Israel Mukuamu and Jaycee Horn entered the 2020 college football season with similars NFL Draft stock. However, since then, South Carolina’s security has tended in the opposite direction. Where is your stock currently, and where does it fit in the NFL?
Israel Mukuamu NFL Draft Profile
- Position: Security
- School: South Carolina
- Current year: Junior
- Height: 6’4 ″
- Weight: 205 lbs
Tony Pauline Israel Mukuamu Scouting Report
Positives: Athletic cornerback with good size, but a little polished game. Quick to read and diagnose, has exceptional length and works hard to make moves. He binds the receivers to the scrimmage line, uses his big body to box opponents and physically defeats the pass receivers to defend the throw.
Effective in coping with the action, it does a good job of recognizing routes in the coverage area and has a good move for the launch. Traces the pass in the air and shows good hands for interception.
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Negatives: It tends to lose track of where the receiver is occasionally. Slow to react. It has a medium overflow.
Analysis: Mukuamu has excellent measures and brilliant skills, but he needs a lot of work in his game. Better off facing the action, it is suitable for zone coverage and can even be considered safe in the NFL.
Israel Mukuamu Player Profile
From South Carolina to Louisiana and back, Israel Mukuamu’s journey to NFL Draft 2021 it is almost as fluctuating as your stock. The slim safety started his career playing for the Berkeley Stags. In his third year, he helped transform the school from a defeat program to a 9-3 record in 2016.
Prior to his last season, he moved to Bossier City, Louisiana, and played high school football for the Parkway Panthers. His performances there saw him nominated for the All-Southwest Region team. In addition, he won an invitation to the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl.
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After his transfer to Louisiana, he was classified as the 27th player in the state by 247 Sports. A three-star recruit and a 47th-place security prospect, he caught the attention of the entire country. After visiting five schools, he made a commitment to the State of Florida. However, when Jimbo Fisher left to coach Texas A&M, he disengaged.
The change of coach allowed him to return home to South Carolina to play safely for Gamecocks.
Israel Mukuamu’s college football career in South Carolina
Upon returning home, he had an immediate impact as a freshman. He played 13 games while winning games against Akron and Virginia. Although he played more as a cornerback during his career, Israel Mukuamu’s first start came safely to South Carolina. He had already achieved his first career interception against Chattanooga. However, his range of contributions – 1 loss tackle, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass breakup – was impressive.
He ended his freshman season with 17 tackles, 2 loss tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup and 1 forced fumble. In addition to his playing qualities, he demonstrated versatility by aligning in safety and cornerback.
He opened his second season as a safety before starting the rest of the season as a cornerback. It would be a year that would put him firmly under national eyes. A game served as a highlight of his skill set. In a shocking victory over the Georgia Bulldogs, he received the National Defense Player of the Week honors. In addition, he rewrote the program’s records.
The sophomore season sees its NFL Draft stock skyrocket
The slim figure has intercepted Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm three times. In addition, he intercepted 53 yards for a touchdown. In doing so, he became South Carolina’s first defensive player to register 3 interceptions in a game since 1988.
Thanks to that performance and an interception at the beginning of the year against Charleston Southern, he ended the season with the most interceptions for a South Carolina cornerback since 2015.
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After receiving All-SEC honors from the third team for their second season, expectations were high for Mukuamu towards 2020. There was talk of South Carolina having two cornerbacks selected in the first round. Unfortunately for Israel Mukuamu, his game did not live up to expectations and his NFL Draft stock plummeted.
Despite 2 interceptions, he was not as dazzling as the year before. However, this may be due to him having struggled with a groin injury throughout the season.
He chose to leave the season after the departure of coach Will Muschamp. Although there were three games left, he started preparing for the draft.
Israel Mukuamu’s best adjustments in the 2021 NFL Draft
Due to its incredible height, Israel Mukuamu is seen by some as an external cornerback in the 2021 NFL Draft. On the other hand, his versatility demonstrated in college points to him being able to fill several functions at the next level. This versatility can help to overcome the disappointing end of his college football career that he faced.
If he can convince the teams that his injury is attributed to the drop in performance, he could present a Day 3 theft for a franchise.
Teams looking for a secondary player include Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. In fact, the Cowboys are a team often linked to their ex-partner, Jaycee Horn.
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Oliver Hodgkinson is a writer for the Pro Football Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @ojhodgkinson.