Draft Preview: Scouting report on Georgia’s Kelee Ringo

Despite Tariq Woolen being one of the better corners in the NFL this year, the Seahawks cornerback depth leaves a lot to be desired. Fellow rookie Coby Bryant has shown promise but also allowed a passer rating of 116.7 in the slot, Tre Brown has scarcely played since returning from injury, and Michael Jackson has been solid but is on an expiring contract and is likely not a long term starter. As a result, adding a starting cornerback opposite of Woolen should be one of Seattle’s top priorities this off-season. Luckily for the Seahawks there are a few corners who are projected to go at the top of the draft this season, with the highest projected of the bunch being 6’2” Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo. Down below we are going to break down what Ringo brings to the table as a corner and what his floor/ceiling is.

Strengths

• Ringo’s best attribute in the passing game is his overall athleticism and play speed. It allows him to have great make-up speed on routes that he’s been beaten on.
• He has a very quick trigger in his ability to stick his foot in the ground and come up to make a play on the ball or receiver quickly on throws in front of him in zone coverage.
• Ringo will be a great cat blitzer at the NFL level due to his elite acceleration and ability to navigate traffic.
• Ringo makes a solid impact in the running game. He understands how to get outside to contain the edge, forcing the ball carrier inside rather than allowing them to get to the boundary.
• He is smart with how much he attacks long developing runs, staying on the outside rather than collapsing down inside and potentially losing edge contain.

Weaknesses

• Off of the snap, Ringo’s hands are not great. His strike point is poor, often hitting the outside of the receivers and more often than not when he goes to jam receivers, they are able to get through it with an easy swim or swipe move.
• Off of the snap his feet are extremely loud and choppy as he works onto his heels and moves them far too often, almost panicky like.
• During the route, Ringo struggles at times to stay in phase if it is either a double move, quick slant, hitch or a whip route, conceding far too much separation at the catch point.
• On vertical routes receivers are able to stack Ringo with some ease as he has a tendency to either lean on the receiver or get his hand usage wrong during the route altogether.
• Ringo does at times look in between in zone coverage, almost unsure of who to take when put in conflict, which results in him taking neither receiver.
• In zone, Ringo can lose eye discipline keeping his eyes on the motion man or reacting to what he sees in front of him like a fake screen resulting in players being able to get behind him for easy completions.

Floor/ceiling

Ringo’s elite athleticism, quick trigger, strong ball skills, length and edge setting ability give him the ceiling of a three-down starting corner. However, his struggles in man, poor hand usage, loud feet, panicky nature at the stem and ability to get stacked gives him the floor of a backup corner.

Grade – Role playing starter – Late second round pick

Grade explanation – Ringo has all of the physical traits you could ever desire in a football player which makes him an enticing pick. However his technique needs work and he projects as a corner who is routinely going to get beaten by average or better route runners at the NFL level. Obviously raw, less refined corners can improve rapidly (see Tariq Woolen), however Woolen aside, Ringo’s tape does not show the talent of a first-round corner.

Film (The Mock Draft Guy)