Overview

Position: CB

College: Arkansas

Class: Senior

Age: 23

 

Measurables

Height: 6’1 5/8”

Weight: 203 lbs.

Arm length: 32 3/4″

Hand size: 9 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.49 sec.

10-yard split: 1.59 sec.

Vertical jump: 40.0”

Broad jump: 134.0”

Bench press: 16 reps

3-cone drill: 7.13 sec.

Short shuttle: 4.20 sec.

 

Strengths

Excellent size and length. Very aggressive in press coverage. Extremely strong jamming opponents off the line. Will accurately jam with one or two hands. One-handed jams are very strong. Rides opponents out of the press. Physical jamming and matching on outside releases. Has driven opponents several yards to get them out of bounds jamming off the ball. Shows patience mirroring releases when opponents use shake. Checks effectively on inside releases and shows quickness sticking with quicker opponents. Very combative in coverage. Very good recovery speed defending vertical routes if he loses a step early. Stays on top of fade routes on the perimeter. Sticks to opponents working inside on stop routes. Instinctive getting a hand in at the catch point on in-breaking routes. Stays on the hip of opponents across the field on over routes. Seems to have another gear to close space versus crossing routes when trailing. Excellent reaction time and burst breaking on hitches. Gets on top of opponents on curls from cushion coverage. Quality speed in the side shuffle. Good fluidity at his size flipping his hips in deeper zone coverage. Great awareness underneath to react to a throw elsewhere. Will come off his man and hit hard at the catch point. Smooth running with tight ends down the field while shaded underneath. Experience on both sides of the formation. Saw snaps in the slot. Stays on corner routes from the slot. Did a great job sticking with a slot fade and breaking up the pass versus Texas A&M wide receiver KC Concepcion (2025). Quick to tackle after the catch on underneath passes. Strong and aggressive taking on blockers to defend perimeter screens. Very good overall play recognition versus the run. Physical taking on and getting off blocks. Effective coming up to tackle on outside runs. Quick darting around blockers on the perimeter. Shows fluidity and athleticism at his size to wrap up ball-carriers in space.

 

Weaknesses

Will get too grabby in coverage. Needs to be more consistent locating the ball down the field and not grabbing at the catch point. Sometimes grabs trying to stick with stop routes as opponents throttle down. Needs to be more prepared at times to open up when jamming to not fall a step behind on vertical routes. Can fall a step behind if unable to jam opponents on quicker releases. Has slight stiffness and delay in transitioning out of the press to defend slant routes. Could have better awareness deeper down the field knowing when to stay on or get off an in-breaking route in Cover-3 drops. Can be slow breaking out of the backpedal to react on underneath throws in deep zone drops. Average acceleration after changing direction. Sometimes slow changing direction to tackle in the open field. Would like to see more all-out pursuit away from the ball.

 

NFL comparison

Azareye’h Thomas

 

Conclusion

Overall, Neal is a strong, physical press cornerback who can be very disruptive jamming opponents at the line. He needs to avoid grabbing in coverage, but Neal should be at his best in a zone-heavy scheme where he mostly operates on the perimeter.

 

Big Board ranking: #82 | Positional ranking: #12