Cameron Dantzler | CB | Mississippi State
Elevator Pitch
Dantzler is an enticing press-man cornerback with impressive length and ideal physicality who plays with good route anticipatory skills. He’s not a fantastic athlete, but he offers value as a boundary defender with solid starting upside at the next level.
Vitals
Height | 6-2
Weight | 188
Strengths
If you like length at the cornerback position, you’ll love Dantzler’s game.
A tall and lanky cornerback who possesses the height necessary to match up with ‘X’ receivers on the boundary, Dantzler brings plenty of physical upside. Despite being somewhat skinny for his height, he plays with impressive physicality. He packs a solid jab in quick-jam press coverage, timing and placing his strikes with precision and then executing them with force. That physicality is maintained through a receiver’s stem, and Dantzler also does a good job of fighting with his opponents to make sure he doesn’t get boxed out on 50/50 balls or route that break across the middle of the field. He is a feisty and competitive player who brings plenty of swagger at the cornerback position, which is an encouraging sign for his professional prospects.
Dantzler does a good job of anticipating routes and mirroring his opponents’ movements. He positions himself well to make a play on the ball and prevent receivers from attacking leverage points against him. He does a great job of sniffing out screens and has the closing speed as a tackler and the motor to accelerate downhill and blow up the play. His ball skills show up through his adjustments to the ball and his ability to attack the ball in the air, as well as his ability to attack a receiver’s hands to break up the pass.
Weaknesses
For the physicality and awareness Dantzler brings, he doesn’t have top-notch athletic abilities. He plays with solid fluidity in coverage, but he can be burned by double moves and has average deep speed when covering a vertical route. He can improve in his ability to sink his hips a bit more when he changes direction, and he can work on his burst coming out of his breaks in short-area situations. His 4.64 40-yard dash at the Combine was a bit underwhelming, too.
Dantzler could also improve as a tackler, as he doesn’t play with spectacular form or play strength in that regard. While he has shown effort in run support, his style of play combined with his lanky frame might make it tougher to consistently bring down ball-carriers at the next level. He could stand to add on a bit more bulk, as his frame is a bit too wiry at this stage in his career.
