From now until the 2025 NFL Draft, we will 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, down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Iowa DB Sebastian Castro.
No. 29 SEBASTIAN CASTRO/DB IOWA – 5011, 202 POUNDS. (RS SENIOR)
Measurements
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Sebastian Castro | 5011/202 | 10 | 31 | 74 1/2 |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
THE GOOD
– A lot of experience playing in the slot, in the box, and occasionally at deep safety
– Tough-as-nails player who attacks the ball, receivers, and runners with destructive intent
– Processes quarterback’s eyes and routes quickly to make plays on the ball
– Plays with an effort and motor that never quits
– Very smart and cerebral player who diagnosed plays for the backfield (team captain)
– Gets physical with receivers in their catch radius to disrupt
– Goes after the ball well in the air and has good jump timing to high-point
– Really good short-area agility with his hip fluidity and change-of-direction
– Snuffs out screens, slants, and crossers well to come downhill
– Good at mirroring slot receivers and matching their footwork on breaks
– Violent run defender who tackles with aggression
– Great run play recognition and knows when to trigger from depth
– Reliable and durable player
– Only three penalties in five years of playing
THE BAD
– Struggles to match receiver’s long speed on vertical routes
– Doesn’t recover well on routes when he’s beaten significantly
– Below-average length to bother longer-limbed receivers
– Can drift too far when getting to depth and will allow YAC opportunities
– Will turn his hips too early in man coverage and allow vertical leverage
– Overaggressive in run defense opportunities that lead to him running past plays
– You don’t want him tasked with covering a lot of grass on the field
– Susceptible to stutter and double moves consistently
– Will turn 25 during rookie season
BIO
– Born 10/14/2000 (24 years old) out of Oak Lawn, IL
– 2,128 total snaps (1,594 slot CB, 322 strong safety, 122 near the line of scrimmage, 67 free safety, 23 outside CB)
– 348 special teams snaps (121 kick coverage, 107 punt return, 70 FG block, 48 kick return, 2 punt coverage)
– Appeared in 53 games with 32 starts at the University of Iowa
– Career: 163 tackles (113 solo), 14 TFL’s, 2 sacks, 4 INT’s, 18 PBU’s, 32 missed tackles, 3 penalties, 5 FF’s, 1 INT touchdown, 78.8 passer rating allowed, 62.2 completion percent against
2024-25 season: 57 tackles (39 solo), 3 TFL’s, 2 sacks, 1 INT, 2 PBU’s, 12 missed tackles, 1 penalty, 2 FF’s, 107.0 passer rating allowed, 72.3 completion percent against
– 2024 Fourth-Team AP All-America; Third-Team All-Big Ten
– 2023 Third-Team AP All-America; Second-Team All-Big Ten
– Named a team captain his senior season
– 2019 3-star prospect by 247 Sports in HS
– First-Team All-State as a junior and senior in football
– Team captain as junior and senior
– Played defensive back and quarterback in HS
– Lettered in track and field
TAPE BREAKDOWN
Sebastian Castro is a defensive back for the Iowa Hawkeyes, who have a notoriously good defense and have churned out countless DB’s from their program. Castro is another in the long list of quality defensive backs. He’s a guy who plays with high effort, energy, and a team-first mentality. He’s a versatile player who can align in multiple spots in a defensive backfield. He has played both safety positions, operated as a slot corner/nickelback, and outside linebacker. There is an infectious nature to his play, not only from a physicality standpoint (he’s quite a downhill force), but also from a knowledge standpoint of a guy who understands what the offense wants to do and can get the rest of the defense in position to make plays.
He’s No. 29 for Iowa in all of the following clips:
Castro plays at his best when he’s able to hover in the short zones and trail in off-man coverage by keeping hip leverage. He has very fluid hips to swivel and change direction quickly. He also shows adequate short-area quickness to react to breaks from receivers. Castro can handle small or bigger slot receivers well to affect their route tree and make plays on the ball. He doesn’t allow for a lot of separation breathing room and he’s a good tackler to not allow a lot of YAC if receivers catch the ball.
His junior season showed one of the best slot cornerbacks in the country, and then this past year he had more difficulty with allowing separation. His footwork could get sloppy with longer releases by receivers and he carried them too much on his hip pocket, which caused him to be compromised once they broke from him the other way. In off-man coverage, his footwork can especially look heavier when he’s asked to accelerate for longer distances.
He lacks elite long speed and struggles to carry faster receivers downfield. He also needs to show better technique with jamming guys at the snap. At times it was apparent that if receivers countered his punches and swipes that he would struggle to react quickly enough to interrupt them from their route.
Castro is a matchup-versatile man coverage defender. He will defend multiple positions effectively, like tight end, slot receiver, and running backs out of the backfield. He plays soft-press coverage using quick jamming to throw off the WR’s route timing. In off-coverage, Castro plays with good pre-snap leverage, shows patience to stay square, and breaks with anticipation to remain in the hip pocket of his opponent.
Castro has soft hands to pair with his ball tracking and fluid movement to make plays on the football. He has ball-hawk abilities and upside as a prospect.
Castro is a solid zone coverage defensive back who uses his intelligence, twitch, and physicality to cover areas with adeptness. He can drop to an area in zone quickly and keeps his head and eyes constantly moving to find receivers in their routes.
He passes off routes to teammates well and is able to break up or intercept passes frequently. His visual processing speed is very impressive in short areas to make a play. Castro is very fast to click-and-close to underneath routes.
The area of his game that can immediately translate a high level in the NFL is his ability to play the run. He shows great instincts and diagnoses run plays quickly to downhill. He’s incredibly aggressive and looks to inflict as much damage as possible when tackling. He delivers jarring hits to ball-carriers and is quite a tone-setter.
He’s able to come in from depth or play close to the line of scrimmage and shed blocks routinely. Whether he comes from far or near, Castro accelerates very quickly to generate significant force when he hits guys. He’s also able to jar the ball loose because of this well. Here he is in the Senior Bowl as a human torpedo to stop Jalen Milroe from making a big play out of structure.
CONCLUSION
Slot cornerback is an underrated and important position in the NFL, and Castro will probably make his home there for the most part but does have good experience that can allow for defensive coordinators to use him as a chess piece. Castro will need to work on his jamming technique in press, not being too overaggressive as a run defender, and not riding receiver’s hips too closely leaving him open for moves to occur and throw his balance off creating separation.
You don’t have to look too far back in the archives to find a similar player profile for him, as I think he bears a lot of resemblance to Tykee Smith last year out of Georgia. I don’t think that he quite has the straight-line speed that Smith showed at the NFL combine last year, but both guys were looked at as that nickel/hybrid defensive backs that will probably make their living primarily as slot cornerbacks in the NFL. Castro has the ability to come in and start right away, but would be optimally used as a rotational piece in nickel packages at first. I could see the Pittsburgh Steelers having quite a bit of interest in him with their slot cornerback position still up in the air for long-term solutions.
Projection: Day 3
Depot Draft Grade: 7.5 – 4th Round (Rotational Player)
Games Watched: at Ohio State (2024), vs. Missouri (2024), at Iowa State (2023), vs. Michigan (2023)
