Chau Smith-Wade, the Washington St. CB, sits at No. 147 on the consensus board across 3 public boards. The tier model reads him as a bust-risk — 3% elite, 12% starter.
Instincts
NFL.com's Lance Zierlein: “A slender cornerback with plus athleticism and speed, Smith-Wade is a capable defender in zone or man coverages.”
Production Context
NFL.com's Lance Zierlein: “He’s below the desired NFL mark on height and weight for an outside cornerback, which could hurt his draft slotting.”
Production Context
NFL.com's Lance Zierlein: “Smith-Wade is a sticky man-cover corner when he gets into the receiver and he has closing burst that can make up for lost ground.”
Role and scheme fit
The archetype rules read him as a balanced-CB.
Sources · 2 · quotes 1
The report above is our synthesis. These links preserve the research trail; quoted language below remains the source's own.
“…A slender cornerback with plus athleticism and speed, Smith-Wade is a capable defender in zone or man coverages. He’s below the desired NFL mark on height and weight for an outside cornerback, which could hurt his draft slotting. Smith-Wade is a sticky man-cover corner when he gets into the receiver and he has closing burst that can make up for lost ground. He can be feast-or-famine in zone coverage, as he tends to l…”
Sourced synthesis from 2 scouting sources, not original film. How these reports are written →