2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: CB Paulson Adebo, Stanford
CB PAULSON ADEBO
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 190 lbs.
Class: Senior
School: Stanford
Adebo had a phenomenal sophomore year with the Cardinal. He seemed destined to be a first-round pick, but his junior tape was a bit more sloppy, so Adebo wanted to solidify his name as a top corner and returned to school for 2020; this, was of course before COVID-19 grasped the world.
Adebo never saw the field in 2020 because he opted out to focus on the NFL Draft.
He’s a former four-star recruit out of Mansfield, Texas. Adebo only played two seasons at Stanford but amassed impressive ball production.
He had 97 tackles, 5 for a loss, 8 interceptions, and an eye-popping 27 passes defended. Adebo has been used in the slot but is predominantly an outside corner.
The Cardinal coaches have deployed him to shadow opposing receiver ones, and Adebo offers incredible upside as a prospect that should be available on Day 2.
Notables
Two-time All-Pac 12 selection and was on the Bronko Nagurski, Chuck Bednarik, and Jim Thorpe Award watch list before opting out of the 2020 season. He was also a preseason All-American heading into the 2020 season.
Traits
He is a long-armed, slight framed, boundary cornerback who possesses very good athletic traits. He changes direction well, has good short-area quickness, and can rotate his hips with ease in and out of breaks. His fluid hips and lateral agility are probably his best attribute in terms of athletic ability. Long speed is solid, but not his best trait.
He has a solid one hand jam-and-turn in man coverage at the line of scrimmage. Uses length well at the line of scrimmage to disrupt in press situations.
He does a solid job handling releases and using foot quickness and discipline to stay square until he has to commit at the line of scrimmage.
However, up the stem a bit, he does prematurely commit his hips and wrongly flips, but his ability to turn masks those mistakes most of the time.
In off coverage, Adebo shows good mental processing to read and react to his assignments while not showing tunnel vision on receivers--he will see route combinations well.
Eye discipline is solid, but double moves can be used against Adebo due to his aggressive nature. Can plant and drive downhill well in a timely manner. He does a very good overall job in man coverage; he stays in phase well and quickly reacts to the play. Athletic traits are on display when he’s in man coverage.
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He has excellent ball skills and attacks through the catch point with great physical and competitive toughness. He has eight career interceptions in two seasons and was a high school receiver, so he has some natural catching ability. He is very aggressive at the catch point and attacking the catch point, which could lead to misses, and big chunk plays when he doesn’t disrupt, which wasn’t often at Stanford.
Good in run support for a cornerback. He has a large tackle radius and flies downhill, looking to punish offensive ball carriers. He has solid play strength when tackling as well. He is a good open-field tackler who does break down and wrap up most of the time.
Overall, Adebo is a very interesting prospect whose price tag is still up in the air because he opted out of the 2020 season. He should be a day two pick that can start in the NFL right away and be scheme versatile.
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