2023 NFL Draft: Kelee Ringo - Georgia Cornerback

Kelee Ringo - Georgia

Strengths:

1. Boundary Press - Despite not frequently jamming at the line, he is excellent at mirroring at the line by following the receiver's footwork with his own. His comfort backpedaling off the line in combination with his elite speed makes him sticky down the sideline.

2. Go Routes - Ringo is 6'2" with 4.3 speed, and knows when to turn and run. He never gets left in the dust, although he does have to recover from time to time. Slower corners need to commit to stopping the big play sooner and risk allowing space underneath when lined up against fast outside threats, but Ringo trusts his play speed downfield.

3. Open-Field Effort - The sheer amount of effort Ringo puts into staying with or catching up to a receiver is unbelievable. He looks like a track star with his sprinting technique, and he can perform at a top level play after play.

Weaknesses:

1. Hip Flip Footwork - He can lose a step on receivers who know how to work the hips of their opponent. His hip flips are fine overall, and he has the speed to rectify this most of the time in college, but he will not be as tight in coverage on slants and digs by good outside receivers if he does not fix this issue.

2. Tackling - Ringo either has weak grip, or does not understand the importance of gripping when attempting to wrap up in open space. He has six missed tackles on the season, and honestly should have more.

3. Run Defense - Along with poor tackling, Ringo has no idea how to contest blocks. He frequently runs into lead blockers while turning his shoulders, and adds very little value to the play on outside runs. With his athleticism, he should be able to navigate blocker considerably better.

Grade: Mid-Late First

Pro Comparison: Caleb Farley

Farley may have Ringo on straight-line speed and took more snaps in off coverage, but they are both highly athletic reactive press-man corners with suboptimal hip turns and tackling concerns.

Film Notes:

Florida (10/29/2022)

Lines up on off frequently. Let man overtop. Comfortable backpedaling off of line and matching route from tight press. Tackle in open space with unimpressive technique. Good footwork from press. Turn and run on 9-route from press to stay with his man. 4.3 speed seen on tape. Missed play on ball, not a concern after tight coverage. Does not initiate line contact in situations where it would like be beneficial. Great hip fluidity and levels in press. Poor 180 in pursuit. Likes stepping forward at the line in press to turn hips instead of backwards, which his speed allows him to do at the collegiate level. With this tendency, his lack of line contact is perplexing. Great downfield coverage. Foot speed when accelerating or pivoting from off coverage is less impressive. Poor tackle attempt. Another missed tackle with poor technique and hand strength. Impressive foot movement from press. Good contact on crossing route.

Missouri (10/01/2022)

Good line contact to slow route. Locked up on block. Does not even attempt to go after ball carrier and elects to absorb the blocker. Difficult to tell if that is intentional. Hip flip in press was effective, but footwork was suboptimal. Not great acceleration off the edge, but good backfield tackle. Stride for stride, but did not get head around in time on deep pass. Early contact. Better edge acceleration. Uncharacteristically turned around on deep ball for DPI. Good responses to contact, but rarely initiates. Again, suboptimal footwork on hip rotation. Slight hopstep gave receiver advantage, leaving Ringo to use his speed unnecessarily.

South Carolina (09/17/2022)

Good line contact. Gave a yard of separation after across middle from wide stance on hip flip. Excellent spacing. Great mirroring. Flinched into contact on block, which is not the first time that is seen throughout his tape. Caught up on crossing route after play design lost him a step, but poor proceeding tackle. Good open field running form to catch up with receiver on cross. That type of raw sprinting is not seen as frequently on field (very clearly a former track and field athlete). Does not know how to contest blocks. Decent contain of running back on the wheel. Took snap from slot. Not as tight from soft press, giving more cushion throughout entire route. This was likely just to not allow big plays while playing from so far ahead.

