National Football League

2017 NFL Draft scouting report: Marshon Lattimore

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Will Lomas/FanSided via Titan Sized

The Tennessee Titans should be looking at the top NFL draft prospect that declared today, Ohio State CB, Marshon Lattimore.

In case you missed it, today the stellar redshirt sophomore cornerback Marshon Lattimore declared for the 2017 NFL Draft.

All Tennessee Titans fans should have been ecstatic to hear this news because this cornerback class just keeps getting deeper and deeper, and Lattimore may actually be the best defensive back to declare so far.

While his teammate Malik Hooker and LSU’s Jamal Adams may have something to say about that, so far this year I have yet to find a player as easy to scout as Marshon Lattimore. In fact, it is really hard to find any issue with the cornerback, so much so that you almost want to count age and experience against him even when you could easily mark it as a “pro”.

One of the things you won’t hear mentioned is just how well Urban Meyer’s players have done in the NFL this year as rookies, which is a fact that may have a lot of merit. Guys like Joey Bosa, Michael Thomas, Vonn Bell, Taylor Decker, and Zeke Elliot have all been very good this year.

Lattimore’s pedigree as a player under Meyer plus everything he has done on the field this year, make me think that Jon Robinson is going to think long and hard about just where the NFL values this guy. If he can move down and get him, great. If not, the Titans may actually go after cornerback in the top-5.

Marshon Lattimore

CB, Ohio State

6’0, 190 lb.

Games Watched: Penn State, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Clemson

Pros

-Gets his eyes on the ball when it is in the air, then tracks it and makes a play consistently which is a huge deal.

-Really sticky in coverage without using his hands too often.

-Has the speed to stay with faster WRs, but the technique to stay with crafty ones as well.

-Not afraid to stick his nose in vs the run, and he does it well.

-No reason why he can’t play in any scheme.

-He is an effective blitzer, but I am not sure he is the guy I would want to take out of coverage to bring pressure.

-A small thing to note is that he really doesn’t give up on any plays. When a QB scrambles and he is in man coverage he doesn’t slack off and give up easy separation. Instead, he stays in the hip pocket of the WR and dares the QB to throw it his way.

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Cons

-Sticks mostly to RCB, likely because they have a very good CB on the other side.

-Suffers from the “Bama” curse, where he is surrounded by so much talent that you can easily convince yourself that he isn’t always dominant thanks to help.

-Only one full year of playing time as a starter, which has also led to some lack luster box score production.

Summary

-There aren’t a lot of pros or cons on this list because Lattimore is one of those guys that people are going to overthink. I wasn’t high on the OSU DBs last year, so don’t read this as any sort of bias, Lattimore is a great prospect.
When you watch him on film, every single pass his way is contested and he never has those big mental lapses that plague other CBs. He can play in man or zone and he can play against the run, so there should be no issues with a DC thinking he won’t fit any scheme.

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What is he?

-Lattimore is a no brainer CB1 to me who doesn’t need help over the top and who is going to make plays for a team immediately. He isn’t going to be a pick machine, but by the 3rd quarter opposing QBs are going to be tired of throwing his way for incompletions and they will talk themselves into some stupid decisions.

Grade: Early 1st round

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