Chiefs Draft: Son of a “B”… I Mean “CB”

Chiefs Draft: Son of a “B”… I Mean “CB” – The Alabama Crimson Tide has won another Championship so, whatever the NCAA football season, could be, it’s now over with, and more importantly, the prospective NFL players offseason has arrived. There are two, excellent cornerbacks in this year’s draft — many more actually — who could end up wearing the Chiefs red and gold, when all is said and done. Well, maybe one of them could don the Chiefs colors, and that would be either: Patrick Surtain II or Asante Samuel Jr.. Both of whom have famous fathers with the same first names, which also played cornerback in the NFL. In fact Patrick Surtain Sr. played for K.C. from 2005-thru-2008.

Patrick Surtain II

Surtain II, is ranked as the 6^th overall prospect by DrafTek and is ranked 15^th overall by CBS Sports (as of 2-10-21). On the other hand, earlier in the offseason, WalterFootball had Surtain II going in the 1^st or 2^nd rounds (but as of 2-10-21, WF has him going in the top 20) so there may be an outside, outside chance he falls to #31. If he does, I’d expect the Chiefs to bite. This Patrick Surtain (the second), is of course the son of the Patrick Surtain (the first) who once played for the Chiefs for four seasons from 2005-to-2008.

At 6-foot-2 and 202 lbs., Surtain II is the ideal height and weight that the Chiefs covet in a corner. He also performed well for the Alabama Crimson Tide against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their semi-final matchup — the Rose Bowl — a week ago:

Below, the announcer makes a great point, opponents hardly ever throw Surtain’s way so he doesn’t have that many interceptions to his name. He had 4 INTs in his 3-year career.

Here’s Surtain II — as a Freshman — showing Texas A&M why it’s not wise to throw his way.

I expect Surtain II to remain a high draft prospect throughout the comming draft season and one good reason is his top performance in the Rose Bowl.

Like the Chiefs brass, I love me some family members of former big league players (Patrick Mahomes anyone?). Not to say they all work out, but I don’t know if it’s the genes or the been-there-done-that experience that makes them so calm when they’re performing. Surtain II has it in spades!

While I’m not usually a fan of Alabama players because they are each surrounded by a plethora of highly talented 4 star and 5 star recruits (e.g., 4 of the top 22 five star high school recruits in 2020 have signed with Alabama), however, Surtain II stands out above the rest.

Another Son-of-a-CB is Florida corner Asante Samuel Jr.. Samuel ranks 23rd overall at DrafTek and 42nd overall at CBS Sports while WalterFootball has him ranked as the 14th best CB and going somewhere between round 3 and 5. Junior is of course the son of CB Asante Samuel who played for the Patriots, Eagles, and Falcons. He was also in the Pro Bowl 4 times and led the league in INTs twice. While Surtain II will likely be out of reach, if Chiefs GM Brett Veach is looking for a CB, and if Samuel Jr. falls to pick #63, that’s where I could see K.C. becoming a card player, but even more so at pick #94… if he should for some reason fall that far.

Asante Samuel Jr. is 5-foot-10 and weighs 185 lbs. and while some may see his size as a detriment, his playing style suggests otherwise: an important reason I could see the Chiefs considering him in the 3rd round, if he’s still there. The draftnetwork.com says of Samuel:

Despite not having ideal size, Samuel Jr. is a competitive run defender and tackler that gets his work done and isn’t a liability. While his frame may suggest to some that he’s slot only in the NFL, he’s in the mold of a Brandon Flowers/Denzel Ward and fully capable of playing wide in the NFL like he did in college—although he does have some experience in the slot.

Some may remember CB Brandon Flowers who played for the Chiefs from 2008 until 2013, Andy Reid’s first year in K.C.. That was also Flower’s one year to make the Pro Bowl. Samuel Jr., like Flowers, is a quick twitch athlete — which comes in handy when a CB is attempting to mirror a WR — and like his father before him, very good in coverage. Here’s one of my favorite plays made by Samuel Jr. and no, it’s not an INT, it’s a tackle. Yes, this tackle may be called for a penalty in the NFL, but I share it here to show that size doesn’t matter when it comes to his ability to play corner and stop the run.

While I’m not a fan of smallish CBs, Asante Samuel Jr. may be an outlier. Take a look at 5 more tackles he made.

Like Surtain II, Samuel is light on INTs in his college career with only 4 in his three years at Florida. However, he had 97 tackles and 29 passes defensed. Those tackles and PD numbers are significant. Also like Surtain, other teams may not want to throw towards their best corner but when they did, Asante Samuel Jr. was up to the task. Here are 13 plays he makes to either bat the pass down or make an INT.

Samuel Junior looks quick to the ball and is ready to make plays when he gets there.

Other second, third or junior Cornerbacks in this draft include:

• Greg Newsome II – Northwestern
• Thomas Graham Jr. – Oregon
• Kary Vincent Jr. – LSU
• Mac McCain III – North Carolina A&T

While those first three can be expected to be drafted in sometime in the first 5 rounds, McCain III will likely be looking to catch on with a team as a UDFA. Daniel Jeremiah has 6 CBs ranked in his top 50 (top 47 actually) picks in the 2021 draft, three in the top 32 (the first round) including: Caleb Farley, Asante Samuel II, and Jaycee Horn. While Jeremiah has Patrick Surtain II showing up as his 15th best overall prospect, Asante Samuel Jr. doesn’t appear on his top 50 list at all.

Though it’s a solid year for CBs, it doesn’t look like it will be filled with any lockdown corners.

Bump Update

With three corners likely to go in the first, Daniel Jeremiah also has 4 QBs slated for the first round. Here’s a look at some other positions he has going in the first:

• 6 – Offensive Tackles
• 5 – Wide Receivers
• 5 – Edge Rushers
• 4 – Linebackers

Add in the 4 QBs Jeremiah projected, and you have what will essentially be something like your top 24 picks. It’s worth noting that a list of the best prospects is not the same as a mock draft, at all. While Jeremiah is saying these are the best available prospects, he’s not slotting them for any specific teams. Once the top 20 (or so) players have been drafted, many teams begin to draft as much for need as they do BPA (best player available) and that should end up having quite an effect on who will be available to K.C. at pick #31.

If you recall, in the Bump Method, the more player at positions that the Chiefs don’t need who are taken prior to them picking (at pick #31 this year) the better chance the Chiefs have in getting the player(s) they need or want most. If 24 or 25 players are predictable locks in the first round, it becomes much easier to project who the Chiefs might take. More on this in the coming weeks.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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