Scouting Report: Joe Haden, CB, Florida

Ht: 5'11 Wt: 193 40: 4.43

Strengths: Extremely athletic player. Plays with great speed, able to close on receivers very quickly. Has tremendous recovery speed. Very fluid hips, can turn and run without losing speed. Great man coverage skills; is able to go one on one with receivers alone and can make plays on the football. Can run with receivers. He has great footwork; good backpedal and makes good cuts to help his agility. Can anticipate routes well. Also has good zone coverage skills. He stays low in his backpedal which shows good form. Shows decent instincts. Has soft hands. He is very good at locating the football in the air. Times jumps very well and has a good vertical. Very physical; gets good jams at the line of scrimmage. Will help in run support; not afraid to deliver a hit. Reacts quickly when he recognizes plays. Average tackling skills, can hit but does not deliver huge blows. Decent blitzer. Also can play special teams. Very productive and played with elite level of competition.

Weaknesses: Loses focus occasionally. Often over-pursues when he recognizes the play. Often bites on moves. His awareness could be better. Needs to improve his tackling technique.

Summary: Joe Haden is an extremely well rounded and polished cornerback. He is very athletic and has extremely fluid hips in coverage. He is a cornerback who can come in and start from day 1 in the NFL. His man coverage is his biggest strength, but he will also help out in run support and special teams; which brings extra value to him. Haden's main weakness I saw was his focus. He is a great player; he has all the tools you want to see in a cornerback but he often makes poor decisions. He will over-pursue, bit on jukes and moves, and lose awareness in zone occasionally. He knows and understands his role and he has the ability, but he just needs to improve staying focused and smart. That's really Haden's biggest weakness; other than that, he is a very polished player. He is my number 1 corner and I believe he will be a Pro Bowl corner in the NFL.

Draft Projection: Top 15