It is safe to say this year's NFL draft was a defensive heavy draft, and corners, safeties, defensive ends, and tackles were mostly taken off the board in the first three rounds. But one heavily anticipated day three projection somehow managed to fall out of the draft completely, the Kansas Jayhawks Cobee Bryant, a player who is looking like he will be making teams regret passing on him already.
The news of Bryant dropping out of the draft completely was a pretty big shock to the NFL world, as being a highly projected pick in a defensive heavy draft, he was likely to be off the board anywhere from round three to five, but after dropping out of the draft, it was the Falcons who pounced. It could be argued that Bryant can be seen as one of the most well known players to ever go undrafted, and was a big opportunity for a number of teams to jump on. But now with rookie mini camp well under way, it looks like Atlanta may have made the right decision, a decision that the rest of the NFL may regret come the regular season.
Coming out of college, not playing for the best programme in the NCAA, but was certainly competing against some of the best players in college being in the Big 12 division, Kansas was the perfect place for Bryant to show he can thrive under any system in the NFL. Bryant highlighted time and time again at Kansas that he is great at reading offensive routes, breaking up passes, and was very solid man to man, but lacked some discipline often in his game. As an elite zone corner, and an amazing ability to turn his pace quickly, Bryant highlighted to scouts he is as reliable a corner as you can get, but there were other aspects which let him down.
Much like a lot of prospects who are passed up on at the draft, Bryant’s main falter has to be his size, and overall character. Despite being a big personality on the field, and playing with clear confidence and swagger was often his own worst enemy. Drawing 12 flags for unnecessary circumstances, and silly overly aggressive coverage over his last two seasons, it seems Bryant’s character was a concern for a lot of NFL scouts. And the final thing which may have caused his fall was his size. Being undersized is always the number one weakness NFL scouts take into consideration, and how Bryant plays the game mixed with his size, it isn't a great compliment to his game, and can often lead to dangerous tackles and risky play overall.
But aside from the faults, and discourse around his attitude and character. Bryant was arguably one of the most well known and loved prospects coming into the draft, and the Falcons may have made a perfect decision by picking him up. During the Falcons mini camp, the rookie has shown elite poise and understanding of what it takes to play at the NFL level. Having supposedly humbled, and toned down his game, while upping his defensive abilities, Bryant will look to be a real competitor and defensive star in the already stacked Falcons secondary, and will be on a mission to make teams regret passing on him. Being the character that he is, and with his defensive abilities finally pushing through, proving to the Falcons he can be the man, Cobee Bryant may be the mistake 31 NFL teams want to forget.
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