Name: Asante Samuel Jr. 

School: Florida State 

Year:  Junior 

Position: Cornerback 

Measurements:  5’10"  184 lbs.

STATS:

General Info:

Son of former pro bowler Asante Samuel.  Four-star recruit out of high school. Attended famous Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida. He held over 30 offers coming out of high school. Played in all 12 games as a Freshman at FSU and started 3 of the final four games. He started all 12 games as a Sophomore. He had 14 pass breakups. Samuel started all 8 games as a Junior.  

Positional Skills:

Positives: 

Asante is a good run defender and a decent tackler, he reminds you a little of Jaire in his playing style. He loves to line up in press man coverage. Samuel shows quick feet on film and good speed. He compliments that with a good smooth back pedal and smooth hips. His movements seen effortless on the field. Asante has a lot of ball production, meaning he gets his hands on a lot of balls. Weather that is passes defensed or interceptions. Samuel does a good job of reading the quarterbacks eyes when he is in zone coverage. Samuel has experience lining up on both sides on the outside and in the slot. Once he picks off a ball he almost becomes like a punt returner. He gets up the field and accelerates fast. The FSU product shows good click and close on film, because when he figures out what route the receiver is running stops and explodes to try and get the pick or at least knock it down. 

Negatives: 

Samuel is a little undersized at 5’10 184 and he can have some trouble getting off blocks. Bigger physical receivers will give him some trouble. The son of the former pro bowler will miss some tackles when he flies in out of control. Asante still needs work on his zone coverage, mostly using his eyes, reading the play, and not hesitating. He needs to do a better job of not looking back for the ball at times or he looks too late. When Samuel gets beat it is usually because he has lost leverage against the wide receiver. Sometimes when Samuel leaves a cushion he leaves too big of a cushion and the receiver is left with too much space to work with so he has a lot of routes that he could run possibly leaving Samuel in no mans land. 

Fit with the Packers:

Asante Samuel would fit next to Alexander really well. He is a smooth cover corner who is not afraid to tackle receivers or running backs. As was said before watching his film he has a lot of Jaire in him. Jaire is faster and bigger/stronger but, Asante probably has a better vertical. He’s not as good of a hitter or tackler, but who is? He is still young and has a lot of growth potential. Samuel not as polished as Jaire was coming out as well. He also reads and attacks receiver screens similar to Alexander. If he can put on some weight and get stronger. Improve his eye discipline and improve his zone skills. Asante could become close to as good as his dad. It’s hard to say if he will ever be a pro bowler like his father, but the potential is there for him to be a very good corner. At the very least he should become a decent #2 corner. Because he has already shown on film to have great cover skills. Smooth transitions, and he flips his hips with ease. He could start as a rookie opposite Alexander.