2016 NFL Draft Profile: CB Vernon Hargreaves

In this 2016 NFL Draft profile, we look at the strengths and weaknesses of cornerback Vernon Hargreaves out of Florida.

Hargreaves has had an impressive career so far at Florida. He’s won numerous awards from National Defensive Player of the Year to even being the MVP of the Under Armour All-American game. He’s truly made a name for himself as a ball-hawk with his keen defensive abilities to either disrupt passes or come away with a key interception.

Hargreaves currently stands at 5’10, weighs in at 204 pounds, has a 30 5/8″ arm length, and 8 3/4″ hands. At the 2016 NFL Combine, he ran a 4.50 flat in the 40-yard dash, recorded 15 reps on the bench press, had a 39.0 inch vertical jump, a 130.0 inch broad jump and finished the 20-yard shuttle in 3.98 seconds.

Feb 29, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida Gators defensive back Vernon Hargreaves runs the 40 yard dash during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

STRENGTHS

Hargreaves has great speed, a high football IQ and loves to make plenty of plays with the opportunities given to him. He’s very good at reading quarterbacks and anticipating where the ball is headed to either break it up or come away with the turnover.

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He’s great in man-to-man coverage and does well matching up with any receiving target coming his way as he can surprise opponents with his ability to shut them down.

He also has a knack for tackling and making sure he’s the main reason why an offense couldn’t convert a key third down.

In his collegiate career, Hargreaves totaled 121 tackles, 10 interceptions and 27 passes defended.

WEAKNESSES

Sometimes he can let emotion get the best of him and be a bit reckless. He can be too reactive based on his presumption on what will transpire and gets burned by smarter receivers trying to be a step ahead of him.

Against short passing attacks, Hargreaves doesn’t have the needed reaction time to put himself in a position to make a play. He’s also a bit on the short side in height as the premier wide receivers of the NFL will be able to have key mismatches when he’s assigned to them.

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Many predict Hargreaves could easily be the second cornerback taken in this year’s draft as he’s a top 10 first-round pick. Make no mistake about it, once he makes the transition to the pros, he will no doubt develop into a true shut-down cornerback over time.

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