Ken Crawley, CB, Colorado: 2016 NFL Draft scouting report

2016 NFL Draft: scouting report for Colorado Buffaloes CB Ken Crawley, who has interesting developmental upside but can he hold up?

Ken Crawley is a prospect with plenty to offer, but plenty of room for improvement. In a deep defensive draft, specifically at defensive back, scouts and front offices can afford to be picky, and he might be one who is hurt by that in terms of where or when he is drafted.

Crawley is a player who struggled to be consistent throughout his career, flashed at the East-West Shrine practices, and showed scouts that he can play in the NFL if given the appropriate time. Let’s take a closer look…

At A Glance…

Translatable Traits

Length & Speed

Crawley is a 6-1 corner with great deep speed. He ran a 4.43 at the Scouting Combine and proved that he is going to be capable of hanging with athletes at the NFL level, but what did we see from him on tape? As much as we like players with length, at under 190 pounds, Crawley is entirely too light and wiry, and will need to add weight to hold up against bigger receivers in the NFL.

He had plenty of pass breakups in his college career because of his long arms, but he also got beat for a lot of touchdowns and had a lot of penalties called against him. That’s why you aren’t seeing this 6-1 corner with blazing speed up near the top of the crop when it comes to cornerback prospects.

Still, you can’t teach these two traits, and an NFL clubhouse is going to be excited to get their hands on him to work with him on his technique.

Overall Thoughts

Crawley is a good player for an NFL team to look to develop. He isn’t the most physical, he isn’t the strongest, but he knows how to get his hands on the football even if he doesn’t always catch it. Crawley does a great job of breaking up passes and mirroring receivers, and he’s got that length and speed teams covet.

I would think on day three, you could do a lot worse if you’re a team looking for some cornerback depth.