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The league year has started for the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons made some serious moves, including cutting Desmond Trufant. Releasing Trufant has left the Falcons short one starting cornerback, which definitely ensures that they will be taking a CB early in the draft. Right now we’re going to look at one the top corners in the draft in Kristian Fulton.
Fulton, a LSU cornerback—and we all know Dan Quinn loves LSU cornerbacks— is a good-sized prospect who loves making plays on the ball. He’s a very technically sound CB that’s at his best in press coverage. Looking at film, I thought his recovery speed seems a bit slow, but his 40 time of 4.46 says he has adequate speed for the position. His breakout season just happened to be his senior year, where he notched 38 tackles, 14 pass breakups and 1 interception.
Strengths
- Good size to play outside the numbers.
- Very fluid in his backpedal.
- Works hard to make plays on the ball when in coverage.
- Plays with good overall balance and footwork.
- Never seems to panic on the field.
- Knows when to get on top of or underneath routes.
- Has the footwork and hip flexibility needed to react to wide receivers on breaking routes.
- Is crafty with his hands on the line of scrimmage.
Weaknesses
- Although he’s good at making plays on ball, doesn’t take it away often. Has issues tracking the ball at times (1 interception in 2019).
- There are concerns about his long speed.
- Can be a ‘read and react’ type of corner when it comes to off coverage, but not his strong suit. Can be a tick slow reacting to routes concepts in front of him.
- Even though size is good, not a physical type of tackler or run defender.
Kristian Fulton may certainly be on that list of corners for the Falcons. He has good size, footwork and does is best work in man coverage. Although Fulton is actually able to start day one, he doesn’t really have the actual length (30 5/8 inch arms) Coach Quinn covets in his corners. Fulton is definitely a day one pick however, and could be in consideration by the Falcons at 16 as a natural Desmond Trufant replacement.