2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: DB Benjamin St. Juste, Minnesota
DB BENJAMIN ST. JUSTE
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Class: Senior (red shirt)
School: Minnesota
A four-star recruit out of Cegep du Vieux High School in Montreal, Quebec. He committed to the University of Michigan, where he played 12 games, primarily special teams, for the Wolverines before transferring to “row the boat” with head coach P.J. Fleck and the Golden Gophers.
He was Academic All Big-10 in 2020 and made the honorable mention list for the 2019 season. Faced 62 total targets in college and only allowed 35 catches (56% completion rate) while swatting 11 balls away and allowing two touchdowns. St. Juste brings solid tackling to the table, and he recorded 62 tackles, 1.5 of them for a loss while playing in college.
St. Juste caught the eyes of many scouts in Mobile while attending the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He utilized his length well to disrupt, and he thrived in the one-on-one drills, which are typically geared for offensive success. His length and movement skills will allow him to be a versatile defender on the backend, albeit most of his college snaps came as an outside receiver.
Traits
A long, tall, outside cornerback with impressive movement skills and balance for a player of his size. His height, arm length, and wingspan would all be in the 90th percentile for corners who went through mockdraftable.com's database.
St. Juste fits the Giants’ and Patrick Graham’s profile for what they desire in an outside cornerback--long, fluid, tough, can play the run.
St. Juste showed impressive press skills at the Senior Bowl and used his length very well to disrupt receivers up their releases while subtly being annoying throughout the stem of the receiver’s route.
He has shown solid press-man ability that can be developed; his feet are solid at the line of scrimmage, and he does an above-average job at stabbing and riding receivers either inside or out.
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Athletic ability and movement skills are good for a player of his size. He doesn’t possess blazing speed, but he shows enough fluidity in his hips to turn while not losing much momentum or balance. His change of direction is solid in space, and he possesses good build-up speed/acceleration.
I wish he were a bit better at the catch point. Having no career interceptions isn’t great, but there were reps where it took him too long to realize a pass was in the air, turn around, locate the pass, and swat it away. He gave up a rough touchdown against Northwestern on a play like this in 2019. Ball skills need development, as does the feel for how to play the ball in the air.
I like his physicality and tackling mechanics. He breaks down to balance and uses his wide tackle radius to latch onto ball carriers and drag them to the deck. He has some pop in his hits and isn’t a liability in run support. He brings good physical and competitive toughness to teams.
St. Juste has a lot of upside due to his ability to move and his length, but he’s not quite a finished product, and his potential has yet to be capped. He needs to develop a better feel for playing vertical routes--this will maximize his disruptive ability, especially with his exceptional length.
He’s good in run support, solid at the line of scrimmage, and has the upside to be a starting outside corner. Still somewhat raw and needs development, but that’s why he has a chance to be on the board on the third day.
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