2025 NFL Draft: What Darien Porter Brings to the Table

The Jacksonville Jaguars are looking to get their defense back into formidable form after having one of the worst in the NFL last season. This offseason, there is a sense of urgency to find the unit playmakers and effective talent in the trenches in the NFL Draft, and James Gladstone is quite aware of the needs, defensively.

Jacksonville signed Jourdan Lewis and Eric Murray to their secondary this offseason. However, this should not keep the team from adding more talent at either position, specifically ball hawks who can provide production on the backend.

Iowa State Cyclones cornerback Darien Porter could be one of those targets. A sixth-year senior, Porter came into college football as a three-star wide receiver recruit with a high-profile track and field background.

After a redshirt and an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic, Porter found himself as a special teams ace before finally getting his chance to start for the Cyclones as a cornerback, where he had transitioned to in 2022, earning himself All-Big 12 honorable mention this past season. Porter also participated in January's Reese's Senior Bowl and caught the eye of many teams in the process.

Let's look at what Porter can bring to the table at the next level.

Strengths

Porter comes into the NFL as a terrific physical and athletic profile player at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds with a 4.3 second 40-yard dash, 131-inch broad jump, and a 36.5-inch vertical jump. This is your prototypical height-weight-speed prospect that will jump out at you on screen.

As a former receiver, Porter's ball skills are natural and elite. He has ample tracking ability and hands, and he uses his length to asset himself aggressively at the catch point. Porter came away with some impressive reps downfield when attacking the football as he brought in three interceptions during the season, sometimes using his explosiveness to help himself in transition and explode into the throwing window.

In coverage, Porter's receiving prowess shows up with his instincts and leveraging against two-man route concepts. His profile susggest he could be an ample press-man defender at the next level. He always uses the sideline as an extra defender when challenged vertically in off-man or Cover 3.

Weaknesses

Being a sixth-year senior, Porter is an older prospect who will turn 25 before the end of the year, and that causes his ceiling to be limited. He is also inexperienced at cornerback and it shows with just three years at the position. By the time his rookie contract is complete, Porter would be 29 years old and may cause some pause for teams looking to add younger talents with higher ceilings in free agency.

Porter is a high-hipped defender, which means his transitions will have limitations and issues could arise in this scenario. He also has modest short-area quickness that would allow him to utlized his explosiveness when triggering to the run, and area he still has room to improve on.

What Porter brings to the table

Porter projects as an outside developmental starting cornerback in the NFL who could find himself on the field early due to his special teams acumen, physical, and athletic profile. This is a defender that is better suited to play in single-high alignments, especially in Cover 3 defenses where he can vanquish a third of the field.

Jacksonville would not have any pressure to throw him into the fire with a group of proven cornerbacks on the roster. Porter could be an ample press-man defender and run supporter down the line as he hones in on his technique and flipping the switch in his brain to play with more aggression against the run. This is a player who would be a great Day Two selection for the Jaguars.

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