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Nate Wiggins

Ravens Select Clemson CB Nate Wiggins At No. 30

April 25th, 2024 at 10:40pm CST by Ben Levine

The Ravens have added to their secondary. The team has selected Clemson defensive back Nate Wiggins with the No. 30 pick. Baltimore has thrown numerous mid- to late-round picks at the cornerback position over the years, hitting on the likes of Anthony Averett (fourth round) and Brandon Stephens (third round), but they finally pull out the big guns, making Wiggins their highest-drafted cornerback since Marlon Humphrey went 16th overall in 2017.

Wiggins became a full-time starter for the Tigers as a sophomore last season. In eleven starts, Wiggins led the team with 14 passes defended and added on a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown. While Pro Football Focus (subscription required) didn’t tout his 2022 season as elite, Wiggins was still credited as a first-team All-ACC selection by some publications, though not by the Conference itself.

That honor would have to wait until 2023, when Wiggins was named by the Conference as a first-team All-ACC cornerback. That status was reflected in Wiggins’ PFF ranking which saw him elevate all the way up to the 25th highest ranked cornerback in the nation. Wiggins once again leads his defense with 11 passes defensed and two interceptions, one of which he returned 46 yards for another touchdown. He also showed off other playmaking abilities in 2023 with a sack and two forced fumbles, both of which occurred on chases that ended on the one-yard line.

Wiggins has prototypical length at the cornerback position with a long, 6-foot-2 frame and arm length and body control that grant him an easy advantage on contested balls. He’s not too thin at 185 pounds, though he played closer to 170 at Clemson, and while he may not have strong initial quickness, he was considered the school’s fastest player and possesses great recovery speed to stay with receivers downfield. He’ll need to get stronger at the next level in order to compete against physical NFL wideouts.

In Baltimore, Wiggins figures to work into the defense sooner rather than later, though it will be interesting to see exactly how. Humphrey and Stephens expect to open the 2024 season as the starters outside. The team liked Ar’Darius Washington in the slot last year before he landed on injured reserve for much of the season.

Without Washington, the team leaned on safety Kyle Hamilton frequently in the slot, though with their former third safety, Geno Stone, now in Cincinnati, they’ll likely feel less free to let Hamilton roam. Though, if Wiggins comes on strong early, the Ravens could move Stephens back to safety, a position he’s played for them before, giving them a new third player at the position. The team also returns Arthur Maulet, who played a significant role in injury replacement last year.

Wiggins should be a priority on the outside. He didn’t display outstanding initial quickness to stay with slot receivers, but his recovery top speed should make him feel at home on the exterior and downfield. Stephens is entering a contract year, so perhaps Wiggins may just need to wait a year to become a full-time starter. Otherwise, he should factor in heavily in three-cornerback formations should the team keep Stephens at safety.

Ely Allen contributed to this post.

NFL Draft Rumors: Falcons, Jaguars, Browns

April 21st, 2024 at 6:30pm CST by Ely Allen

The Falcons top two sack-getters last year (Calais Campbell and Bud Dupree) are currently free agents. And while free safety Jessie Bates‘ first season in Atlanta went swimmingly with career highs in tackles (132), forced fumbles (3), and interceptions (6), as well as Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors, he seemed to be the only player showing up each Sunday for the Falcons.

With all this in mind, it’s no surprise to hear that adding draft prospects on the defensive side of the ball is expected to be a major focus for Atlanta come this week’s draft, according to Adam Caplan of Pro Football Network. In Caplan’s most recent mock draft, he slotted Alabama pass rusher Dallas Turner as the team’s first-round pick. Previous iterations of his mock draft saw Atlanta taking Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins and Florida State pass rusher Jared Verse.

Going pass rusher seems to make more sense after losing Campbell and Dupree to free agency, but expect multiple picks throughout the three-day event to address both positions. Turner is likely the preferred option as most see him as the top pass rusher on the board, but Verse or even UCLA’s Laiatu Latu could be the selection if Turner is drafted before they have the chance to claim him.

Here are a few other draft rumors from around the NFL:

Latest On Eagles’ First-Round Options

April 14th, 2024 at 8:47pm CST by Ely Allen

The Eagles were able to avoid the hangover that has often haunted past Super Bowl runner ups, making the playoffs last year after an 11-6 regular season before falling in the Wild Card round to the Buccaneers. As a result, they hold the 22nd pick of the 2024 NFL Draft and will now be tasked with finding a player at that value to help them get back to the big game.

