Ifeatu Melifonwu is a massive, lengthy corner from the University of Syracuse. Like his brother Obi, on the 49ers he is also very big for a defensive back and has a great athletic profile. His athletic upside is off the charts but he needs 

Strengths: 

  • Amazing Size

At 6’3 213 lbs Ifeatu Melifonwu is one of the biggest corners in this class. He also has some of the longest arms in the class and he uses them extremely well.

  • Physical on the Top of Routes

At the top of routes Ifeatu Melifonwu is very good at jamming receivers and not letting them get separation. He’s physical but not to the point where it draws flags on him, which takes a while to develop and is a dangerous skill to have.

  • Great Ball Skills

Ifeatu Melifonwu has great length and he uses those long arms well to knock away passes. He plays the ball extremely well and makes it tough on receivers because of his hand positioning.

  • Good Mirroring Technique

For a big guy when Ifeatu Melifonwu is in man coverage he has great mirroring technique. He has quick enough feet to match receivers and his body control is great as well.

  • Fluid Movements

Melifonwu isn’t the fastest guy in the world, but his movements are very smooth and he has decent quickness, not bad long speed, and oily hips that allow him to stick with receivers.

Weaknesses: 

  • Spatial Awareness in Zone is lacking

Melifonwu often loses track of where he is in zone coverage and far too often he either stays in his zone too long, and a receiver gets open in a spot he could’ve been in, and other times he leaves his zone so far that teams can easily set up routes in the zone he would be guarding. 

  • Bad Anticipation

Ifeatu Melifonwu is still a pretty raw prospect and he needs work on route anticipation and anticipating when the QB is going to throw the ball his way. When his back is to the QB he turns his head slow all too often and for how much space he gives underneath he needs to react a lot quicker to make plays on the ball and he doesn’t.

  • Eyes in the Backfield Too Often

Melifonwu gets caught peeking in the backfield very often and in the NFL quarterbacks and offensive coordinators are going to start baiting him because of his tendency to stare into the backfield for too long.

Player Comp: Finding a comp for Melifonwu was tough because it’s not every year that we see a cornerback as big as Melifonwu come out. Trumaine Johnson is a bit smaller than Melifonwu is but both guys were very athletic, with smooth movements and not great long speed. Both guys have length they use well and great ball skills and both guys were extremely inconsistent with their technique and anticipation. I think that both guys’ inconsistency could have made Melifonwu’s career path be extremely similar to Johnson with drastic changes in quality of play from year to year.

Final Thoughts: Evaluating Melifonwu is pretty tough and honestly I’m still not that sure what to think of him. It’s definitely a challenging evaluation because he has such a great athletic profile but I’m not sure that he maximizes the use of those athletic gifts and he also lacks some basic traits that cornerbacks need. I think that I’m around the general consensus on Melifonwu having him as an early third round guy but many have Melifonwu extremely high while others have him extremely low. I think he can be good but very inconsistent at the next level. I think a team fit for him is the Jets where he would be able to play in a zone scheme and be taught by coach Robert Saleh who has done a great job of developing defensive backs.