Nate Wiggins CB Clemson: Scouting Report

Height: 6’2 

Weight: 185

Overall

Nate Wiggins is a long corner with elite speed in Clemson’s hybrid defense. In his 3 seasons with the Tigers he played in 34 games, starting 18 of them. While he did not have a lot of interceptions in his college career, he created plenty of pass breakups and had some big-time forced fumbles this past season. He has elite athleticism and with further development he can grow into a dominant cover corner in the NFL.

Pass Game

Wiggins had a lot of snaps in both man and zone coverage on film and had a lot of success in both areas. In man coverage he has very quick feet and balance to mirror his man off the line of scrimmage and stick with them throughout the entirety of his route. His technique off the line though needs a lot of work. He takes far too many false steps on film and even hops at times to set his feet rather than using a controlled backpedal. Even with these technique errors, he makes up for it with his elite athleticism down the field but if he can improve his initial footwork he can continue to grow in man coverage. He has excellent speed and length to cover outside receivers down the field and he has excellent burst out of his breaks to jump in front of comebacks and in-breaking routes. He does a good job of getting into phase down the field and stays in the receiver's hip pocket. At the catch point he is very good at punching through the hands to break up passes but showed some struggles with high jump balls against bigger receivers due to his thin frame. In zone coverage, he has very good vision and does a good job of keeping his eyes on the quarterback. His speed and quickness allows him to cover a lot of ground and he continues to use his burst to break on underneath routes on a dime. He rarely lined up in press coverage but when he did, he showed good physicality even with his thin frame.

Run Game

In the run game, Wiggins shows phenomenal effort in getting to the ball-carrier and making plays. He made two huge tackles this past season from chasing down the play from all the way across the field using his elite speed and ability to punch out the ball. He is a good tackler but may struggle bringing down bigger running backs on the outside. His thin frame also makes it difficult for him to disengage from blocks but he shows the effort in attacking screen plays and getting to his leverage after initial contact with the blocking receiver. 

Last Word

Wiggins projects best as a boundary corner in either a man or zone heavy defense. He has experience playing in the slot to matchup against specific receivers but plays his best on the outside. His ability to stick to receivers in man coverage, especially on short routes will make him a reliable defender on 3rd downs and his speed can be immediately utilized on special teams.

One-Liner: Nate Wiggins has an elite blend of length, speed, and quickness to be a shutdown corner at the next level but he needs to improve his technique off the line of scrimmage and physicality against bigger receivers before he can reach his huge potential.

Grade: 6.8 (Solid Starter on All 3 Downs)

Games Watched: 2023 - Florida State, Miami, NC State, North Carolina

Team Fits: Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders