Photo by Mark Lebryk-USA Today Sports
Games |
Tackles |
Tackles for Loss |
Sacks |
Pass defended |
Interceptions |
Forced Fumbles |
Touchdowns |
31 |
116 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
0.0 |
40 Yard Dash |
Bench Press |
Vertical Jump |
Broad Jump |
3-Cone Drill |
20 Yard Shuttle |
N/A |
18 Reps |
38.5 Inches |
123 Inches |
N/A |
N/A |
Fighting Illini safety Kerby Joseph was one of the breakout players from the 2021 college football season and after a stellar senior bowl and combine performance he certainly has earned his stock rise in the NFL draft. At 6'1'' and 205 lbs., Joseph brings excellent size, great length, and tremendous ball skills. He has impressive leaping ability and explosiveness in his lower half and it's one of his gifts that propelled him in the draft. In zone coverage, Kerby Joseph plays with good technique and fluidity that allows him to never be out of a play in his area. He reads the offense well from the back of the defense and is careful to not fall for look offs and pump fakes from quarterbacks. His previous tenure as a receiver gives him good insight into reading route concepts early in their development and allows him to react early and potentially make a play. He has excellent burst on the football when he locks on and often scares quarterbacks off with his potential acceleration. He has enough speed to give him good range on the back end of the defense and most throws downfield often are dangerous for quarterbacks. He was a nightmare for offenses to game plan for and at times looked like he shut down the back end of the defense. He's been effective at all three levels of the field in zone coverage and his improvement in his coverage ability certainly was extraordinary. In man coverage, he displays exceptional size and length to be effective cornerback in the NFL. He has tremendous arm length that allows him to shut down passing windows and blanket receivers. He's been trusted quite a bit at covering tight ends and did so with exceptional skill in 2021 where his size and length plus his explosiveness allowed him to make catches extremely difficult for his receiver. Kerby Joseph turned himself into one of the more dangerous safeties in the NFL draft to throw errand passes to because what you will about his coverage, wise if he has a chance at the football he will come down with it. He possesses extremely sticky hands that clearly come from his days playing wide receiver in college and when passes were thrown in his general vicinity, which was a rarity, he often came down with it. He has excellent hand-eye coordination when the ball is in the air and his interception against Purdue is certainly ample evidence to suggest potentially scaring hands for a defensive back.
He's never been much of a factor in run defense and teams drafting should be willing to consider that he will never be a great run defender at the safety position. He's not very physical as a tackler and does wrapping up rather than delivering big hits. He ducks his head quite often when making tackles and this can cause him to lose focus and his grip which unfortunately leaves him in the dust on the wrong end of a broken tackle. He doesn't attack the line of scrimmage hardly ever which is confirmed by his game tape and stat sheet and teaching him to be a blitzer or occasionally playing in the box could be a lost cause. His tackling form needs work as he's too often dragged for more yardage when he engages and learning how to play with more aggressiveness and power, which he has plenty of as a safety prospect, when wrapping up ball carriers will be very beneficial. While he's a tremendous ball hawking safety, he struggles with consistently taking good angles on passes when he jumps routes and should really work on this skill in training camp. He doesn't trust his instincts in coverage very much which noticeably made him less decisive in his movements and often caused him to be late to disrupting passes and playing clean up rather than making a play. Not an overly versatile player in coverage with limited snaps at cornerback and I would categorize him as strictly a back end player in his career. His range and athleticism should be categorized as good enough but not something to write home about and if he doesn't play with precise footwork, he's not going to make plays in a timely manner. His 5 interceptions and 2 of his defended passes came in 2021 after transferring from receiver back to safety and teams need to be concerned about him being a one year wonder in his last 2021 campaign. The Fighting Illini aren't a Power 5 football program and rarely play competitive football teams and his level of competition needs to be taken into account.
Kerby Joseph is one of those prospects that found his perfect niche in his last college football season after failing at cornerback and receiver and teams drafting need to be very wary about if his level of play is sustainable in the NFL. His ineffectiveness against the run is going to hurt his draft stock but for a team looking for a safety prospect that can potentially roam freely and make plays should have this guy on their board. He's a project for sure with a huge payoff but he'll need the right system and coach to get the best out of him.
He's never been much of a factor in run defense and teams drafting should be willing to consider that he will never be a great run defender at the safety position. He's not very physical as a tackler and does wrapping up rather than delivering big hits. He ducks his head quite often when making tackles and this can cause him to lose focus and his grip which unfortunately leaves him in the dust on the wrong end of a broken tackle. He doesn't attack the line of scrimmage hardly ever which is confirmed by his game tape and stat sheet and teaching him to be a blitzer or occasionally playing in the box could be a lost cause. His tackling form needs work as he's too often dragged for more yardage when he engages and learning how to play with more aggressiveness and power, which he has plenty of as a safety prospect, when wrapping up ball carriers will be very beneficial. While he's a tremendous ball hawking safety, he struggles with consistently taking good angles on passes when he jumps routes and should really work on this skill in training camp. He doesn't trust his instincts in coverage very much which noticeably made him less decisive in his movements and often caused him to be late to disrupting passes and playing clean up rather than making a play. Not an overly versatile player in coverage with limited snaps at cornerback and I would categorize him as strictly a back end player in his career. His range and athleticism should be categorized as good enough but not something to write home about and if he doesn't play with precise footwork, he's not going to make plays in a timely manner. His 5 interceptions and 2 of his defended passes came in 2021 after transferring from receiver back to safety and teams need to be concerned about him being a one year wonder in his last 2021 campaign. The Fighting Illini aren't a Power 5 football program and rarely play competitive football teams and his level of competition needs to be taken into account.
Kerby Joseph is one of those prospects that found his perfect niche in his last college football season after failing at cornerback and receiver and teams drafting need to be very wary about if his level of play is sustainable in the NFL. His ineffectiveness against the run is going to hurt his draft stock but for a team looking for a safety prospect that can potentially roam freely and make plays should have this guy on their board. He's a project for sure with a huge payoff but he'll need the right system and coach to get the best out of him.