Connor Neal | April 6th, 2020
Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU #12
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 191 pounds
Year: 5th-year Senior
Games Watched: Texas (2019), Oklahoma (2019), and Purdue (2019)
Gladney is the most physical coverage corner in this year’s corner class. Gladney plays with a pit bull-like mindset every time he’s on the field. His smaller frame doesn’t stop him from competing with larger wide receivers, although sometimes he still struggles with that. Gladney’s on-field aggressiveness also doesn’t get him injured often as he’s only dealt with one injury in his career that he played through. After this most recent season, Gladney was awarded first-team Big-12 honors.
As you can see below, my grading scale is out of 100 and is graded based on eight skills: man coverage, zone coverage, instincts, ball skills, speed, press/physicality, tackling, and run support.
Make sure to check out all of our other scouting reports here.
| Man Coverage 18/20 | Gladney is a pretty sticky man coverage corner who doesn’t get burnt very often. He stays with the receiver and does a good job of cloning the routes they run. |
| Zone Coverage 17/20 | Although he isn’t quite as good at zone, Gladney still does a good job reading the quarterback’s eyes and picking up the correct receiver in his zone. |
| Instincts 13/15 | Gladney does a good job of diagnosing if the play is a run or pass. He has a very high football IQ and rarely misreads a play. |
| Ball Skills 8/10 | Despite not having too many interceptions in his collegiate career, Gladney will break up the pass before the receiver can maintain possession. |
| Speed 9/10 | Gladney is a very speedy athletic freak. During the 2020 NFL Combine Gladney ran a 4.48, which is average for a starting corner in the NFL. However, Gladney doesn’t get burnt and sticks with the receiver he’s guarding no matter how quick they are. |
Press/Physicality 9/10 | Gladney is one of the most physical cornerbacks in this class. Despite his smaller frame, Gladney does not shy away from and will instead invite contact. |
| Tackling 8/10 | Gladney is a pretty sure tackler when in the open field. Almost every time he tries to tackle, he doesn’t whiff. A pretty sure tackler for the cornerback position. |
| Run Support 4/5 | Because of how well Gladney tackles and how he doesn’t shy away from contact, he is a very good run supporting corner. |
Total: 86/100
Round Grade: Early 2nd Round
Projected Round: Round 1-2
Wide Receiver Rank: CB3
For me, I view Gladney as a better corner than Kristian Fulton. Gladney will be a leader in the weight room, which will gain the respect of coaches, other teammates, and organization leaders. Gladney will more than likely go in the first round to either the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Minnesota Vikings, which would be a good value for either.
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