Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade looked like a first-round pick coming into the 2020 season, but it’s unclear where his stock stands now after an iffy junior campaign. Wade moved from slot corner to the outside for the Buckeyes, and top opponents hurt him despite Ohio State’s overall team success.
So Wade will have to answer a lot of tough questions from NFL teams during the pre-draft process. But he can also help himself via workouts.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein offered a scathing review of Wade’s draft stock during a recent appearance on NFL Network, and he explained what the former Buckeyes needs to do between now and April.
“I think he’s been built on name more than game up to this point,” Zierlein told NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano. “The 2018 tape was pretty good. He struggled with Rondale Moore, most notably, when both were freshmen. But then the 2019 tape when he moved inside to slot, it was bumpy. So a lot of us wanted to see him move outside and play outside corner, and it was worse. It was way worse. He gave up — according to Pro Football Focus, it was 16 catches, 230 yards and three touchdowns in his two playoff games. That’s terrible, and those are the two games you’re talking about.
“He doesn’t look like he has make-up speed, recovery speed. He struggles to stay with wideouts off press. So what think he needs to do now, this is a 5-star player coming out of high school. What needs to happen for Shaun Wade is he needs to run fast, he needs to get on the scale and look pretty, have good height, weight, length, speed, measurables, and he needs to refocus everything off the tape and back on the traits. He needs to get people excited about his potential physically and have teams saying, ‘Guys don’t run like this very often. We can coach him up.’ Because right now, he needs to have that stock rehabilitated.”
ESPN’s Mel Kiper recently said he sees Wade as a second- or third-round pick nonetheless. That wouldn’t be a bad result, particularly if Wade can land with the right team and develop well leading into his second professional contract.
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“In terms of Wade, Wade just didn’t have the cover skills this year playing outside that he did when he was in the slot,” Kiper said. “I think he could end up being an inside safety type or a slot corner where he felt more comfortable rather than being out on an island. So he’s going to be an interesting guy. I think he would have been a first-round pick had he played up to the level you expected or certainly as he did in 2019 when he was playing in the slot. So to me, he’s a second- or third-round pick now.”