25 Days of Draftmas: Trayvon Mullen could contribute quickly in every coverage scheme

A very Merry Draftmas to you! It’s 25 Days of Draftmas on Arrowhead Pride, where we’ll be giving you a Kansas City Chiefs draft prospect every day in April leading up to the NFL Draft. You’ll get a daily prospect profile like this one right up until Draft Day.

Trayvon Mullen, CB

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

6’1” | 199 lbs | Clemson

Projected draft range: round two

Combine: 4.46 second 40-yard dash, 34.5” vertical jump, 123” broad jump

2018 stats: 4 pass breakups, 1 interception, 37 tackles

I would take him: round two

One-sentence bio: Four-star recruit and cousin of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson; named defensive MVP of last year’s national championship game.

One-sentence scouting report: Versatile cornerback with experience in most techniques that has length and speed to cover many NFL wide receivers.

Three plays:

How he fits in KC: While Mullen might not have the buzz of some other cornerbacks in this year’s class, he arguably fits Steve Spagnuolo’s defense better than most. He’s comfortable in press-man, off-man and pattern-matching zone techniques from his time at Clemson under defensive coordinator Brent Venables. From press technique, he uses his length well to get a solid, aggressive jam (check the last clip above) and shrinks the throwing window by squeezing the boundary. Mullen is a very willing tackler and won’t shy away from contact when driving on a running back underneath.

Mullen does need some help cleaning up his technique. His footwork, in particular, is messy. He’ll cross his feet in his shuffle and backpedal, and that results in some stumbles following the receiver’s break on the route. Even though he has experience in pattern matching coverages, he still struggled with some route identification out of bunched formations. Mullen does get his head around to locate the ball more often than not, but his production was still lacking, in part due to limited reps at Clemson.

Finding a player with a foundation in multiple techniques is tough, and finding one that has the length, speed and aggression that Spagnuolo prefers from his cornerbacks is even harder in the draft. If the Chiefs trust new cornerbacks coach Sam Madison to clean up a couple of his technique issues quickly, Mullen could not only be a quick contributor for the Chiefs defense, but he might be an impact one as well.

Want to read more player profiles from Arrowhead Pride’s 25 Days of Draftmas? Click here for the complete list. And to stay informed on the players in which the Chiefs have shown interest, be sure to check out AP’s Chiefs draft prospect visit and workout tracker.

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