NFL Draft 2014 Scouting Report: CB Jason Verrett, TCU

*CB grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, Wonderlic test results leaked, etc. We will update info as it becomes available. 

You cannot go wrong selecting Jason Verrett (VerrETT, not Vare-ET) to be an instant starting CB for an NFL team. The only debate point we see here is: Is Verrett going to be a good NFL CB or a great NFL CB?

He has all the physical tools you could want...save for one. He runs a 4.36 40-time, which is a great start. He has sensational agility measurements. He's strong (19 bench reps). He has a 39" vertical. Verrett has it all...except that he is only 5'9.4" tall. That may not seem like a huge thing, but in an NFL desperately seeking the next 6'0"+, next Richard Sherman-style CB...5'9"+ is not a huge drawing card.

Verrett has it all, except the height...which leads to his other big issue: His smaller arm-length/wingspan (30.6" arm-length). He has some physical limitations. However, on tape, he is a tremendous cover CB. He has speed to battle you in the open field, plus he has the physicality to bump around, and make tackles in the running game. He is a very good CB prospect. However, you have to fear (a little) how much reach he will give up to the 6'3"+ NFL WRs with longer arms...an extra 6-12 inches matters to some degree.

Verrett could be as gifted a cover technique CB as there is in this draft. I just re-watched the LSU vs. TCU game from 2013, and my love for Verrett multiplied. With this game you got Verrett vs. Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, and Zach Mettenberger. I can tell you who the best pro prospect is, hands down, after this one: Jason Verrett. If you look at the box score only, you would see both Beckham and Landry had pretty solid games statistically. If box score is all you consider...it looks like a Verrett 'loss' in a key matchup. That's not the real story.

Verrett, for the most part, completely shut down Odell Beckham. Watching this game was funny, but smart by Mettenberger. The LSU passing game plan: Wherever Verrett is, Mettenberger was going elsewhere...he barely looked at the side of the field Verrett was on. Beckham and Landry made their plays mostly with Verrett not on them (Verrett floated all over in the game, but was on Beckham a lot). When there was action involving Beckham/Landry v. Verrett...Verrett was right on them.

With Jason Verrett you are getting an 'A' grade skill-level CB, in a shorter package, and with him having surgery on a torn labrum in March...you hope he is fully ready by training camp. That could be a mild red-flag for teams.

Jason Verrett, Through the Lens of Our CB Scouting Algorithm:

In 2013, Verrett was credited with at least one 'pass-defended' in nine of 11 games. He has at least one 'PD' in 20 of his last 24 games (all of the past two seasons). That is a tremendous number.

He led all the NCAA in 'PDs' in 2012, and was 4th in 2013. Typically, teams stop throwing against guys like this, and it's hard for them to pick up PD numbers, but Verrett is seemingly everywhere taking on challenges.

Here's how Verrett compares with the top CB prospects physically:

• 40-yard dash:  4.37 Gilbert, 4.38 Verrett, 4.39 Roby, 4.51 Dennard
• 10-yard split: 1.50 Verrett, 1.52 Roby, 1.54 Gilbert, 1.63 Dennard
• Bench Press: 20 Gilbert, 19 Verrett, 17 Roby, 15 Dennard
• Vertical: 39.0" Verrett, 38.5" Roby, 36.0 Dennard, 35.5" Gilbert
• Short Shuttle: 4.00 Verrett, 4.04 Roby, 4.15 Gilbert, 4.18 Dennard
• Three Cone: 6.69 Verrett, Roby 6.70, 6.88 Dennard, 6.92 Gilbert
• Hand size: 10.25" Roby, 9.25" Verrett, 9.00" Dennard, 8.63" Gilbert
• Arm length: 33.1" Gilbert, 31.5" Roby, 30.63" Verrett, 30.3" Dennard
• Height: 72.1" Gilbert, Roby 71.2", Dennard 70.7", 69.4" Verrett

If Jason Verrett were two inches taller, he's be the top CB prospect in this draft hands-down. If Verrett were four inches taller, he'd be in the argument for the #1 overall pick in the draft.

The Historical CB Prospects to Whom Jason Verrett Most Compares Within Our System:

Jamar Taylor (MIA 2nd-round pick last year) was exactly who I thought of when I saw Verrett, as far as a physical profile. There are a few really good football players on this list. Verrett is a better cover corner than all of them.

*The ratings are based on a 1–10 rating scale, but a prospect can score over 10.0+ and less than 0.0

OVERALL RATING -- We merge the data from physical measurables, skill times/counts from the NFL Combine/Pro Days, with college performance data available on pass coverage/tackles, etc. and grade it compared to our database history of all college CBs, with a focus on which CBs went on to be good-great-elite in the NFL. We found characteristics/data points that the successful NFL CBs had in common in college, that most other CB prospects could not match/achieve.

Scoring with a rating over a 7.00+ in our system is where we start to take a CB prospect more seriously. Most of the future NFL successful college CBs scored 8.00+, and most of the NFL superior CBs pushed scores more in the 9.00+ levels...and future NFL busts will sneak in there from time to time. 10.00+ is where most of the elite NFL CBs tend to score in our system analysis.

COVERAGE -- A combination of on-field data/performance and physical profile data

SPEED -- Measurables from a perspective of straight-line speed, burst, etc.

AGILITY -- Measurables for lateral movements, quick cuts, body type, speed, etc. 

POWER -- A look at physical size, tackling productivity in college, other physical measurables. One of the side benefits/intentions here, is to see which CBs may be more of a model for a conversion to playing safety successfully in the NFL. Also denotes CBs who are more physical/will have higher tackle totals...over pure speed/coverage CBs.

2014 NFL Draft Outlook:

Jason Verrett is beginning to move into everyone's 1st-round in mock drafts over the last week or two...as he should. As Bradley Roby flirts with trouble off the field, Verrett is slipping ahead of him for many evaluators now. Really, I think people are seeing and re-seeing how great a coverage CB Verrett is on tape, and are upgrading him. People watching LSU-TCU tape to scout Beckham, Landry, Mettenberger...woke up to Verrett being better than all of them. What holds people back from moving him to the #1 rated CB is his size. Regardless, he will be a 1st-round pick.

If I were an NFL GM, and I needed a CB, I'd be battling between Bradley Roby and Jason Verrett as my value CBs. Justin Gilbert is potentially the CB guy off the board, and then a battle between Roby-Verrett-Fuller should take place. I want no part of Darqueze Dennard (who may be the 1st CB off the board too). My heart leans with Roby, but with his off-field issues cropping up again...I'd probably start pondering the comfort of Verrett in the later 1st-round.

NFL Outlook:   

Verrett is an NFL starter for the team drafting him by mid-season, or in 2015. He will be a solid NFL starter, with a chance to be a lock-down-ish CB. The size does matter, and may keep him more NFL good, than NFL great. 'Great' is on the table, however.

4/22/2014