Brandon Adams, UCF: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Adams was a three-star recruit from Arabia Mountain High School in Stonecrest, Ga. in the class of 2021

UCF cornerback Brandon Adams pairs his height and length to present a significant obstacle for wide receivers in press coverage. He’s coming off back-to-back weeks with an interception, including a strong performance in coverage against Iowa State. Adams projects as a Day 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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Brandon Adams, CB UCF: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Senior cornerback from Atlanta, Ga.

Background: Adams was a three-star recruit from Arabia Mountain High School in Stonecrest, Ga. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 1,030 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 1,054 for On3.com. Adams was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 76 grade out of 100. He played everywhere for Arabia Mountain, lining up at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, cornerback, and safety. As a senior, Adams passed for 677 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 323 yards and three touchdowns. He also made 11 tackles, broke up five passes, forced two fumbles, and recovered a fumble. Adams made 20 tackles as a junior and contributed two passing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.

Injuries & Off-Field: N/A

Awards: N/A

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, combo of height and length, size to fill multiple positions, impressive movement skills at his size, independent hand usage, jams halt receivers at LOS and force them to hold for an extra second, corrects feet quickly to mirror releases and stay on top of WRs in press, recovers well from prematurely opening hips, compresses outside releases along the sideline, quick to close and attach himself to WRs after release in soft shoe press, stays on the hip of receivers from press for slants and posts, navigates bunch sets well, quick to recognize and drive on short routes from off-man, stays on top of WRs from press man on red zone reps, able to stay in phase vertically despite size, impressive top speed shows up in pursuit of Devin Neal and DJ Giddens (2023), delivers the boom at the catch point

Cons: 16 career penalties and counting, two handed punches occasionally get him in trouble, press punches sometimes land wide, feet lack twitch, some false steps in press create early separation on inside releases, struggles to gear down suddenly and stay attacked on comebacks, grabbiness at top of the route, struggles operating with his back to the receiver, not the best instincts in zone, lack of ball production, bounced around by blockers too easily, displaced by TE blocks, block deconstruction isn’t developed, needs to hold POA on edge more often, effort wavers in run support, inconsistent angles in run support

Overview: Adams carries special teams experience on the kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units to the NFL. He has an intriguing height and length combination that makes him stand out from other cornerback prospects in this class. Adams’ length makes him an imposing force in press-man. He showcases independent hand usage to harass wide receivers and tight ends at the line of scrimmage. His jams stall and re-route receivers, but his two handed punches occasionally whiff and leave him off balance. Adams needs to lower his aiming points in press to avoid hitting the receiver too high and having his hands slip off them. The Georgia native moves well for a player with his size, using quick footwork to correct for missteps and mirror releases out of press. He recovers well from prematurely opening hips and has enough speed to to stay in phase and carry receivers vertically out of press. Adams’ footwork is useful but isn’t twitchy. He takes too many false steps in press, creating opportunities for receivers to separate early in the play. Adams drives outside releases into the sideline to limit throwing windows. He moves in and attaches himself to receivers out of soft shoe press quickly after the initial release. The former three-star recruit gets in phase and stays on the receiver’s hip on short slants or deep posts to maintain proper leverage and deter throws. He navigates bunch sets well at the line of scrimmage and in off-man. Adams struggles to decelerate and stay attached on routes that work back down the stem like comebacks and curls. He’s too grabby at the top of these routes, which contributes to the 16 penalties he’s drawn across his career so far. Adams triggers quickly from off-man to shut down short routes and limit yards after the catch. He is physical at the catch point and often forces incompletions by disrupting the receiver. He displays solid awareness of route combinations breaking in front of him in zone but is noticeably less comfortable with routes operating behind him. Adams prefers to keep his eyes on the receiver and is comfortable playing with his back to the quarterback for most of the game. His instincts in zone are developing but still lag behind his work in man coverage. Adams’ ball production is ticking up in 2024 but wasn’t present in past seasons. UCF’s coverage suffered noticeable declines in play on the drives when they subbed Adams out. The senior doesn’t contribute much in the run game. Despite his size, blockers bounce him around, and he struggles to stack and deconstruct blocks. Adams’ effort in run support isn’t ideal, and he takes poor angles to the football.

Overall, Adams is a surprisingly smooth mover for a corner with his size, which allows him able to play press-man at the line of scrimmage without getting stacked by smaller receivers. He needs to be more accurate with his punches and play to his size in the run game. Adams has an engaging personality and unique coverage profile that should land him a draft spot in the top half of Day 3.

Role & Scheme Fit: Outside corner in a press man-heavy scheme

Round Grade: Fifth Round

Size: 6'3", 190 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 08-29-24

Updated: 10-23-24