Overview

Position: S

College: Arizona

Class: Senior

Age: 24

 

Measurables

Height: 6’0 5/8”

Weight: 190 lbs.

Arm length: 31 3/4″

Hand size: 8 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.33 sec.

10-yard split: 1.50 sec.

Vertical jump: 38.0”

Broad jump: 130.0”

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Natural playmaker. Great speed. Mostly aligned in the slot but has played as a traditional deep safety. Very good overall anticipation reading the quarterback in zone coverage. Quick reacting to in-breaking routes from cushion coverage. Excellent play recognition and burst to jump underneath passes. Outstanding burst breaking on throws down the field. Exceptional range to the sideline as a deep safety. Tremendous overall ball skills. Knows how to position himself to play the ball at the catch point. Extremely instinctive finding and playing the ball in the air. Rare ability to locate the ball and make a play on it immediately after getting his head around. Terrific leaping ability. Acrobatic ball skills shown down the field. Had a highlight interception over an Arizona State wide receiver (2025). Will lay out trying to make a play on the ball. Gets his feet down on the sideline. Quick transitioning from the side shuffle to sprint running with vertical routes. Quick feet defending stutter moves on slot fades. Very fluid overall movements and shuffling around the field in general. Effective sticking with opponents in coverage at the intermediate level. Sticks to tight ends in underneath coverage. Aggressive coming up to defend screen passes and will force the ball back inside. Fast as a blitzer. Great burst and physicality to quickly tackle after the catch on throws in front of him. Extremely effective wrap-up tackler. Stays square and ready to tackle. Very accurate striking when broken down. Flies around the field to make tackles. Agile getting around blockers in space. Extremely athletic leaving his feet to dive for tackles. Will try to take the ball away on tackles. Aggressive sticking his nose in to tackle ball-carriers on the second level. Quick feet working through traffic. Works to get off blocks and tackle on the edge. Always hustling to the action. Plays hard and gets in on tackles even with the game out of hand late.

 

Weaknesses

Could be more accurate trying to jam with a short cushion. Needs to avoid allowing inside release separation in man coverage. Quicker as a zone defender but can be slow reacting to slant routes at times in man coverage. Can be delayed opening up to defend vertical routes from the slot. Average strength finishing as a tackler at times. Lacks size and strength in the box when things get condensed. Susceptible to cutbacks based on how aggressively he comes downhill. Gets pushed back when blockers get to his frame. Could have better vision for blockers trying to catch him from the side in lateral pursuit. Sometimes off the field in goal-line and heavy personnel.

 

NFL comparison

Jalen Pitre

 

Conclusion

Overall, Stukes is an instinctive, playmaking defensive back with rare ball skills and ideal aggression as a tackler. He saw heavy slot usage at Arizona, but Stukes can be a traditional safety and would be a better fit in the slot for a zone-heavy defense.

 

Big Board ranking: #51 | Positional ranking: #5