Athletic freak alert! Tyson Campbell has all of the tangibles one could ask for. He has size, solid speed, great recovery skills, and solid ball skills. With all of these traits, can he be a first-round prospect? This is up for debate. There are plenty of red flags on tape that (like his companion Eric Stokes) may be so dangerous that it makes him a complete liability.
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Player Bio
Name: Tyson Campbell
Jersey: #3
Position: Cornerback
School: Georgia
Class: Junior
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 185 lbs
Man Coverage (7.75/10)
Campbell has skin-tight man coverage. Campbell has an even greater ability to stick with his man than Stokes. His flaw lies in how grabby he is. There are numerous times where Campbell is seen getting flagged for being too aggressive. Unlike his teammate, he is obviously aggressive on every rep: he tends to grab the jersey collar as well as the arm. On top of this, he turns his head the wrong way in coverage. When he has run the route perfectly, he will turn inside instead of outside. This still gives the wide receiver the advantage when he could be getting an interception. This is a critical flaw that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. One last red flag: Campbell gets beat inside very easily. Campbell does have solid recovery speed, however.
Zone Coverage (3.0/10)
Tyson is built to lock onto one target. His spatial awareness is subpar, as was seen in his play vs. Alabama. As mentioned before, he is easily beat inside. When Campbell is not in man situations, he tends to not be able to feel the play develop around him. This stat directly contradicts Stokes, who was much better suited for a zone scheme.
Press (8.0/10)
Campbell shines here. His solid frame and ability to lock onto a target make him ideal for press-man schemes. This trait is why he might be drafted as high as the first round. Campbell is also patient in reading his target’s movement, showing that he does not panic. This is critical at the next level, where wide receivers pounce on anxious corners.
Instincts (6.5/10)
Campbell, unlike Stokes, has great route instincts, but not play instincts. What is meant by this is that he can stick to a route very well (known as running the route for the wide receiver), but he cannot feel the play develop. In a man scheme, this score might be an 8 or 9. Factoring in a zone scheme (score of 2.0), the score falls a slight bit.
Run Defense (7.5/10)
Campbell is far from a liability in the run (or after the catch) game. His tight coverage lets him have great positioning and make tackles with ease; however, there are many instances where he does slide off tackles. This usually happens due to larger, stronger wide receivers (Seth Williams and Kyle Pitts, to be exact) overpowering him. If he is matched up against similar strength talent, he will shine. Even in the run game, he makes plays.
Ball Skills (3.0/10)
This is a disappointment in comparison to Campbell’s man coverage skills. His ball tracking is far from polished (this was obvious when he was in perfect position and missed swatting the ball). Against Williams, he had multiple plays where he should have had a pass breakup. Instead, they were insane contested catches (all with an insane amount of holding from Campbell).
Straight Line Speed (7.75/10)
Campbell is not going to be torched by many (Jaylen Waddle would disagree). He probably is not 4.3 speed, but he will be in the 4.4s. His athleticism is why scouts even think about drafting this overly-aggressive player.
Short Area Burst (7.75/10)
As stated before, Campbell is easily beat inside; however, he has amazing recovery speed. This was seen against John Metchie III, where he made a huge pass breakup after missing the read.
Positional Versatility (4.0/10)
Campbell serves primarily as a press-man corner. He belongs one-on-one as a true lockdown corner. His short-range quickness could definitely allow him to play nickel, but his size and coverage skills should put him outside.
Competitive Toughness (4.75/5)
These Georgia corners bring it all every play. The over-aggressive nature of these corners shows how much effort they put into every play. Also, Campbell’s willingness to play in the run helps his score (C’mon, he literally was not afraid to go one-on-one with Najee Harris). One note: against DeVonta Smith, Campbell had problems giving up on the top of the route. He had spectacular coverage, but he did not stick to Smith on the comeback, leading to two huge completions.
Injury (3.5/5)
Durability is a question for Campbell, but he played a full season this year. That definitely will help his case.
Player Summary
Apart from the top two corners in this draft, there might not be a better man corner than Campbell. His unique ability to stick to a wide receiver’s hip is extraordinary. Although Smith put up numbers on him, it was obvious how well Campbell played. If he can grab less (a lot less), then the hype justifies his selection. If he can go to a man-heavy scheme, he will light it up. Spend some time on the jugs machine, and spend some time getting better hand technique, and Campbell will be worth a top-15 pick in this draft. As of now, the red flags are too intimidating to warrant a first-round selection, but in the right scheme, a second-round selection is beyond worthy. This player, possibly more than any other defender in the class, is a big boom or huge bust. Only time will tell.
Final Grade (63.5/100): Mid Second Round
Player Comp: (More raw) Byron Jones
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