New York Giants Draft Prospect: CB Chau Smith-Wade

Nick takes a look at a Day 2/3 cornerback prospect.

Jan 31, 2024; Mobile, AL, USA; National defensive back Chau Smith-Wade of Washington State (6) / Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

Chau Smith-Wade, CB

Height: 5’11
Weight: 184 lbs
Hands: 9 ⅛”
Arms: 30 ¼”
Wingspan: 72 ⅜”
Class: Senior
School: Washington State
STATS

MEASUREMENTS

40-yard dash: 4.54
10-yard split: 1.55
Vertical Jump: 34 ½”
Broad Jump: 10’5”
3-Cone: 7.05
20-yard shuttle: 4.32
Bench Press: 18 reps

A former three-star recruit out of Simeon Vocational High School in Chicago, Illinois, where he was the 27th-ranked prospect from the state and the 117th overall CB in the 2020 recruiting cycle. He was born and raised in Denver, Colorado.

Smith-Wade was an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention in 2022 after allowing just a 55.1% catch rate. He allowed just a 50% catch rate in 2023, but an injury to his AC joint held him out of the final five games of the season. Chau Smith-Wade attended the 2024 Reese’s Scouting Combine and the NFL Scouting Combine. He has reportedly received a top-30 visit with the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers, with a formal visit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Strengths

* Low squatty stance
* Good overall athlete with fluid hips and good closing burst
* Stays low and turns tight corners in pursuit when locating ball carriers
* Got those oily hips
* Quickly gets into his bail - flips hips controlled mover bailing
* Not scared to jam and let his presence known in press
* Solid overall jam technique at the LOS
* Quickly decelerates out of bail and reorients to attack
* Smart coverage player
* Good spatial awareness in zone coverage as a deep third/fourth defender
* Good adjustment ability in zone technique (when necessary) to combat creative stems to the boundary side
* Overpursued slant - excellent recovery ball location skills
--Wisconsin, Q4 12:58; Q4 12:10
--Washington, Q1 12:18 2022
* Understands route concepts - comes in handy as helper in coverage
* Very aware player in coverage - comes off assignments in man to assist teammates
--Arizona Q1 5:39
* Field vision would translate well to pattern-match
* Squeeze WRs to the sideline in man coverage - solid overall man covering defender
* Plays springy & balanced from different techniques
* Excellent recovery from initial inward position on wheel (Oregon, Q3 13:34)
* Calm temperament when out of position
* Pesky man coverage defender with good short-area-quickness
* Solid ability to get in phase and locate the football in the air
* Punches through the catch point - good angle into contact
* Efficient feet and closing burst to get back into phase when he does over-pursue
* Leverages sideline well in turn - keeps eyes on QB
* Comes downhill low and quickly
* Solid run support player - goes low and wraps up
* Gets his hands on WRs up their stem - harrassing & annoying near the LOS
* Solid pop on contact when driving downhill
--Wisconsin tape was very good
* Fiesty mentality

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Weaknesses

* Undersized and thin
* Short arms, lack of length - 12th percentile arms, 8th percentile wingspan
* Lost body-relationship vs. slant routes at the LOS - overpursued
* Tended to play shallow in high-low situations
* Beat bad on slant set-up vs. Troy Franklin (Oregon, Q1 4:37)
* Struggled overall against Franklin - lost at the LOS and failed to get back into phase quick enough
* Had a 21.3% missed tackle rate
* Most were low-tackle attempts
* Physical vs. stalk block but size worked against him
* Mostly played outside in college, may be forced to play inside due to size/agility

Summary

Sticky and annoying in coverage, Chau Smith-Wade displayed impressive recovery speed, tenacity, and spatial awareness in various coverage techniques. He has excellent eye discipline and reactive quickness to play in a match defense while having the requisite athletic traits to be effective as a man coverage defender.

Despite his diminutive stature, Smith-Wade has an authoritative jam at the line of scrimmage and is pesky throughout the receiver’s stem. He’s undersized, and his lack of length is his biggest vulnerability, which is evident on tape and could pose a problem if he plays on the outside. Smith-Wade goes low as a tackler but was evaded far too often in 2023.

Overall, Chau Smith-Wade is a quality CB prospect with coverage skills, eyes, and temperament to earn defensive snaps in the NFL. He may be forced to kick inside; if that does happen, he’ll have to focus on securing RBs to the deck in nickel as the apex. If Joe Schoen is looking for a smart, tough, and dependable CB who is instinctive, then Chau Smith-Wade is an option; I would also like to see how Jerome Henderson can mold the young player. He’s a player generating little buzz and has had solid tape over the last two seasons at Washington State.

GRADE: 6.20

Nick Falato's Draft Grade Chart / Nick Falato

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