2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: CB Marco Wilson, Florida
CB MARCO WILSON
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 191 lbs.
Class: Junior (red shirt)
School: Florida
Attended the prestigious American Heritage High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he was teammates with Georgia’s Tyson Campbell and Alabama’s Patrick Surtain in the team’s cornerback room. Also, he's the brother of Quincy Wilson, a former 2017 second-round selection by the Colts, who is now on the New York Giants. His father, Chad Wilson, was an NFL defensive back for Miami.
A four-star recruit who has a lot of inside/outside versatility; he spent most of 2020 at wide corner but split a lot of time in the slot during the 2019 season. According to Pro Football Focus, he has 95 tackles, 17 passes defended, three interceptions, and has surrendered 11 touchdowns. He started with a lot of promise at Florida - his best season was his freshman year. He was a bit more inconsistent after his sophomore ACL injury, albeit his athletic traits didn’t suffer much.
Notables
Had an ACL in his junior year of high school and then tore his right ACL in his sophomore season at Florida. Knee injuries have been a problem for this player in the past. He was able to come back from both injuries; he came back from the one in high school and earned himself an All-American bid that helped him become a four-star recruit.
Traits
Solid height, but is a bit undersized and doesn’t have ideal length (30.75” arms). Wilson is a good athlete with excellent lower body explosiveness, fluid hips, and impressive change of direction/agility - love his reactionary quickness.
Plays with good strength in all levels of his game as well, also shows good click & close ability downhill, leveraging his short area burst. Does well with his transitions inside and out--stays low and doesn’t lose his balance when he has to completely flip his hips.
He checks many of the athletic boxes, but there are still questions about his decisiveness in certain coverages. Read concepts well but was slow to engage in off-man coverage, putting himself into less than desirable situations. Usually, his athletic ability and recovery would allow him to still get to the catch point, but this isn’t something to be relied on at the next level.
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He was used all over Florida’s defense; played the “STAR” role inside, and was moved back outside more permanently in 2020. Patience at the line of scrimmage with his feet was adequate--he could cheat a bit with his fluid hips; he was solid overall in press with a good punch, even though he is undersized. Hand placement on jams is a bit erratic, and he could be a little better with his patience in terms of when to strike with his hands.
Did well selling trap coverages. Mirror and matches well and played match zone concepts at a solid rate--he understand space and attack downhill. Could have better ball skills--had ball production, but should have had more interceptions. He surrendered a bit too many catches when he was in phase as well; this area of his game could improve.
Wilson plays with a lot of competitive toughness; he’s feisty! He could still stand to be a better tackler in space - it’s not necessarily a lack of play strength, but he’s a bit wild flying into the tackle point, and he puts himself into positions where he’s vulnerable to shiftier players. He has to come to balance and wrap up, show a bit more discipline in this area--he had ten missed tackles in 2020.
Overall, Wilson is a tough player with a lot of athletic traits and tools. He’s still not technically refined with his press technique, and he’s a bit undisciplined at times. However, he understands match concepts and was solid with his execution with Florida’s multiple schemes on defense. Wilson should make for a very intriguing day three selection if he falls that far due to the tools he possesses and the correctable mistakes he had on tape.
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