TCU (01/09/2023)

Good initial mirror, but slight stumble and clearly reactive. Locked up entirely on block. Good contact over the middle. Stronger player at the position. Matches the receiver's footwork with great boundary coverage. Hip flip is good, not elite, speed, but contact makes up for it towards the line in tight press. Does not pull off of blocks well. Good decision-making. Slower click from off. Allows short area separation. Great lateral movement and contact throughout route. Great with linear routes regardless of angle. Great to see him using contact to his benefit more this game than in others. Slower acceleration steps on blitz. Strictly reads receiver from off coverage.

Attributes (Grade/10):

Coverage	Tight Press	8
	Soft Press	8
	Off / Squat	7
	Zone	5

Tight Press: This grade is bolstered slightly due to his build. His size, speed, and ability to mirror at the line and stay with his man downfield are what make him worthy of a first round pick. The critiques to his game in tight press are that he does not initiate line contact when it could be beneficial, and his footwork on hip flips frequently is suboptimal. He allows receivers to gain a step due to his reactive playstyle when they cut cleanly underneath. These areas of weakness can be cleaned up rather easily, since he has exemplified that he is good at reacting to contact and that he has relatively fluid hips in other aspects of his game. The TCU game was also promising with him initiating contact much more willingly and effectively.

Soft Press: This should be his strongest position given that he is built to play press, but does not like to initiate line contact. He tends to leave his squat stance early and begin backpedaling with his hips already turned, leaving more cushion underneath than he otherwise would in tight press.

Off/Squat: Ringo's skillset in tight press is just superior to that in off. He occasionally leaves too much space underneath, but has no issue tracking the receiver. The reason this grade is not higher is because he does not take full advantage of the space to read the field or the quarterback as he could. He watches his man, and does not anticipate the break like some of the better corners in this class, making him a step slower to the ball than he needs to be.

Zone: He is a serviceable zone player. He understands what to do, but that is really the extent of it. His tendency to favor locking down a receiver takes his eyes off of the quarterback. This prevents him from making plays that better zone corners may. He is considered by many to be better in zone than man coverage currently, but there is little that he shows on tape that would project him as an elite zone corner in the NFL.

Man	Stickiness	7.5
	Hips	8
	Line Contact	5
	Size / Strength	9
	Accel / Decel	7

Stickiness: Ringo can stay with anyone in most situations from press if the route is intermediate or downfield. If receivers do gain a step, then Ringo has the linear speed to catch up quickly. The concerning part of his game falls under quick timing routes and sudden change of direction underneath. No one is leaving Ringo too far behind, but receivers can typically create some space in shorter routes with good false moves.

Hips: Depth and fluidity are there, which is the most important skill to have. Footwork is the main reason this grade is not higher. When flipping his hips, there are enough reps where he stays low and turns well to show what he could become, but he is prone to quick hop steps or stutters when turning. Footwork can be taught and refined, so this should not be too much of an issue with proper coaching at the next level. Ringo has the natural ability to make this category a 9+/10, but as of right now it is his biggest knock in press coverage.

Line Contact: Reacting to line contact and not letting the receiver get the advantage is something Ringo does well, but he rarely initiates. When he does, it is usually for the sake of spacing, and not to assert dominance so to speak at the line. He does not jam often or slow down routes in the slightest, despite having the length and overall size to do so effectively. There are a couple of reps throughout his tape where he turns their shoulder slightly, but needs to be more aggressive when doing so. His size allows him to not get bullied himself, so the floor for this grade is much higher than it would be for most corners.

Size/Strength: Ringo has a nearly optimal build for an outside corner. He is not afraid to go up after the ball in tight coverage, but his play strength in contested situations could improve.

Accel/Decel: He can stay at his receiver's hip throughout most deeper routes. His change of direction is usually great for the more common uses at cornerback such as accelerating to match the receiver out of their breaks while already keeping his hips low. When running in one direction, sinking his hips again and pivoting 180 degrees is an area where he can improve. He is excellent accelerating out of a single break and has 4.3 speed, but his deceleration needs more work.

