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Dallas Cowboys Draft: NFL Prospects from the Dallas-Fort Worth Area

By Adithya Prabakaran

FORT WORTH, TX - NOVEMBER 29: Jalen Reagor #1 of the TCU Horned Frogs returns a punt for a touchdown against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the second half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. West Virginia won 20-17. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - NOVEMBER 29: Jalen Reagor #1 of the TCU Horned Frogs returns a punt for a touchdown against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the second half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. West Virginia won 20-17. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Big 10 Prospects: CB Jeffrey Okudah, Ohio State

Here’s a popular name that you probably didn’t know is from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Yes, Jeffrey Okudah is from Grand Prairie, TX and played his high school ball at South Grand Prairie High School. Eventually his talents took him to Columbus, Ohio and he developed into a CB1 of a very talented cornerback draft class.

The Buckeye is the most technically sound cornerback in this draft and is not lacking in athleticism. Okudah is listed at 6’1″, 200 pounds and for his size, he’s extremely fluid running in and out of breaks. He can stop on a dime and change direction he possesses good straight line speed to recover in the off-chance he gets beat. (I’m using the word off-chance lightly either)

Okudah is exceptionally good in man coverage. He understands how to win leverage battles against receivers. He is physical at the line of scrimmage in where he messes with receivers’ timing and releases. When the ball is in the air he will look back and play the ball to prevent pass completions. Would you believe it? A cornerback that looks back in order to play the ball!

He was very rarely asked to spot drop in zone. Wwhen pattern matching he displayed good awareness and ball skills as you would expect in a top cornerback. While a good tackler, Okudah isn’t particularly great at fighting off blocks. This can limit him as a run stopper, but how often do you call cornerbacks elite run stoppers?

Expect Okudah to go in the Top 10 of the draft as he possesses the potential to be a lockdown corner an NFL where matching up man-to-man is becoming increasingly important.

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