CB, Virginia Tech
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 197 lbs
Class: rs-Junior
In July Caleb Farley became the first college player to opt out of the 2020 season. Although we won’t get to see him play for the Hokies again he did enough in his two seasons as a starter to cement his position as the top cornerback in the 2021 class.
You can read more of my 2021 NFL Draft content here.
Strengths
Farley has the ideal combination of size and speed to play cornerback at the next level. He played quarterback in high school and started his college career as wide receiver. This shows in his ability to mirror routes downfield and his competitiveness at the catch point. These traits are all the more impressive when you consider he has only been playing the position for two years.
After an average redshirt freshman season in 2018, Farley was fantastic last year. In his 396 coverage snaps in 2019 he allowed just 257 yards and a completion percentage of 36 per cent. He finished the season with a passer rating allowed of 26.8: for context, the passer rating for throwing the ball away on every play would be 39.6.
There are no concerns in terms of production at the catch point either, with six interceptions and 17 pass-breakups across his career. One of his biggest plus points is how translatable his skill set is to the NFL. He has proven that he can cover effectively on the boundary and that he is comfortable playing press coverage, albeit in limited reps. This is the kind of skillset that teams look for in the draft and it is one of the things that sets Farley apart from other top prospects like Ohio State’s Shaun Wade.
Weaknesses
The obvious criticism of Farley is his sample size. Although he looked great last season, he has only one year of top tier production. His tape in 2018 wasn’t great and he allowed four touchdowns and a passer rating of 96.5. Having said that, this was his first season playing the position at any level and his performances in 2019 are likely to be a better reflection of his true talent.
From a technical standpoint there isn’t much to improve but his tackling could definitely do with some work. He has struggled to wrap up and has has 21 missed tackles on 80 career attempts. This will be a concern for NFL teams and he needs to be more reliable in this regard to reach his full potential.
One other thing that will be a concern is his history of injuries. Farley suffered a non-contact ACL tear that saw him miss the 2017 season and he missed the final two games of the 2019 season after dealing with back spasms throughout the campaign.
Bottom Line
Although we won’t see Farley this season he has done enough to cement his place as a first round pick. His ability to perform on the boundary and to be consistently disruptive at the catch point are major plus points to his game. Whilst he isn’t perfect he showed tonnes of potential in his First Team All-ACC campaign in 2019 and should be the first cornerback off the board in the 2021 Draft.
Big Board Rank: #13
Positional Rank: #1
