Rasul Douglas, CB, West Virginia: 2017 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Oct 1, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers cornerback Rasul Douglas (13) reacts after making a tackle during the first quarter against the Kansas State Wildcats at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /

Only a one-year starter at West Virginia, Rasul Douglas is one of the most intriguing cornerback prospects due to his size and ability to create turnovers.

Player Summary

Rasul Douglas, a 2015 four-star JUCO recruit, started 12 of 24 career games for West Virginia. He began his career at Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York. After three seasons of junior college, he transferred to West Virginia. He was primarily a special teams player in his first season with the Mountaineers. As a senior in 2016, he started the last 12 games of the season and finished with an FBS-leading eight interceptions. He was named first-team all-Big 12, second-team all-American and earned an invitation to the 2017 Senior Bowl.

In his two-year career at West Virginia, Douglas recorded 78 tackles, nine interceptions and two forced fumbles. He possesses very good size and length on a lean frame with adequate athletic ability.

Measureables

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 204 lbs.

Arm: 32-1/8″

Hand: 9-1/4″

Games Watched

2016: Iowa State, Oklahoma, Miami (FL), Texas, Texas Tech

Strengths

Rasul Douglas demonstrates good line of scrimmage skills from press coverage as he keeps his feet still and delivers a solid punch to the receiver to disrupt the timing of the route. He diagnoses routes quickly from zone and displays solid play speed to cover more than his assigned area.

From man coverage, Douglas mirrors slants over the middle and does a solid job of forcing the quarterback to place the ball into a tight window. Once the ball is in the air, he tracks well and utilizes very good length and ball skills to break up passes and create turnovers.

The following play is an example of this as Douglas recognizes the route and mirrors over the middle. Even with the pass thrown in front of wide receiver Dede Westbrook, Douglas is able to undercut the route and get a hand on the pass. His concentration and ball skills allow Douglas to catch the deflection and end the Oklahoma drive.

His length not only comes into play against the pass, but against the run as well. Douglas uses his long arms to keep receivers at bay and prevent them from engaging. This allows Douglas to protect the edge and force the ball carrier back inside. He’s a reliable, secure tackler who displays very good competitive toughness by not giving up on a play until after the whistle blows.

On this play against Iowa State, Douglas forces the running back inside, but doesn’t have a teammate in position to help. The back finds the hole and gets into the open field, but Douglas chases him down from behind and knocks the ball out.

Weaknesses

Rasul Douglas is a marginal athlete who plays too upright in man coverage. His poor angular body position and stiff hips are exposed on short and intermediate throws from a three-step drop. He is unable to change direction and close quick enough as a result of adequate balance and a slow, rounded plant and drive.

Miami was able to exploit this weakness in the bowl game this past season. On this play, Douglas is playing off coverage and the receiver runs a seven-yard curl route. A slow plant and drive gives the receiver plenty of space to turn upfield after the catch. After taking a poor angle to the ball, Douglas is left in the dust as he loses even more ground when forced to change direction again and turn upfield.

Against the deep ball, Douglas lacks the straight-line speed to keep up with deep-threat receivers. He resorts to using his hands and grabbing onto receivers downfield in order to remain close and make up for his marginal athleticism. After the catch he takes adequate angles to the ball, which results in Douglas overrunning the play and allowing the receiver to maximize yards after the catch.

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Despite his size, Douglas is not a hard-hitting tackler and won’t deter ball carriers from running right at him.

Overall

Overall, Rasul Douglas wins with competitive toughness and ball skills. He’s not someone who possesses the man coverage skills to be left on an island on the outside. He’s a very good press corner and is a good fit for a cover 2 zone defense. In this coverage, he can be aggressive and press the receiver at the line of scrimmage while playing a shallow zone. He would also be able to utilize his very good run support skills in this type of defense.

Since Douglas is limited in terms of schemes he can be successful in, NFL teams will have varying opinions. Teams primarily playing man coverage will rank him much lower than those that like to play corners close to the line of scrimmage and help out against the run. There’s a chance one of those teams will take him on day two, but it is more likely Douglas will be a day three pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

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