2020 NFL Draft: What makes Jeffrey Okudah CB1
By Seth Steere
Technique
As Rakim famously rapped, “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” and it appears Okudah isn’t sweating it!
Most players coming out of college have some issues here or there with there form, especially at the cornerback position, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for Okudah. For example, you’ll see guys who need to work on their backpedal, they can start out by executing their backpedal to a “T”, but fail to maintain the proper form throughout the progression of the route; however, Okudah performs the opposite.
For Okudah, his backpedal appears to be second nature at this point — only being a junior in college that is quite the feat. As the route begins to develop Okudah doesn’t forfeit his backpedal often, he remains “seated in the chair” — meaning he keeps a bend in both his knees and his hips, similar to how one would sit in a chair — and remains calm. He keeps his eyes over his toes, allowing him to keep his balance whenever he has to turn-n-burn with the receiver.
When the receiver does limit the space between himself and Okudah, Okudah still remains relaxed and gets his hand on the receiver, this helps to: one, know where the man is while he rotates his hips, two, keeps himself in proper position to make a play on the ball, and three, is able to slow the receiver down without impeding his route. If he doesn’t get his hand on the man he’s guarding, it makes it much easier for the receiver to create space by either blowing by him or getting into his blind spot, making it tough for Okudah to stay in-phase.