Instincts	Anticipation	3
	Playmaking	6.5
	Football Intelligence	7

Anticipation: His style is playing more with reaction than anticipation, and he does it well. He is not as much of a playmaker in zone, and prefers to lock down a receiver instead of reading the quarterback. He by no means should line up as a single high or at any position aside from outside corner unless he follows his man to the slot. Even against his man, he rarely rotates his hips early or even jams his foot in the ground to predict their route. If he goes to a zone-heavy or off-man scheme, then he may struggle to be as much of an impact player as he could be in man. This grade also could easily skyrocket with reps in such a scheme, but he just lacks the anticipation that would serve him well in off coverage.

Playmaking: He has two interceptions on the season, but playmaking is not a strong suit of his. He is not afraid to go after the ball at times, but he is not put in a favorable position to do so with the lack of reps in zone where he can read the quarterback and jump routes.

Football Intelligence: This one is difficult because he plays his man more than the field. He occasionally will not turn his head to find the ball, but has plenty of reps where he has shown that he can locate the ball mid air. With a lack of reps from zone, it is difficult to tell if he is thinking much about the play around him as opposed to what his man is doing in the moment.

Ball Skills	Hands	6
	Contested Catch	8

Hands: He does have one dropped interception on the season, but hauled in two others. It is hard to tell how good his hands are from such few reps and the interceptions falling into his hands.

Contested Catch: He will go up and contest balls when he can. He could afford to show a bit more physicality at his size, but this should not be a concern at the next level.

Zone	Route Awareness	5
	Discipline	8
	Jumping Routes	3

Route Awareness: Ringo does not often anticipate routes. He reacts to what is going on around him, which leads to him allowing more receptions that he probably should have otherwise.

Discipline: He knows what he is supposed to do, and does his job as asked.

Jumping Routes: Ringo does not often jump routes in zone. He also does not read the quarterback well enough to find himself in the opportunity to do so.

Open Field	Tackling	4
	Pursuit	9
	Speed	9.5

Tackling: Poor open field tackler. A lack of grip when attempting to wrap up causes him to miss tackles rather often.

Pursuit: His effort in combination with 4.3 speed at his size allows for excellent pursuit.

Speed: Elite speed at the position.

Blitz	Timing	5
	Effectiveness	5

Timing: His few reps rushing the passer were not any more impressive than any other cornerback running straight in from the line. He is fast, but shows nothing special in the pass rush.

Effectiveness: One sack in 2021, zero in 2022. He does not frequently get the opportunity to rush, but it is not overly impressive when he does.

Full Report:

Ringo is a young prospect at only 20-years-old whose physical traits top the class. His size, speed, and ability to mirror at the line and stay with his man downfield are what make him worthy of a first round pick. He has good recovery due to his raw speed, and became more physical throughout the season. While his line physicality was uninspiring throughout most of his film, there were many reps that showed what he could become with proper coaching. Although he had a weaker season as a whole, he has the next-level traits to eventually become the best corner in the 2023 class. The critiques to his game in tight press are that he does not consistently initiate line contact when it could be beneficial, and his footwork on hip flips frequently is suboptimal. He often allows receivers to gain a step due to his reactive playstyle when they cut cleanly underneath. False moves work very well on him, and he does not anticipate the route of his opponent. He allowed 552 yards in 2022, which is highly concerning for someone whose calling card is locking down his man in press coverage. His traits remain elite, but his gameplay itself has many concerns. These areas of weakness should be able to get cleaned up since he has exemplified both that he is good at reacting to contact and that he has relatively fluid hips in other aspects of his game. Aside from that, the fact remains that he is scheme dependent and still very raw across the board. He lacks the anticipation to thrive in zone, and has almost no polish in any technical category. While his potential still makes him worthy of a day one pick, he may not have much success being thrust into a full time role in his rookie season.

NFL Projection:

He will likely go in the middle of the first round due to his potential. He will be a solid CB2 in the NFL. If Ringo can address his weaknesses in press man, he could become an elite lock-down corner at the next level.