Cornerback 

California

5-9 186

40 time (projected): 4.46

Draft board overall prospect rank: #84

Draft board cornerback rank: #11

Overall rating: 73*

1/23/10: He’s ready for the NFL right now as a nickelback, but he lacks the upside, athleticism, and coverage skills to be a future starting cornerback. He is 5-9 and could run a 40 in the 4.5s which could drop him into the 4^th round. He also returns punts well.

Update (11/2/09): Burnt far too often, but is an NFL ready nickel corner drawing comparisons to 2009 2^nd round pick Alphonso Smith.

            9/19/09: Syd’Quan Thompson is a strong tough cornerback that will be a tough matchup for even NFL wide receivers because of his strength and physicality. He is an amazing pass rusher for a cornerback with 13.5 TFL and 2 sacks in his career and will be used very effectively on cornerback blitzes in the NFL. I’m not sure right now if he projects as a starting cornerback, but he can be a strong blitzing nickel corner. He’s strong in run support which is always a plus with your cornerback and he tackles very strongly. He isn’t very tall, but he’s thick, muscular, especially in the core area, and has a lot of fight in him. He also displays great quickness on punt returns, taking off right where DeSean Jackson, now of the Eagles, left off after he left Cal. He needs some more on man-to-man coverage as he’s been beaten more than you’d like in college. He doesn’t have great positioning or backpedal in the defensive backfield and he does not have the elite recovery speed to compensate. A good defensive backs coach can get a lot out of him though. He has started every game since stepping on the campus in 2006 and has become a strong defensive leader for the Golden Bears. Every defense he has been on has been a good one and that might not be a coincidence. He has good hands and makes a fair number of plays on the ball with 26 pass breakups and 6 interceptions in 3 season. He doesn’t have elite height, 5-9, or elite timed speed, mid-to-late 4.4s, though he plays a little faster than he’s timed. His lack of elite height will hurt him, but corners have survived in the NFL at 5-9 before. I’m not sure he has great upside or that he will ever be an effective every play starter at cornerback, but he can contribute to teams right away on blitzing plays, as a nickel corner, and as a punt returner.

NFL Comparison: Alphonso Smith

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here