Will Lee III scouting report: 2026 NFL Draft projection plus pro comp

Texas A&M cornerback Will Lee III, known by the Aggie faithful as "The Blanket", was one of the SEC's most well-known defenders since his arrival in 2024. His aggressive play style and lockdown performances made him a fan favorite, and he finished his college career strong.

Lee III started his college days at Iowa Western Community College, redshirting as a freshman before being a top JUCO defender in 2022. He transferred to Kansas State for 2023, emerging as one of the Wildcats' premier cornerbacks, and parlaying his success into an SEC jump, heading to the Aggies. His final two seasons in the Lone Star state were elite, and he enters the 2026 NFL Draft as a higher-profile prospect.

Will Lee III NFL Draft Profile:

Position: Cornerback

School: Texas A&M Aggies

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 189 pounds

Hometown: St. Louis, MO

Statistics:

2025: 50 Tackles, 2 TFL, 1 Sack, 8 PBU

Career: 134 Tackles, 4 TFL, 1 Sack, 2 FF, 4 INT, 28 PBU

Strengths:

Impressive match technique with outside leverage, uses the sideline well and corrals receivers to limit space

Very active feet in man coverage give him the ability to stay engaged and react quickly to direction changes

Does a good job at reading and reacting in press-man coverage, stays calm against longer releases, and won’t prematurely jump on cuts often

Wastes no time attacking the inside hip when receivers set up downfield crossers, positions himself to erase routes

Uses his eyes well to diagnose when a receiver is straight-lining, and adjusts his movement swiftly to match

Trails downfield smoothly with his hips open, giving himself space to react to extra route cuts

Controls his physicality well when working the sideline, won’t put himself into too many compromising situations for flags

Absolute fighter in short yardage situations, won’t give up space, and will stay in the receiver’s face

Has good length to stick on the outside and not be overpowered by larger wideouts

Weaknesses:

Too choppy with his feet in soft coverage, needs to settle down into his lower half to prevent being caught off-balance on comeback routes

Sells out to trail routes too often, needs to become smoother when transitioning between his movements

Top-end speed isn’t the best, will need to sell out against vertical routes, and can get manipulated by savvier receivers on late cutbacks

Takes a bit longer than desired to re-establish himself when covering twitchy WRs, double moves, and quick throws can be an issue when he’s not pressed up

Can get too wide in his base when not expecting a receiver to go vertical, and he doesn’t have the speed or fluidity to easily adapt

Pursuit angles aren’t the best in the run game, and he’s without the size or strength to make up for it

Jerky mover overall, doesn’t do much of anything with elite-level fluidity, concerns about how he holds up in complicated coverage packages against high-level movers

Has had some issues with contact and being prone to holding and pass interference calls

Inconsistent communication in zone coverage will allow some chunk plays after mistiming route passoffs

NFL Outlook:

Lee III is a press-man savant, and that’s likely much of what he will be asked to do at the NFL level. He played a decent bit of zone for the Aggies, but most of his strengths lie directly in how he plays in man coverage. He has the frame to hold up on the outside, can get physical when needed, and his match technique is one of the things that flashes the most on tape. There are a decent number of movement concerns with his transitions, and he projects more as a scheme-specific contributor who comes in to patrol the outside rather than an every-down CB.

NFL Player Comparison:

There's been plenty of cornerbacks over the years with similar skill sets to Lee III, but one that really stands out is Benjamin St. Juste. The Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Chargers CB has survived in the NFL for 5 years, with a new contract coming in free agency, by using his physical tools to shut down receivers on the outside. The penalties have always been an issue, and that's the main aspect that has kept St. Juste, and likely Lee III, from becoming a true boundary corner. The value with both players is still very much there, and the Aggies' CB can become that type of rotational value defender in a short time.

Prospect Grade:

Early 4th Round