{"id":111418,"date":"2021-04-25T14:41:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T18:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=111418"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:03:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:03:40","slug":"caden-sterns-2021-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/04\/25\/caden-sterns-2021-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Caden Sterns 2021 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Caden Sterns NFL Draft Overview<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Position: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Safety<\/span><b><br \/>\n<\/b><b>Height: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5-foot-11 \u215e\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Weight: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">202 pounds<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Arms: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">32 \u215b\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Hands: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9 \u00bd\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>School: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Texas<\/span><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Pro Day Performance Data<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>40-yard dash: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4.41<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Vertical: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">42\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Three cone: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6.96<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Bench press: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">14 reps<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Broad: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">128\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Short shuttle: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4.13<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021-nfl-draft-profiles\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>Caden Sterns 2021 NFL Draft Profile<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Caden Sterns played for Texas\u2019 Steele High School where he earned himself All-American honors as well as being ranked as the number three prospect within the state of Texas by ESPN. Sterns committed to Texas and saw immediate playing time as a true freshman in 2018. Sterns started in the first 13 games of the season and tallied 62 total tackles, three tackles for a loss, one sack, four interceptions, and eight pass deflections. The performance earned him first-team All-Big 12 honors as well as being named the Big 12 defensive freshman of the year. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a 2019 sophomore, Sterns missed some time due to injury but still managed to play in nine games. Despite the injury, Sterns still put together a solid season in which he tallied 58 total tackles, four tackles for a loss, one sack, and one pass deflection. Last season as a 2020 junior, Sterns again struggled with injuries as he played in just seven games for the Longhorns. However, Sterns again had a solid year as he accounted for 52 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, one interception, and four pass deflections.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Strengths<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Versatile safety who can play in both man and zone coverage;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fluid athlete with nice hips and play recognition within the passing game;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thick frame and has the size of an NFL safety;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trusts his instincts and has the athleticism to play as a deep rangy center fielder;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aggressive when breaking on the football and delivers nice pop behind his hits;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than willing tackler who likes to play physically.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Weaknesses<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Struggles to diagnose run plays quickly;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can take poor angles to ball carriers;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite his willingness to tackle, his tackling fundamentals need polishing;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not a great blitzer and can get lost in the traffic around the line of scrimmage;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does not have the versatility to be an instant impact box safety.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>NFL Comparison: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WoodXa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xavier Woods<\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Teams With Need at Position: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/chargers\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/eagles\/\" target=\"_self\">Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/jaguars\/\" target=\"_self\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/ravens\/\" target=\"_self\">Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/vikings\/\" target=\"_self\">Minnesota Vikings<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/washington-football-team\/\" target=\"_self\">Washington Football Team<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Projection: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Third Round<\/span><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<h3><b>Bottom Line on Caden Sterns<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sterns is an extremely versatile coverage safety and would instantly add value to a team\u2019s pass defense. Sterns has the athleticism and instincts to play as a deep over-the-top center fielder as well as the fluidness and technique to line up one on one in man coverage situations. Additionally, Sterns has the size of an NFL safety with a thick frame which should be able to hold up against next-level competition. Sterns makes aggressive breaks on the football and delivers some noteworthy hits when he is allowed to build up his momentum. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Sterns is a more than willing tackler, his technique needs improvement. The safety sometimes takes poor angles on ball carriers along with missing tackles at times due to sloppy technique. Furthermore, while his play recognition within the passing game is good, his run diagnosis needs to be quicker at the next level. Sterns could benefit by adding some functional strength in order to be more competitive as a blitzer and run defender in the NFL.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021-nfl-draft-profiles\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"2-0uzKUzTXVmJCxGsGZeWA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1287512421\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'2-0uzKUzTXVmJCxGsGZeWA',sig:'foX-IMUDQ_zPJ8u92RA2Uom-nsdNOlilXNj1OqXSN2Q=',w:'594px',h:'410px',items:'1287512421',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Caden Sterns NFL Draft Overview Position: Safety Height: 5-foot-11 \u215e\u201d Weight: 202 pounds Arms: 32 \u215b\u201d Hands: 9 \u00bd\u201d School: Texas\u00a0 Pro Day Performance Data 40-yard dash: 4.41 Vertical: 42\u201d Three cone: 6.96 Bench press: 14 reps Broad: 128\u201d Short shuttle: 4.13 More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles Caden Sterns 2021 NFL Draft Profile Caden Sterns [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3217,"featured_media":111642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,33760],"tags":[8121,2030],"class_list":["post-111418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-profiles","tag-caden-sterns","tag-nfl-draft-profiles"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246891,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111418\/revisions\/246891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}