Nebraska CB Cam Taylor-Britt

5-foot-11
196 pounds

Yahoo Sports' 2022 NFL draft grade

5.65 — possible third- or fourth-rounder; contributor potential

TL;DR scouting report

Intense, instinctive defensive back with safety-corner potential and natural leadership skills whose crude technique needs refinement

The skinny

A 3-star Rivals recruit as an "athlete" in the Class of 2018, Taylor-Britt (then Taylor) decommitted from Mizzou to choose the Huskers. He made 12 tackles, three passes defended and one fumble recovery in 11 games in 2018. Taylor-Britt started 10 of 11 games in 2019 (missing one with illness), making 49 tackles (four TFLs), 1.5 sacks, three interceptions (one returned for TD), two pass breakups and four forced fumbles, splitting time between safety (seven games) and corner (three).

In 2020, Taylor-Britt started seven of eight games at cornerback, totaling 28 tackles (three TFLs), two interceptions, six passes defended and six punt returns for 79 yards. He started all 12 games in 2021, recording 51 tackles (three TFLs), one sack, 11 pass breakups, one interception and one blocked field goal. Taylor-Britt appeared at the 2022 Senior Bowl.

Upside

• Quality athlete — ran 4.38 40 at nearly 200 pounds

• Respectable length — close to 5-11 with 31 1/2-inch arms

• Nicely put together with good musculature for his stature

• Large (10 inches) and active hands for a DB

• Click-and-close ability — bursts out of backpedal to make plays in front of him

• Big-time hitter for the position — drives through opponents and seeks to send message

• Might have some untapped ability as a blitzer — flashed in limited rush attempts

• Good zone instincts and awareness to read quarterbacks' eyes and pounce

• Displays impressive late recovery ability when he needs it

• Corner-safety versatility — can be a moving, gameplan-specific piece

• Good nose for the ball — six INTs, 27 PDs, four FF, two FR

• Dangerous on INT returns — one TD, averaged 27.5 yards per return

• Eagerly fights through block attempts

• Played very well vs. speed of Ohio State past two seasons

• Only nine penalties in nearly 1,900 defensive snaps

• Toughness on display at Senior Bowl — battled quad injury and kept playing

• Very good experience and durability — three years starting, one missed game

• Accountable leader with alpha playing temperament

Downside

• Lacks ideal height for contested-catch situations vs. big bodies

• Vertical (33.5 inches) and broad jumps (9-foot-11) below what you'd expect

• Press-coverage technique hard to gauge — seldom asked to do it

• Lateral quickness is decent but can get screwed into ground vs. shifty receivers

• Tackling inconsistency can be chalked up to wild, out-of-control attempts

• Can stand to play with better control and pace

• Man-coverage technique can be spotty

• Gets caught peeking in the backfield and can lose phase

• Will bite on double moves and play with too itchy a trigger finger

• Still needs grooming on route concepts and spacing

• Had a few rough coverage outings — Purdue in 2020, Oklahoma and Iowa in 2021

• Not much slot-coverage exposure past two seasons

• Accumulated myriad minor injuries over career

• Punt-return impact was very limited

Best-suited destination

Taylor-Britt's evaluation is complicated a bit when projecting his best position. He's likely an outside corner in a zone/off-man system, but he can be groomed as a nickel defender or safety over time and profiles as a special-teams contributor in all four phases. His contributions might be a bit limited early on as a rookie, but Taylor-Britt offers starting potential, especially as more and more teams consider relying on "positionless" contributors.

Did you know

He was born with just the last name of Taylor. But after his youth DB coach, Darrell Britt, married his mother, Courtney, and became his stepfather, Cam told his mother he wanted to change his last name to "Taylor-Britt." Cam kept it a secret from Darrell at first and revealed his intentions in an emotional FaceTime video in the summer of 2019. Even the Nebraska coaches weren't clued in on his name change until he took the field with his uniform revealing the new hyphenated surname for the opener that fall against South Alabama.

Player comp

Anthony Brown

Expected draft range

Rounds 2-3