2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Kei’Trel Clark (CB – Louisville)

As the NFL season winds down, FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL draft scouting reports before the combine in March. Here’s a look at Kei’Trel Clark.

Check out all of our 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports & Prospect Profiles

2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Kei’Trel Clark (CB – Louisville)

Kei’Trel Clark (CB – Louisville)

5’10” – 177 lbs.

Background:

Spent the first year of his career at Liberty, where he played 620 snaps as a freshman, including seven starts, allowing 28/48 passing (3 TD, 5 PD). Transferred to Louisville and stepped into a starting role, allowing just 19/39 passing (1 TD, 1 INT, 7 PD). Struggled a bit the past two years, with 33/62 passing (5 TD, 3 INT, 9 PD) in 2021 and 42/68 passing (7 TD, 1 INT, 2 PD) in 2021 and 2022, respectively, committing sixteen penalties over those two seasons.

Positives:

Has nearly four years of starting experience, and added over 250 snaps of slot experience this past year after being strictly a boundary corner in prior seasons. Played a lot of traditional man-to-man out of a backpedal, with some zone mixed in. Quick, clean footwork and adequate balance on his backpedal, with solid transitions to driving on a spot. Flips his hips smoothly to carry opponents downfield from his backpedal. Appears to have solid reflexes and some twitchiness to his game. Closing burst to get in-phase is impressive. Sniffs out screens quickly. Shows some ability to spin off of blocks in run support. Looks fast in pursuit when lining up on
the edge and playing downhill.

Negatives:

Size/length is on the borderline of what’s acceptable in a boundary corner, so could be looking at a move inside. Play fell off in each of his past two seasons. Would like to see him flatten out more consistently in coverage; tends to drift at the stem. Can be late to get his head around and locate when his back is to the ball. Lack of length limits the amount of throws he can get his hands on. Has been penalty-prone in recent years. Functional strength is below-average. Was a relatively reliable tackler in his first two seasons, but misses have been creeping up, and doesn’t have a particularly wide radius; needs to play with more consistent form and discipline, failing to break down when coming in and lapsing into throwing his body around at times.

Summary:

An experienced cornerback with quick feet, fluid hips, and solid reflexes, but he lacks ideal size and length, doesn’t impress in run support or as a tackler, and whose level of play has fallen off in the past two seasons. A good enough athlete to eventually compete in the slot, but will have to add functional strength first and needs to clean up his tackling to avoid landing in the doghouse. More of a mid-round possibility.

Projection: Round 5-6