Mekhi Garner

Pos: CB

School: LSU

Ht. 6’2″ 

Wt. 212

Games Watched: Ole Miss, Alabama, Tennessee

One Liner: Long, big bodied corner who wins with strength, frame, and contest at the catch point.

Strengths: 

  • Very good frame. Garner has a nice, long and strong frame that is ideally suited for a off man/zone cover corner at the next level. He uses his frame to win at the catch point with his 32 inch arms and is able to disrupt early stages of outside routes with his long arms. 
  • Good strength. Garner throws a nice press punch and is able to shed blocks in the run game through some nice overall upper body aggressiveness and pop in space. 
  • Good contest at the catch point. Garner is able to make a play at the catch point when he is in position due to nice arm length and strength, making him a tough task to beat in 50/50 situations. 

Weaknesses:

  • Poor long speed. While aggressive in the early stages of press, Garner struggles to recover off the stem of routes when in press, as he lacks the deep speed to truly compete as a press corner at the next level.
  • Adequate press technique. Garner has fluid hips, but he has inconsistent positioning and technique in press, sometimes flipping his hips too early, or giving up square shoulders too soon in the route. 
  • Marginal athleticism. Garner struggles with change of direction, start and stop, and transitions from kick steps to cover in man. His athleticism will limit him at the next level, and prevent him from being a true press man corner at the next level, despite having great upper body technique as a press corner.

Overall Assessment: Mekhi Garner is a big, aggressive corner who has the potential to be a zone corner with flexibility as an off man player. While having the build for a press corner, Garner lacks the athletic ability to match up with the X and Z receivers in the NFL, and will likely be delegated to off man techniques where he can use his fluid hips and aggressiveness and strength. Garner has some press technique issues that he could look to fix at the next level which may help him rotate in as a press corner, but he definitely cannot be left on an island at the next level. 

Scheme Fit: Zone/Off Man corner with potential to be kicked out to safety.

Pick Projection: 4th round

Grade: 6.07