When the Dolphins traded back with the Green Bay Packers from pick 26 to pick 30 I was caught a little off guard. Then, I was caught even more off-guard when Miami selected Auburn CB Noah Igbinoghene with the 30th pick. Miami had a pretty deep CB room already in place and Igbinoghene was someone I had rated in the third-round. 

After I got over the initial surprise of the pick, it started to make a little more sense. First, by drafting Igbinoghene Miami showed they are willing to make a strength of their team even stronger. Pairing him with Byron Jones, Xavien Howard, and Nik Needham makes for a dangerous secondary. Second, he checks a ton of the boxes Miami has for their CB’s. He’s physical, long, and good in man coverage. 

Now that I understood the selection from a philosophy perspective it was time to dive into the tape and see what Igbinoghene brings to the table. 

 

 

The most obvious thing in his film is how physical he is, even in the run game. Flores doesn’t strike me as the type of coach to put up with lazy run defenders at CB. In the play above, Igbinoghene beats his blocker right off the snap with quickness and then dropped his shoulder to make a tackle in the backfield. 

There are a lot of reps like this in his film. His tackling can come and go at times though. There are some reps where he comes in a little too fast and doesn’t keep himself balanced. This often led to him just kinda bouncing off of the ball carrier. 

However, I think it is important he is willing to defend the run because there are a ton of corners who aren’t even willing to stick their nose into the fire. 

 

 

Igbinoghene’s matchup vs Flordia receiver Van Jefferson was an important one to me. Jefferson is one of the best route runners I’ve come across making him a good benchmark for how Igbinogene will handle NFL receivers. 

On this rep, he shows off patient feet at the LOS which is an important trait for press coverage corners. A lot of people just assume press coverage is all about being physical with your hands but it actually starts with the feet. Igbinoghene has plenty of foot quickness to keep up with good route runners at the next level. He does a nice job getting his arm inside to break up this pass too. I can’t ask for a better rep on this one. 

 

 

This play is another example of Igbinoghene showing off good footwork. Jefferson beats him a little bit off the line, but he’s quick enough to recover, flip his hips, and break downhill to make a play on the ball. 

CB’s have enough quickness to react and redirect their momentum at the drop of a hat, and I think Igbinoghene has enough athletic ability to check this box. 

Now, he did arrive a little bit early which draws a flag. Igbinohgene has a tendency to get flagged when he gets beat, which is something that will only get worse in the NFL because they have stricter rules. 

This is another rep against Jefferson but this time he decides to grab Jefferson at the top of the route when he’s beaten which draws another flag. This was literally the next snap, so Igbinoghene got flagged on back to back snaps. 

I love aggressive CBs and guys who are willing to hand fight all the way down the field. I would prefer a CB to be too aggressive, like Igbinohgene, because it is harder to teach players aggressiveness than teaching them to tone it down at times. The NFL will be less forgiving with their flags than the NCAA was. 

 

If you read a draft report about Igbinoghene one of the first things you will probably see is a mention of his speed. He ran a 4.48 forty-yard dash which ranked in the 58th percentile for CB’s. It is easy to say a player is fast that but what does it look like on the filed? 

Here we see Igbinoghene line up in off-coverage over the outside receiver. He’s not in man coverage against the outside receiver so when he starts to backpedal he needs to read the eyes of the QB and break on the ball. 

He does this well and covers a good amount of ground to help disrupt this play. He’s got nice click close ability which should translate to some turnover worthy plays. He doesn’t get a ton of work in zone, but he’s got enough speed to be effective closing down windows in zone.

 

 

One of the most important things a man cover CB needs to be able to do is cover the deep routes. You have to stay patient at the line and flip your hips without a hitch allowing you to stay in the hip pocket of the receiver. 

Igbinoghene does all of those things on this play to perfection. He keeps calm at the LOS, flips his hips, and stays in phase all the way down the field. Additionally, he does a great job suffocating Bateman to the sideline so by the time the ball arrives he’s barely inbounds. This is an underrated trait for a CB. The sideline can be like an extra defender out there if you use it correctly. 

This is a fantastic rep in press coverage with one small flaw. Igbinoghene does not get his around quickly enough at all which is actually my biggest pet-peeve in his game. 

 

This rep is the perfect encapsulation of what I mean. He stays in phase all the way down the field but just refuses to turn his head around. This allows the receiver to make an adjustment and play the ball. 

Not only does Igbinoghene fail to get his head around on this play, but he also gets flagged for pass interference which basically sums up all of the weaknesses in his game. His being unable to play the ball in the air well is pretty ironic too because he played WR before playing CB. 

In fact, Igbinoghene only played CB for two seasons while at Auburn. He’s got a lot to learn at the position but has all of the physical traits you could ask for. He’s got the speed, quickness, length, and man coverage skills to be a successful NFL CB. Similarly to Austin Jackson, it will be on the Dolphins coaching staff to get the most out of him and round out the rougher parts of his game.  

BE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK:  CLICK HERE 

BE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:  CLICK HERE

BE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: CLICK HERE