Julius Brents 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scouting report for the Kansas State CB
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Julius Brents, Kansas State
Julius Brents: 6’4”, 205 pounds; RS SR
A top-500 overall recruit for Iowa in 2018, Julius Brents played in 11 games as a true freshman, including five starts. Over the next two seasons, he was limited to eight games, including a redshirt in 2019. After recording five pass break-ups and an interception with the Hawkeyes, he transferred to K-State. He was a full-time starter both years, with limited ball-production initially, but then intercepted and broke up four passes respectively in 2022.
Positives:
+ 6’3” corner with an insane 82 and 5/8-inch wingspan (99th percentile)
+ Yet his feet are pretty darn quick as Julius Brents mirrors guys off the line with balanced footwork
+ Has some very impressive reps against guys trying to release down the sideline, where he rides them into the white with that near-shoulder and takes away any space to complete the ball into
+ Against receivers who have more room on the outside by alignment, who take those wide releases against him, Julius Brents has his eyes locked onto the hips of those guys without needing to totally commit his hips and be ready for any potential breaks
+ Julius Brents' long arms enable him to land jams as receivers stick their foot in the ground for quick breaks and slow them down significantly
+ Attacks the near-shoulder and pins the inside arm of the guys trying to stack him vertically
+ Shows excellent balance between making sure he’s in phase, turning his head at the appropriate time, yet understanding when the secondary play starts and when his eyes need to shift back towards the quarterback
+ Had awesome back-and-forth battles with TCU stud receiver Quentin Johnson in their two 2022 matchups and to a large degree also the year prior, even though Julius Brents didn’t actually travel
+ When Julius Brents plays with his backside to the sidelines, Julius Brents covers ground well whilst having his eyes locked on the quarterback and being ready to break on stuff in front of him
+ Springy and rapidly closes the distance to receivers matching routes from off-alignment in quarters
+ His long branches give him room for error when there is a little bit of breathing room created by the receiver, to still affect the catch-point
+ As we saw this past season, if you under- or overthrow this guy, you better do so by a significant margin, or he will come up with the ball
+ Has some beautiful high-point picks on his resume
+ Held opposing quarterbacks to 24-of-51 for 374 yards and three TDs, but also four INTs himself last season for a passer rating of just 57.7 (and that includes a 55-yard TD, where he stumbled and went against a go route when coming onto the field for one play gutting it out through an injury)
+ Absolutely jumped out of the gym with a 41.5-inch vert & an 11’6” broad jump, and while not all corners did participate, his agility numbers were also both significantly better than the next-closest guy in the position despite his crazy long build
+ Actively condenses the edge and doesn’t mind sticking his face in the fan in run defense, at times throwing a shoulder into the chest of pulling guards even
+ Doesn’t waste any time racing upfield when the ball is completed underneath and he lands some wicked hits on guys before they can even turn upfield
+ You see some plays where he’s 15 yards down the field and then stops check-downs on like swing routes for two- or three-yard gains
+ Has the slipperiness of eluding receivers trying to block him as his man works towards the quarterback on slip/tunnel screens
+ Displays a large tackling radius and effectively chops or twists ball-carriers to the ground – only missed four of 49 tackling attempts this past season
Negatives:
– With how long Julius Brents is, he lacks some bulk that physical wideouts can take advantage of when they pro-actively attack his chest and put him into recovery-mode
– Tends to gets his feet stuck as he tries to throw his jam and gets beat on quick slant routes sometimes, because he lacks that high-level twitch
– Has his issues sticking with guys on double-releases or who can just get his hips tilted towards the sideline before breaking inside of him, since it takes him longer to bring his base back around and get back into the picture with those long legs
– Crafty route-runner can fool him with head-fakes at times
– While Julius Brents certainly improved in 2022, too often he would leave his feet before he arrived at his target when racing down for tackles
It’s rare to see any corner with 34-inch arms, and having two in one draft class is unheard of. However, for some reason Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. – deservedly discussed as a top-20 pick – is getting all the attention and Julius Brents is rarely mentioned as one of the top names in this class. It could be the fact that people look at him playing in the Big-12, where defense is seemingly optional at times. But that is not to consider the fact that he was in a role that should translate very well to the next level and the brutal slate of receivers he faced last season, which he more than held his own against. His crazy length and light feet to play sticky coverage from the get-go makes him a very attractive option for a man-heavy scheme. Unlike some of these other long CBs, I think he has also shown the skills to click-and-close on routes in more off-zone centric systems. There is some downside to that lanky build in terms of being able to snap his hips and stand his ground against physical wideouts at times, but the positives far outweigh those. I think he’s a top-50 player in this draft.
Grade: Top-50 overall
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