Sebastian Castro, Iowa: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Castro was a three-star recruit from Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Ill. in the class of 2019

Iowa’s Sebastian Castro doesn’t meet the necessary speed and explosiveness thresholds to contend for a top 100 selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, but his instincts and value as a run defender deserve consideration on early Day 3.

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Sebastian Castro, DB Iowa: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Sixth-year slot defender from Oak Lawn, Ill.

Background: Castro was a three-star recruit from Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Ill. in the class of 2019. He was the No. 879 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 759 for On3.com. Castro was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 76 grade out of 100. He lettered three times in high school and served as a team captain as a junior and senior while primarily playing defensive back and quarterback. Castro amassed 210 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, four recovered fumbles, 11 interceptions, and seven passes defensed across his high school career on defense and completed 121 out of 206 pass attempts for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns and ran 161 times for 1,145 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense. As a senior, Castro recorded 95 tackles, five tackles for loss, five interceptions, three passes defensed, three forced fumbles, and two recovered fumbles. He passed for 421 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 678 yards and nine scores. As a junior, he totaled 52 tackles, two tackles for loss, two passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. On offense, Castro passed for 1,301 yards and 12 touchdowns and ran for 467 yards and five touchdowns. He tallied 63 tackles, five tackles for loss, six interceptions, two passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and two defensive touchdowns as a sophomore. Castro was the Player of the Year for The Reporter and Daily Southtown as a senior and was the SSC Red Player of the Year as a junior and senior. He received First Team All-State honors from the Champaign News-Gazette as a junior and senior. The IHSFCA granted him First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Area honors as a junior and senior. He also earned First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Area honors as a sophomore. Castro lettered on the track and field team at Harold L. Richards. He was born on Oct. 14, 2000.

Injuries & Off-Field: Missed the Michigan State (2024) game with an ankle injury

Awards: 2023 Second Team All-Big Ten (Media), 2023 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (Coaches), 2023 Third Team All-American (Associated Press), 2023 First Team All-American (PFF), 2024 Third Team All-Big Ten

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, and field goal block units, alignment versatility, smooth hips in transitions, reads the quarterback’s eyes to anticipate routes, quick read and react to quarterback’s vision, anticipates and jumps routes, quickly passes off and transitions between routes in zone, anticipates developing routes, nice instinctive feel of throwing lanes in zone, use of leverage deters throws and sets up interceptions, uses leverage to undercut outbreaking routes, quick to close on crossing routes, nice closing burst downfield, timing at the catch point, quick downhill trigger to attack screens and short completions, sniffs out schemed touches, human torpedo coming downhill, willing to do the dirty work, sticks his nose in the box in run defense, flashes of playmaking in the box, open field tackling in the flat, good hustle in pursuit, active hands when challenging blockers, competes to escape blocks

Cons: Age, short arm length, lack of speed leads to some separation in soft-shoe press, lacks the twitch to mirror lightning bugs, high backpedal, too reactive and moved by diamond releases, some grabbiness early in the route might draw flags, drawn downhill by play action, bites hard on out-and-ups, sometimes a step late to turn and run with a pass catcher, lacks elite recovery speed, size limitations at the catch point, steep downhill angles in run defense, drops head and dives with shoulder tackler, bad whiffs on tackle attempts, inconsistent shedding blocks

Overview: Castro is one of the oldest prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft class. He enters the pros with experience on four special teams units, which should pave the way for him to see early action. He showcased alignment versatility at Iowa, playing off-man over the slot, two-high safety, and rotating into single-high coverage. Unfortunately, he lacks the range and athletic profile to maintain that versatility in the NFL. Casto lacks ideal height and arm length but packs a lot of mass into his frame. His hips look clean in transitions, but his lack of speed allows receivers to separate from him in man coverage. He lacks the twitch to mirror quicker slot receivers and is too quick to bite on diamond releases and route fakes. Castro gets grabby early in plays when stressed near the line of scrimmage, and he interferes with the receiver when he bites on double moves. He lacks the recovery speed to get back into routes when he’s late to turn and run with the receiver. The Illinois native quickly reads the quarterback’s eyes to anticipate and jump routes. He smoothly transitions between routes in zone coverage and anticipates developing concepts to challenge throwing lanes. Castro uses leverage to deter throws or bait quarterbacks into interceptions. He flies downhill with nice closing burst to limit yards after the catch on crossing routes and slants. The former All-American battles some size limitations at the catch point but times his contests well. He sniffs out and destroys schemed touches. Castro transforms into a human torpedo when working downhill. He handles all the dirty work, including making an impact in the box in run defense. He’s a notable addition to the box but also makes good solo tackles on playmakers in the flat. Castro hustles in pursuit and uses active hands to stack and shed blocks. He takes some steep pursuit angles that lead to him being out-leveraged and is guilty of some poor form tackling, leading to whiffs.

Overall, Castro is an older, undersized prospect with limited speed, but his anticipation and instincts in zone coverage are among the best in the class. He’s a master at using leverage to take away throwing lanes downfield and plays above his weight in the box. This makes him a solid contributor in run defense despite his physical limitations.

Role & Scheme Fit: Nickel or box safety in a zone-heavy scheme

Round Grade: Late Fourth Round

Size: 5'11 1/4", 203 lbs. (NFL Combine)

Submitted: 10-24-24

Updated: 03-30-25