Jacksonville Jaguars draft target: CB Asante Samuel Jr.

The Jaguars could use some young competition at cornerback.

Jacksonville no longer has it’s Jalen Ramsey. But they do have young promising players in Sidney Jones, Tre Herndon, and C.J. Henderson. So why do they need to draft a corner so early? The Jaguars could really use the depth in their secondary and the starting spots are not set in stone.

Florida State’s Asante Samuel Jr. is an incredibly talented cornerback prospect in this years’ draft and isn’t talked about enough.

The 5’10” 184-pound corner is currently ranked #47 on The Draft Network‘s big board, #35 on Pro Football Focus, and #58 by CBS Sports.

In eight games this season, Samuel has 30 total tackles and three interceptions. When I watched his tape, I saw an incredibly aggressive player. Samuel likes to play physical, which makes up for his lack of size as a prototypical NFL cornerback.

Samuel has shown to have serious ball skills during his collegiate career. When I watched his tape, he allowed little time for the receiver to make the catch, making contact immediately and getting his hands in the way. He may not exactly be a ball hawk and needs to work on his catching skills, but Samuel knows how to interrupt the catch and has great tackling skills.

Samuel has also shown to have high awareness and vision for the game. I noticed he always cues in on where the ball is and easily migrates around the field to make a play. An area he does well is off-man coverage—allowing a cushion between him and the wide receiver at the line of scrimmage—because his speed and agility allow him to close on the ball with ease.

Samuel has chosen to opt-out of the rest of the season and declare for the NFL Draft.