So, the question becomes: where on the roster could the Eagles use the most improvement? Cornerback has been a common position people have pointed to in Philadelphia, one of those people being Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports, and this year’s crop of draft prospects is well-suited to fill that need.

The team’s starters, Darius Slay (33) and James Bradberry (31), are aging and struggled in 2023, as did oft-injured veteran Avonte Maddox. Slay missed the final four games of the regular season and didn’t perform well in his playoff return. Bradberry rebounded horribly from his 2022 second-team All-Pro selection. After grading out as the league’s 27th best cornerback in 2022, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Bradberry ranked 100th of 127 graded corners in 2023.

Maddox had been released and re-signed after an injury-riddled 2022 season then only appeared in four games in 2023. The Eagles have young prospects in Kelee Ringo, Eli Ricks, and Josh Jobe who show promise, but none seem ready to take on a full-time role.

There are about four cornerbacks expected to go in the first round, and thanks to likely early runs at offensive positions, a number of them should still be around by the time Philadelphia selects. Top cornerback prospects like Alabama’s Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry, Clemson’s Nate Wiggins, Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell, and Iowa’s Cooper DeJean all stand a decent chance at becoming the Eagles’ first cornerback taken in the first round since Lito Sheppard in 2002.

ESPN’s Matt Miller offered up another possibility if Philadelphia opts not to draft a cornerback. Although not necessarily a position of need, Miler suggests that offensive tackle may be a target for the Eagles, pointing specifically to Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton, who has been training with Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson, a fellow Sooner. Philadelphia boasted an impressive bookend with Jordan Mailata and Johnson ranking as the league’s third- and 13th-best tackle in the league, per PFF. So why would they draft a tackle?

Miller points to the teams handling of Jason Kelce, whose eventual retirement seemed to loom every offseason. They attempted to stay ahead of the decision, drafting Nebraska center Cam Jurgens with the 2022 second-round pick. Miller see them potentially doing the same with Johnson, who turns 34 years old shortly after the draft. Guyton may be able to come in and essentially redshirt until a job opens up for him to take over.

Draft Notes: Odunze, DeJean, Nabers, Chargers, Lions, Bucs, Jags, Steelers

April 5th, 2024 at 5:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

While reports have indicated some teams prefer Malik Nabers to Marvin Harrison Jr., Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline offers a stance that could further muddy the waters among the draft’s top wide receivers. Several teams have Rome Odunze slotted higher than Nabers on their big boards. Although transfers have populated the QB ranks in this class, the top three receivers only played at one school. Odunze starred at Washington for the past two seasons, posting two 1,100-yard campaigns and elevating his stock further last year. He clocked a 4.45-second 40-yard dash at the Combine, a tenth slower than Nabers ran at LSU’s pro day. Odunze, who booked visits with the Cardinals, Bears and Jets, did not run at his pro day.

The 6-foot-3, 212-pound talent ripped off 10 100-yard games last season, including five straight to help the Huskies into the CFP national championship game. Mel Kiper Jr.’s ESPN.com big board slots Odunze fifth overall — one spot behind Nabers — while Daniel Jeremiah agrees with the teams that have Odunze higher, ranking the Washington prospect third overall — between Harrison and Nabers. All three could be gone in the top seven or eight choices. This certainly raises the stakes for the Cardinals, who have a glaring WR need and have been linked to a trade-down move from No. 4.

Here is the latest coming out of the draft:

