PFF scouting report: Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech

Below is the PFF draft profile for Virginia Tech CB Kendall Fuller, which incorporates PFF’s college grades and scouting intel from our team of analysts. To see all of PFF’s 2016 scouting reports, click here.

Position fit:

Outside corner, ideally suited to a zone scheme

Stats to know:

Allowed only 44.7 percent of targets thrown his way to be caught over past two seasons, but those receptions went for an average of 14.7 yards.

What he does best:

–Plays the ball pretty well in the air. In 2014 he had a pair of interceptions and 10 passes defensed on only 80 targets, showing a good radius of passes that he could deflect away from receivers.

–OK, so this isn’t actually something he does well, but a large part of his hype seems to come from being the fourth Fuller brother to make it to the NFL. None of the previous three have set the world alight so far.

–Has nice balance and fluidity to his movement. Virginia Tech employs some weird techniques and alignments from its corners, so it can be tough analyzing exactly why he’s playing in a certain way, but he certainly has the movement skills to succeed at the next level.

–Solid tackler, missing only six tackles across two years (1,069 snaps worth of play)

Biggest concern:

–Will get burned. Gave up big plays early this season before being shut down, and was beaten by speed the season before, too. Doesn’t have the top-end speed to recover if he’s out of position, and will be relying on a bad ball from the QB letting him back in the play.

–Weak against blocks. Usually just filling space, but will be driving out of position by stronger players if he can’t shed the block immediately. Negative (-0.5) run defense grade in 2014 and was just about average on limited snaps this past season.

–Was able to stick close to things in front of him, but when moving away from the line of scrimmage could lose his man and struggle to stay in phase.

Pro style comparison:

Kyle Fuller, Chicago Bears. Kendall does actually compare very closely to Kyle, who has been less than fantastic for Chicago in his first two seasons, for many of the same flaws that show up in Kendall’s tape. Better in Year 2, Kyle allowed 841 yards as a rookie and 63.4 percent of his targets to be caught. He has surrendered 10 touchdowns over his first two years. Kendall may have a similar bumpy transition, but the key for both players is how much they can improve.

Bottom line:

Kendall Fuller is a player who seems to be getting a lot of love in part because of his name, but I’m not 100 percent convinced that is a huge plus. Four brothers making it to the NFL is an incredible achievement, but none of them has been the kind of dominant force that would lead me to wonder if the next in line had a special ceiling. Fuller has good balls skills, but a lot of question marks surround his game, and he needs a lot of work to hide the negatives and put him in the right position to succeed.