Tall, lengthy, and quick, Sam Houston State Bearkats cornerback Zyon McCollum ticks all of the aesthetic bins as a CB prospect within the 2022 NFL Draft. Moreover, he’s been constantly one of the crucial productive ball hawks within the FCS throughout his five-year profession. Does McCollum’s scouting report reveal a participant who can take that ability set to the subsequent degree?
Zyon McCollum NFL Draft Profile
- Place: Cornerback
- Faculty: Sam Houston State
- Present Yr: Tremendous Senior
- Top: 6’2″
- Weight: 202 kilos
- Wingspan: 74″
- Arm: 31 1/8″
- Hand: 9 1/8″
Zyon McCollum Scouting Report
Though Sam Houston State has had (comparatively) latest NFL Draft success with P.J. Corridor’s choice within the second spherical of the 2018 NFL Draft, this system hasn’t had a defensive again chosen since Rickey Royal in 1989. In actual fact, the Bearkats had three DBs chosen within the Eighties. Is McCollum about so as to add his title to that unique NFL Draft record?
Positives
- At 6’2″ and 202 kilos, McCollum possesses NFL requisite dimension. He’s additionally showcased spectacular size to be impactful in protection, measuring in with 31 1/8″ arms on the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
- McCollum has spectacular ball expertise. He assaults the ball on the catch level and may pluck the ball out of the air. His top helps on this regard, however a formidable athletic profile additionally aids him.
- With a highschool recorded 4.40 40-yard sprint, McCollum has demonstrated glorious athletic capacity. That is obvious on tape, mirroring receivers down the size of the sphere.
- Moreover, McCollum can click on and shut with spectacular quickness. He possesses a mix of soccer intelligence to learn the sport and athletic capacity to react.
- In protection, he showcases a low stance, the flexibility to remain low in his backpedal, and the flexibility to transition to a run with hip fluidity.
- In the meantime, he’s a keen tackler who can play towards the run with aggression.
Negatives
- Whereas he possesses requisite NFL dimension, McCollum might search so as to add some muscle weight to his slender body. He can play the sport with aggression, however typically he may very well be extra bodily. That is evident primarily within the run recreation.
- Though McCollum showcases some spectacular athletic capacity, he can look stiff out on the sphere. You don’t at all times see suddenness or twitchiness in his actions, which is able to lead to giving up simple separation in man protection on the NFL degree.
- Whereas lauding his aggression, this may rely towards the Sam Houston State CB. He could be vulnerable to lacking tacklers as he flies across the subject. He’ll must take a extra conservative, measured method on the NFL to keep away from permitting additional yardage with a failure to wrap up.
- In restricted publicity, McCollum gave the impression to be restricted to taking part in man protection, which would cut down his potential NFL touchdown spots and eventual position with a staff.
McCollum Participant Profile
McCollum’s ascension as an NFL Draft prospect needs to be no shock to anybody acquainted with his soccer journey. Alongside twin brother Tristin McCollum, Zyon was a productive playmaker for Ball Excessive Faculty in Galveston, Texas. Whereas he performed security, the twins would benefit from their similar appears to be like to modify positions within the secondary, complicated each coaches and opposition alike.
As a junior, McCollum earned second-team All-District 23-5A honors. The next season, he earned the identical accolade once more, whereas including All-County, All-Educational, and staff MVP honors to his résumé. Moreover, he exuded management as a staff captain throughout his senior season.
As an FCS prospect, there’s an assumption that McCollum was unranked as a highschool prospect. Nonetheless, he was a three-star recruit who attracted provides from Tulane and Utah. The twins represented a package deal deal, and so they each dedicated to the Utes previous to their senior season. As Tristin defined to Houstonian Information, they might rescind their dedication in favor of Sam Houston State.
“Utah could be very distant, and we knew that staying in Houston can be an enormous plus. The way in which that the groups and coaches handled us performed an enormous consider our resolution. Sam Houston actually, actually needed us, and we in the end needed to go to the staff that was feeling us essentially the most.”
McCollum’s profession at Sam Houston State
Sam Houston State had seen firsthand what Zyon might carry to the desk from an athletic standpoint. Throughout a efficiency at a Bearkats camp, McCollum recorded a 4.40-second 40-yard sprint and a 4.03-second shuttle. They’d quickly see how that athletic capacity would translate to the FCS soccer subject in a devastatingly productive type.
McCollum showcased his disruptive capacity with a sack on his debut towards Richmond. Whereas incomes a fame as a menacing presence within the backfield and towards the run, his ball-hawking turnover tendencies got here to the fore together with his first profession interception towards Lamar. Following up with picks towards North Dakota and Kennesaw State within the FCS Playoffs, he grew to become the primary Sam Houston true freshman with 3 interceptions since 1973.
McCollum’s freshman season set the tone for issues to come back. As a sophomore, he earned first-team All-Southland honors and sophomore All-American accolades following a season the place he tallied an extra 3 interceptions, 8 cross breakups, and one other 40+ tackles in 11 begins.
Regardless of lacking three video games in his junior season, McCollum logged 3 interceptions for the third consecutive season. Moreover, he secured his first profession pick-six towards Oklahoma Panhandle State. The playmaking Sam Houston State CB additionally produced a standout efficiency vs. UIW, tallying 5 tackles, a pressured fumble, and an interception.
McCollum’s NFL Draft ascension
With a wrist damage inflicting McCollum to overlook time in 2019, he solely achieved second-team All-Convention honors. Nonetheless, he shortly remedied that within the disrupted 2021 spring season with first-team All-Southland honors and All-American accolades from HERO Sports activities. The Sam Houston State CB pressured key fumbles towards Northwestern State and Louisiana State, and he had an interception within the FCS semifinal win over James Madison.
On account of Sam Houston’s nationwide success within the spring season, McCollum began his ultimate season with the Bearkats on the 2022 NFL Draft radar. As he continued to be a disruptive power — logging 3 interceptions for the fourth time in his profession — the productive cornerback’s inventory continued to rise.
After initially accepting an invitation to the East-West Shrine Bowl, McCollum additionally obtained an invitation to the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Regardless of that includes in a proficient defensive again group in Cellular, the Sam Houston State CB “showcased ball expertise and shutting capacity in 1v1s,” as per Professional Soccer Community’s staff on the bottom. He was additionally described as having a nostril for the soccer.
Whereas school manufacturing isn’t the measure of success, McCollum’s 54 cross breakups that embrace 13 interceptions have caught the eye of NFL Draft analysts and scouts alike. It’s a case of come for the manufacturing, keep for the ability set. The Sam Houston State CB is my 123rd general prospect. McCollum has a real probability of listening to his title known as early on the third day of the 2022 NFL Draft.
