsiveness against in-breaking routes;
- Can skip in coverage;
- Tackling ability below average for his size;
- Struggles to get off run blocks;
- Footwork is less than tidy;
- Average fluidity in hips;
- Can overuse hands downfield;
- Can be a bit static when facing the quarterback;
- Tackling lacks power and technique;
- Fails to tackle securely.
Teams With Need At Position: San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Commanders.
NFL Comparison: Marco Wilson
Projection: Mid-to-late rounds (3-5)
Bottom Line on Coby Bryant
Coby Bryant has suffered somewhat from the brilliance of Sauce Gardner this season; his teammate’s play has drawn much of the acclaim for what was an accumulative effort. Cincinnati’s nationally-ranked top pass defense was as much a product of Bryant’s effectiveness as it was Gardner’s. But for Gardner, Bryant would’ve been the number one corner on this team, and a good one at that.
Technically, Bryant is far from the most refined prospect available in this year’s draft, but his physical profile, as well as his athletic ability, will make him a popular mid-round prospect. At the NFL level, he’ll be a developmental talent, but, with time spent cultivating his technique with NFL coaching, there’s no reason why Bryant can’t be a contributor as a rookie. As a mid-round prospect, his schematic versatility will hold him in good stead to be on the radar of any team looking for depth at cornerback. His man coverage skills are solid but not sticky, although he has the physical traits that, if cleaned up, can be effective in a man-heavy scheme. Zonally, a Cover-3 scheme would be better suited than a shallow zone look, as Bryant’s average tackling ability and static nature when eyes-up on the quarterback would be exploited closer to the LOS.
Bryant has the athletic base that will allow him to be developed technically at the NFL level. In the right situation, Bryant can be a great late-Day 2 pick, or even better if he can be picked up on Day 3. Teams with a multiple-look scheme, and that already boast a solid starting group of corners could benefit from adding Bryant as a depth option.
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