School: Iowa St.
Year: Sr
Position: CB

Physical Attributes

• Height: 5-11
• Weight: 200
• RAS: 9.99
• 40 Time: 4.3

Rankings

• Joe’s Ranking: 6.5
• Consensus Position Rank: 10
• My Position Ranking: 5
• Difference in Ranking: 5
• Tier: 3
• Projected Round: 2

Games Watched

• UCF ’24
• Arizona State ’24
• Iowa ’24

Ryan’s Notes

Positives

• Hyper athlete (9.99 RAS) with movement skills someone of his size should just not possess. His speed and size is not just seen in the underwear olympics either as he was clocked at 22.17mph during senior bowl practice which was 2 full seconds faster than anyone else.
• This speed allows him to act as a safety blanket to protect against breakaway runners with how well he covers ground. He chased down two would-be touchdowns from over 30 yards away.
• Beyond just his speed he has explosive power that he generates off his backfoot meaning he can change direction in a hurry.
• For someone who played receiver for most of his career he moves really well in space with natural backwards movement skills and tidy technical direction changes.
• His catch technique is outstanding, he is able to go from standstill to matching the receivers speed without even looking out of control. This speaks to his impressive hip speed too. He can catch and carry really smartly with an imposing comfortability to play in tight to his man to ride the route for as long as necessary.
• He may not be a physical force but he never shies away from contact as he is willing to fill his responsibility even if that’s wrong shouldering a pulling lineman.
• His understanding of offensive keys both pre and post snap is clear to see and he adjusts smartly to put himself in position to make plays.
• His first interception against Iowa displayed some incredible instincts and adds to my belief that he can play zone when required at the next level.
• Balls were just not thrown his way, that’s why his numbers are lower, he gave very little space for quarterbacks to even try a shot.

Negatives

• Even though he is big, he is not physical in the run game. He plays too top heavy which means he struggles against blockers who can keep his long arms pinned. He needs to learn how to lower his center of gravity as he can get thrown around too easily from this position.
• He chops and changes too often, always looking to lead the play but defense is mostly a reactive side of the game so he needs to learn some patience as right now it’s costing him leverage and giving up his responsibilities.
• The level of receiver talent he faced in the three games we watched was poor and he got taken to task a few times in the senior bowl practice so this could hurt his stock a bit especially as he is a late breakout name

Ryan’s Summary

Darien Porter is a rare find with all the requisite skills that NFL teams covet in corners; he’s long, fluid and a 99th percentile athlete who can cover and isn’t afraid to tackle. The only reason he’s not being talked about more is that he is still a bit raw having spent two seasons as a backup wide receiver before transitioning to corner on Matt Campbell’s advice before the 2022 season. He therefore only has three seasons at the position despite being 24 years old although so the nuances of the game are still relatively new to him, he hasn’t got long to learn them before he reaches his athletic peak. That said Porter is someone I would bet on overcoming that shortened timeline as he looks like a natural man corner who uses his god-given tools to smother receivers from various alignments. Iowa State didn’t play much zone but he has shown the instincts necessary on tape so I think he can work in almost any scheme. Darien’s upside is huge and if he can hit the ground running, avoid injuries and be on the field early, I see no reason he can’t ascend to stardom.