Film Room: Nate Wiggins, high football IQ with movement skills to match

A potential NFL Draft target for the Raiders who would boost the secondary

Cornerback will be one of the Las Vegas Raiders’ top needs during the NFL Draft and Clemson’s Nate Wiggins is an intriguing prospect at the position.

Wiggins put up some impressive numbers this past season, surrendering a 43.9 completion percentage, 176 yards and a 44.4 passer rating when targeted, per Pro Football Focus. Those figures ranked fifth, eighth and sixth among ACC cornerbacks with at least 200 coverage snaps.

But what makes the Clemson product a special prospect is his combination of route recognition and movement skills which the film below highlights.

In our first clip, Wiggins is lined up in off-coverage against Johnny Wilson, a 6’7” and 235-pound wide receiver currently projected to be a third-round pick. Wilson runs a stutter-and-go route to try and get Wiggins to bite on the curl route and win deep. However, the cornerback’s route recognition comes into play as he stays on top of the receiver.

Once Wilson breaks for the go route, Wiggins closes the gap and uses his hands to get physical to contest the catch. Since the corner puts himself in a perfect position between the ball and the receiver, the wideout can’t come down with the grab despite having a significant size advantage.

For comparison, Wiggins is listed at 6’2” and 185 pounds, so he’s winning on a contested catch against a quality opponent he’s giving up five inches and about 50 pounds to.

Here, Wiggins draws Florida State’s other top receiver and a potential first-round pick, Keon Coleman.

This time, Wiggins does get turned around a bit as he opens his hips to the sideline to play the go route but Coleman ends up breaking inside on a post route. However, the corner uses his hands and has the hip mobility to flip his hips in the other direction and stay in phase on the route.

The pass is slightly underthrown so it ends up being a jump ball. Wiggins does a good job of locating the ball in the air and using his vertical to go up and get it, picking up a PBU versus another great player.

This next play is kind of a combination of the last two, highlighting the Clemson product’s football IQ and hip fluidity.

He’s lined up in off-coverage and the receiver starts to stem the route inside, so Wiggins opens his hips to the middle of the field only for the wideout break toward the sideline on an out route. However, Wiggins recognizes what’s going on, flips his hips 180 degrees and ends up beating the receiver to the spot to cut the receiver off.

It’s second and 10 in the clip above and Wiggins starts the rep about 10 yards off the line of scrimmage. North Carolina is running Double China to the wide side of the field, putting the two outside receivers on short/five-yard in routes.

That means it’s going to be nearly impossible for Wiggins to prevent the completion here, but he does an excellent job of triggering downhill and closing once he recognizes the passing concept. His burst or acceleration stands out as he’s able to cover about seven yards of ground and get to the receiver shortly after the ball does. That prevents any yards after the catch, forcing the Tarheels into a third-and-long situation.

We’ll wrap things up here with a game-sealing interception.

Clemson has the lead with a little more than two minutes to play here. They’re running Cover 1, putting Wiggins in man coverage against a receiver who runs a curl route right at the sticks. The corner does an excellent job of reading the route and driving on it, putting him in a perfect position to undercut the receiver and put the game away with a pick. Also, this is impressive awareness and body control to get two feet down near the sideline.