2021 NFL Draft stock down: Looking at some risky draft prospects

A look at prospects who are seeing their 2021 NFL Draft Stock fall

Yesterday, we took a look at a couple of prospects who are currently raising their stock. Today, we will take a look at a few prospects who are on the risky side for a variety of reasons including still being raw in his game, lack of desire this year or being injury prone. While these players could still very easily be good draft picks a team is going to want to spend a little more time on them before investing a 2021 NFL Draft pick on them.

Derion Kendrick, CB, Clemson

A player who struggled mightily in the Sugar Bowl was Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick, who gave up multiple big plays in the game. One of these plays included a 56-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave where he was beaten by a good three yards. Overall, Olave was able to accumulate 132 yards in the game with a significant portion of them coming against Kendrick. This game highlighted his biggest weakness overall, which is that he is still raw when it comes to playing cornerback.

The fact he is not a refined player can be attributed to him having switched from wide receiver to cornerback just two years ago. To go along with him being on the raw side he also is not the most physical corner in the draft.

While Kendrick has the size, he currently doesn’t show the mentality to do be a good press coverage corner, as he tends to shy away from contact. This lack of physicality also shows up in run support and is one of the major reasons he only accounted for 13 tackles this year.

While he does have his weaknesses, Kendrick does show enough potential to be a second-round pick. One of the areas he shows the most potential in his athletic ability for his size. For a bigger corner, he shows impressive agility and does a great job of flipping his hips in coverage.

Kendrick also has looked outstanding at times as he did at the beginning of the season when he did not allow a reception against him until October 31st and was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded cornerback for the first part of the season.

Overall, what it comes down to with Kendrick and where he goes in the 2021 NFL Draft is can a team live with his consistency while developing his intriguing upside.