2021 NFL Draft: Welcome to first round conversation, Ifeatu Melifonwu

Where he shows room for improvement

Seemingly miscast at Syracuse, Melifonwu was tasked with playing a ton of off coverage. For the looks of his tape, this caused him to become disinterested in his drops, allowing for him to put his guard down. As NFL teams will more than likely align him in the face of the receiver across from him the majority of the time, this worry could go away.

However, this inconsistency has led to a but of a lull in Melifonwu’s ability to shift his weight when he attempts to change directions. Given his extraordinary length, Melifonwu has his work cut out for him in order to make sure his feet remain concise, engaged, and active at all times as not to get caught off guard. Given his lankiness off the line of scrimmage, it is baffling as to why he was not aligned in press more frequently at Syracuse.

Additionally, in zone coverage, Melifonwu has the tendency to get his eyes caught on crossers in front of him when tasked with a deep third or quarter, causing him to be tardy at rolling back over the top of the defense. Overall, however, Melifonwu cleaned up a ton of inconsistencies in his game this season, and now will see his name continue to rise.

Just how high can Melifonwu fly? We turn there next.