From now until the 2024 NFL Draft takes place, we hope to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Arkansas cornerback, Dwight McGlothern.
#2 DWIGHT MCGLOTHERN, CB, ARKANSAS (SR) — 6015, 185 lbs.
Combine/Pro Day
Measurements
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Dwight McGlothern | 6015/185 | 8 5/8″ | 30 1/2″ | 74 7/8″ |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| 4.47 | 1.50 | 4.43 | 7.23 | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| 9’7″ | 32″ | N/A |
The Good
— Good height and speed
— Solid placement and physicality with his jam
— Good depth and awareness in Cover 3
— Knows when to leave his area to make a play
— Good ball skills; makes a play on the ball
— Good click and close on underneath routes
— Reads the mesh point well vs the run
— Effective as a cut tackler; low to take out legs
The Bad
— Extremely thin frame
— Lacking arm length/small hands
— Adequate footwork in press alignment
— Quicker receiver will beat him off the line with no jam
— Grabs at receivers waist when beaten
— Marginal as force player versus run
— Seemingly stayed away from tackle opportunities
— Not a likely candidate for special team due to lack of want to as a tackler
— Dealt with turf toe and concussion in 2023
Bio
— Career: 113 tackles, 96 solo, 6 TFL, 4 FF, 31 PBU, 8 INT, 1 TD
— 2023: 20 tackles, 19 solo, 3 TFL, 1 FF, 9 PBU, 3 INT
— 38 games, 25 starts
— Played two years at LSU before transferring
— 2022 Second team All-SEC (Coaches)
— PFF grade of 91.3; Highest graded cornerback among all Power 5 programs
— East/West Shrine Bowl invitee
— Had a turf toe injury and concussion that kept him out of some games
— Birthday February 6, 2002 (22)
Tape Breakdown
Dwight McGlothern is an outside corner playing primarily to the field side. He has very good height, solid weight with adequate length and solid speed. His frame is really thin and lean throughout.
In coverage, he played in man and zone coverage. When playing man, he has patience to match the receiver and good acceleration to get up to speed quickly. His jam has solid placement and physicality, and he has solid speed to run with the deep throws.
In zone coverage as the deep defender, he gets very good depth to not let receivers get over the top and displays awareness and mental processing of when to leave his area. In the underneath zone area, he displays good effort to get a jam on receivers through his area and plays with good spacing. Again, his awareness is good to read the quarterback and route combinations and make a play on the ball. When coming downhill, he is able to click and close quickly with good acceleration to attack the ball or cut down the receiver.
Awareness in Cover 3 to jump the seam route.
He has good hands and ball skills, is able to break up passes and bring in interceptions. In space, his tackling is solid executing the cut tackle, going low to take out the legs.
A sample of his ball production.
Nice read of the quarterback to break inside for the interception.
In space, his tackling is solid executing the cut tackle, going low to take out the legs. Against the run, he displays solid hand placement and aggressiveness when taking on blocks and reads the mesh point well.
When playing in press man coverage, his footwork is adequate and will leave him chasing when he doesn’t jam the receiver. A quicker receiver will beat him off the line resulting in him grabbing the receivers waist to slow him. His change of direction in trail coverage is adequate. Run defense is not something he chooses to do. He will shy away from getting in on tackles and even seemingly stay on the quarterback after he has handed off the ball, so he doesn’t run toward the ball carrier. He will run around blocks on the edge rather than be the force player.
Quickness beating him off the line of scrimmage in press coverage.
More often than not is tackling effort is minimal.
Conclusion
Overall, McGlothern is a lean outside corner with very good height, solid weight and speed with adequate length. In man coverage, he has a solid jam and speed to run with most receivers. In zone coverage, he displays good depth, spacing and awareness knowing when to leave his area and good change of direction coming downhill. He is a solid tackler in space and against the run reads the mesh point well.
Areas to improve include adding play strength, working on his footwork in man coverage and being less grabby when beat off the line of scrimmage. His effort in the run game must improve as a force player, tackler and effort to chase the ball.
McGlothern has good ball skills and can make the splash play. He does have limitations in man coverage and some teams won’t consider him due to his run support deficiency. With his lack of effort to tackle it would be hard to project him to special teams. However, as a zone corner he is pretty good and could find a role. He would be an outside only corner in a zone scheme.
For a player comp, I’ll give you former Virginia Tech corner Greg Stroman. He too was very thin, but had good ball skills and was able to click and close on underneath routes.
Projection: Late Day Three
Depot Draft Grade: 6.4 MED – End of Roster/Practice Squad (Sixth Round)
Games Watched: 2023 –Vs Texas A&M, At LSU, At Florida, Vs Missouri