  • In addition to Nabers’ Cardinals visit this week, NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe notes he made a trip to Los Angeles to meet with the new Chargers staff. The Chargers having jettisoned Keenan Allen and Mike Williams makes them an obvious team to monitor for one of the top receivers. If the Cardinals trade out of No. 4, L.A. would be positioned to land the draft’s top WR prospect at 5. Of course, the Chargers have also been linked to moving down. And Jim Harbaugh‘s past and some recent comments have made it worth monitoring if the Bolts value a receiver this high.
  • After suffering a broken fibula in November, Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean is ready for football work. The highly touted cover man sent a letter to all 32 teams informing them he is cleared for all football actitives, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. DeJean will hold a workout April 8 in Iowa City. Jeremiah ranks the ex-Hawkeyes standout 25th on his big board; Kiper has the 6-1 defender 21st. DeJean, who notched five INTs and three pick-sixes as a sophomore in 2022, left school early despite the injury.
  • The Jaguars are spending some time on other corners in this draft, specifically those from Alabama. They used “30” visits on both Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz. The Buccaneers and Lions also met with McKinstry, according to Schultz and the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett. The Jags cut two-year starter Darious Williams but replaced him with Ronald Darby, though the latter is 30 and tied to a two-year deal that features a fairly easy out in 2025. Cameron Sutton‘s arrest and ensuing release leaves the Lions in need at corner, despite Detroit having signed Amik Robertson and traded for Carlton Davis. The Bucs trading Davis frees up a spot at corner in Tampa opposite Jamel Dean. Arnold rates higher than McKinstry, who came into last season as a better prospect. Jeremiah ranks McKinstry 36th overall. More visits are likely, considering McKinstry sat out the Combine with a toe fracture but still clocked a 4.47-second 40 time (at Alabama’s pro day) despite not yet undergoing surgery.
  • Nate Wiggins clocked a blazing 4.28 time at the Combine, elevating his stock. The Clemson product visited the Steelers on Thursday, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski. A first-team All-ACC choice who posted two pick-sixes with the ACC program, Wiggins played all three of his college seasons at Clemson. The Steelers releasing Patrick Peterson but added Donte Jackson. The trade pickup’s contract expires after 2024, however, and the 6-foot-1 Wiggins is among those the team is looking into as a longer-term option opposite Joey Porter Jr.

Clemson CB Nate Wiggins Declares For Draft

November 29th, 2023 at 9:58pm CST by Ely Allen

One of college football’s best cornerbacks over the past two years has decided to forgo his remaining eligibility and declare for the 2024 NFL Draft. Clemson’s Nate Wiggins told ESPN’s Pete Thamel of his intentions during a phone interview today.

“I just feel like it was that time. All the hard work I’ve put in, I feel like it was time for me to declare,” Wiggins explained. “This was a dream that I always wanted, and it came fast.”

Wiggins became a full-time starter for the Tigers as a sophomore last season. In eleven starts, Wiggins led the team with 14 passes defended and added on a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown. While Pro Football Focus (subscription required) didn’t tout his 2022 season as elite, Wiggins was still credited as a first-team All-ACC selection by some publications, though not by the Conference itself.

That honor would have to wait until this year, in which Wiggins was named by the Conference as a first-team All-ACC cornerback. That status was reflected in Wiggins’ PFF ranking which saw him elevate all the way up to the 25th highest ranked cornerback in the nation. With a bowl game still to go, Wiggins once again leads his defense with nine passes defensed and two interceptions, one of which he returned 46 yards for another touchdown. He also showed off other playmaking abilities in 2023 with a sack and two forced fumbles.

Wiggins has prototypical size at the cornerback position with a long, 6-foot-2 frame and arm length and body control that grant him an easy advantage on contested balls. He’s not too thin at 185 pounds, and while he may not have strong initial quickness, he is considered the team’s fastest player and possesses great recovery speed to stay with receivers downfield.

He’ll need to get stronger at the next level in order to compete against physical NFL wideouts, but that hasn’t stopped corners from getting drafted early in the past, as long as they have other promising attributes. He also missed two games this year with a knee injury, which might have teams looking a little closer at his medicals come time for evaluations.

Wiggins projects as a clear first-round pick, even in a strong cornerbacks class. ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Wiggins ranked as college football’s 20th best draft prospect while Dane Brugler at The Athletic has Wiggins all the way up at 12. Brugler slots Wiggins in as CB3 behind Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry and Kalen King from Penn State. Kiper also ranks McKinstry ahead of Wiggins, but he puts Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter in between them and even ranks Cooper DeJean from Iowa as his CB1 in front of the other three.

Regardless, after last year saw five corners selected in the first 32 picks (Pittsburgh’s Joey Porter Jr. was technically a second-rounder), placing Wiggins as a Day 1 pick seems like a safe bet. Wiggins is expected to measure and test very well, so barring anything injury-related, his stock is likely only going to rise.