Five underrated defensive prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft

Parnell Motley – Cornerback – Oklahoma

In football, fans and evaluators prefer to see some sort of consistency in their favorite team or the player they are studying. Consistency in football is a positive, this an undisputed and obvious fact about the game. Depending on the position, if a player isn’t performing a rate that will sustain success then it becomes an issue for the team and in the worst cases, the player becomes a liability. While he has struggled with consistency in his career, Parnell Motley is not what I would call a liability.

In 2019, Motley managed to lock up big-name receivers like Jalen Reagor and Denzel Mims but has remained almost unmentioned.  On film, Motley plays an aggressive style of football, using his size and length to crowd receivers at the line of scrimmage. He shows good speed and flashes the ability to quickly close in on receivers. However, not everything about his game is rosy, which is why he’s gone under the radar thus far.

While Motley may, at times, look like one of the top corners in the BIG 12 conference, other times he looks decidedly the opposite. There are instances in coverage where he’ll either get too aggressive for his own good or simply lose guys due to inconsistent vision. Additionally, Motley will sometimes get sloppy in his transitions causes him to be torched.

Motley is a case where inconsistent play has made his draft stock a mystery, however, I and other like-minded individuals see him as a day-three prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft. Despite his lows being very noticeable, Motley’s highs are worth gambling on.