In a loaded safety class, James Wiggins has really not gotten much media attention. After starting for Cincinnati in 2018, Wiggins has had a bit of an injury-riddled career. After missing the 2019 season, he led the Bearcats’ defense to a New Year’s Six Bowl in 2020. Wiggins is a superb playmaker at the safety spot, but will his style translate to the NFL? Let’s dive in.
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Player Bio
Name: James Wiggins
Jersey: #1
Position: Safety
School: Cincinnati
Class: Redshirt Senior
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 215 lbs
Coverage (8/10)
Wiggins is an overall solid option in coverage. He’s much better in zone coverage than he is in man coverage. In zone, Wiggins seems to know exactly where he should be and doesn’t get over-aggressive and leave his zone. In man, he’s gotten beat many times in different areas of the field. He’ll need to improve his route recognition if he wants to be a successful do it all coverage corner.
Instincts (7.25/10)
Wiggins’ instincts are okay at best. He’s a little too slow to recognize the play. There are good flashes of him seeing the play develop early and immediately getting to the spot he needs to be. Overall, Wiggins’ instincts are not very average, meaning he’ll need to have some more compensating factors in the league to make up for this.
Tackling (8.25/10)
Wiggins is a good, but inconsistent tackler. He’s not going to wow you with his hit power, but he takes very precise angles to set himself up to make a clean tackle. There are a couple of misses on the film that are a little too easy. He normally can make the wrap tackle but has gotten overpowered at times. His lean frame doesn’t really help him here, but it’s still a very promising trait for Wiggins.
Range (9/10)
Wiggins has an outstanding range. His ability to fly all around the field is right up there with some of the best safeties in this class. Once he recognizes the play, he can fly down with great closing speed and attack. He’s also demonstrated his range when playing as a single-high safety. Wiggins has shown tremendous ability in this area to cover all the ground required.
Run Defense (8.5/10)
This category sort of stems off of his range but he’s very good in the run defense. His smaller frame tends to get him a little overpowered at times, but it hasn’t been too much of an issue. When he can’t make the initial read of the play, he can be a little slow to get to the ball and is uninvolved in the rep. This concern isn’t really something that should hold him back much and Wiggins will be a good run defender in the NFL.
Ball Skills (8/10)
Wiggins has solid ball skills, but not the best. He had five interceptions in only two true seasons of play. The stats are about on par with how his ball skills are. He’s dropped multiple interceptions and seems to have missed a little too many opportunities in this area. With his range, he’s shown the ability to fly over to the ball and make a play.
Athleticism (8.75/10)
Wiggins is a very good athlete and his pro-day numbers attested to this. He ran a 4.44 40 yard dash at his pro day along with 20 bench press reps, a 38 inch vertical, and a 10’7″ broad jump. As mentioned earlier, Wiggins can be a tad bit slow on some plays which leads to him being a little uninvolved. On the other end, he’s shown the great ability to fly around the field and demonstrates great athleticism all over the place.
Versatility (8.5/10)
Wiggins is an extremely versatile safety. He’s played a lot of single-high safety and even a good amount of special teams. A problem is that he’s not used in the box to blitz often. He seems to be a very inexperienced blitzer which is not something beneficial for a guy with his play style. He could possibly be stuck in a coverage role at first until he can get involved in the box more.
Football IQ (8.25/10)
For the most part, Wiggins is a smart football player. You can see his IQ in zone coverage and when taking his tackling angles. He needs to work on diagnosing the play at the get-go and reacting a bit better. Another thing to work on is defending guys in man coverage as he often bites on hard fakes and loses in the rep. Overall, he has a lot to work on, but has set up a very good base in terms of IQ.
Competitive Toughness (3/5)
Wiggins shows good effort on most plays, but can be uninvolved in a fair share. He can be found just jogging around and not really looking to make a hit. He needs to show more consistency in being active because he’s either on or off in this category.
Injury History (3.25/5)
Wiggins had a torn ACL back in the 2019 season that healed very well until he suffered a major setback that held him out. ACL tears are always a bit concerning and setbacks are even more worrisome. He is completely healed now and seemed to have played the 2020 season with no issues.
Player Summary
Wiggins is a very interesting safety. He can sort of do it all, but has some weaknesses in almost every area, big or small. At worst, Wiggins can be a very good special teams player because of his experience there. He can be a returner and a gunner-type player. At his best, he can be a solid safety for a team that is preferably in a zone scheme. He’ll need to pick up on some things here and there, but Wiggins has some serious raw potential. Expect Wiggins to go in day two of the NFL Draft but in a loaded safety class, he could fall a bit farther than expected.
Player Grade (80.75): Early-third Round
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