Overview

Position: CB

College: South Carolina

Class: Junior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 5’11 3/4”

Weight: 189 lbs.

Arm length: 30 3/4″

Hand size: 8 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: N/A

10-yard split: N/A

Vertical jump: 41.0”

Broad jump: 131.0”

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Quality size and appears bigger than listed measurements. Twitchy and explosive. Great overall speed. Aggressive jamming in press coverage. Patient mirroring release footwork with a short cushion. Very quick feet matching underneath routes. Tremendous instincts and instant rection time in zone coverage. Good ability to read the quarterback’s eyes while moving in zone coverage. Knows how to position himself between the corner and flat route in perimeter zone coverage. Impressive awareness to defend routes from the slot as the outside zone defender. Great burst and speed to close the distance on in-breaking routes with a cushion. Stays right on comeback routes and pokes the ball away if shieled off. Fast retreating in the side shuffle while keeping his eyes on the quarterback. Quick feet opening up to run with vertical routes. Terrific recovery speed defending vertical routes. Aggressive playing the ball in the air down the field. Experience at both left and right cornerback. Comes in hard as a blitzer from the slot. Excellent speed in pursuit. Tackles aggressively running towards the sideline. Outstanding in run support. Will fly into a running lane on the edge to make a tackle. Works to get past blockers on the edge to tackle on outside runs. Uses quickness to get around blocks. Quick feet breaking down in space. Strikes with aggression as a tackler. Shows he will keep outside leverage and get off blocks. Great play recognition and very aggressive getting into the backfield to tackle from close alignment. Willing to get in the path of ball-carriers to tackle. Shows fire for team defensive stops.

 

Weaknesses

Needs to avoid trying to cheat inside from underneath zone coverage on the perimeter. Susceptible to pivot routes due to aggression in coverage. Shows he can recover but sometimes unprepared to run with a deep route and fall a step behind. Aggressiveness defending the run can leave opportunity for a big gain if he darts into the backfield and the ball-carrier gets through off the tackle. Will float inside in run support when unblocked and leave the sideline open. Aggressiveness working inside can lead to being pinned inside when runs get to the sideline.

 

NFL comparison

Kris Abrams-Draine

 

Conclusion

Overall, Cisse is an aggressive, twitchy cornerback with an ability to jump on routes and ideal willingness to support the run. More discipline both in coverage and as a tackler can lessen the concerns about his game.

 

Big Board ranking: #65 | Positional ranking: #9