Tay Gowan NFL Draft 2021: Scouting Report for Arizona Cardinals CB

HEIGHT: 6'0 7/8"

WEIGHT: 186 lbs

POSITIVES

—Shows good speed in route to run with receivers.

—Has solid man coverage skills. Able to get in and out of breaks.

—Plays with vision, awareness, and anticipation in the zone.

—Does a good job coming up to support the run.

NEGATIVES

—Below average overall functional strength. Will have to continue to develop.

—Has some hip tightness and rigid movements.

—Not as physical against the run game as you would like.

—Experience. Only has one season of film on FBS level.

2019 STATISTICS

31 tackles, 2 INT, 8 PBU,1 FR

NOTES

2017 Miami (OH)

2018: Butler Community College

2019: UCF

2020: Opted out season

OVERALL

Gowan is a lean, long athlete at the outside corner position. He has been a bit of a journeyman throughout his college career, going from Miami of Ohio to Butler Community College (JUCO), to Central Florida. He lacks overall strength, which could be because of him transferring to multiple schools and not being under one strength program. He is a man-coverage corner who has shown some ability to play zone. He has great press skills where he is able to cut receivers' routes off at the line of scrimmage, and he plays with a burst and shows to have the top-end speed to run.

The lack of strength shows up when he gets bumped off at the top of routes, and his slightness also becomes clear in run support and block destruction. There are times Gowan often loses a step in coverage and lacks the recovery speed needed to get back into position. In all, there are only 12 games from the 2019 season in which to evaluate Gowan. He flashes ball skills and good play in press; but will need a few seasons to develop.

GRADE: 6.9/10 (Career Backup/Rotational Player—Round 5)

OVERALL RANK: 181/300

POSITION RANK: CB23

PRO COMPARISON: Byron Maxwell

Written by B/R NFL Scout Cory Giddings