Malik Muhammad, Texas CB

Strengths

Great lateral agility and movement skills.
Good route recognition which puts him into a good position to break-up passes.
Good communicator in zone coverages; you can see him transitioning assignments as the play develops.
Physical in coverage through the route.
Looks good in both man and zone coverages.

Concerns/Weaknesses

Never really converted good route positioning into INTs; the body positioning is just a little off for him to make a big play.
His play style, specifically in man, is too conservative. In particular, you see this in vertical routes where he immediately opens up instead of jamming. This may be a product of him running almost exclusively off-man coverage, so might be a scheme thing where he is not used to press man responsibilities. ‘
Ideally fills out the frame a little bit more to play exclusively on the outside.

Key Statistics / Notes

Tackles: 30
INT: 2 (1 the previous two years)
Passes Defended: 4
Passer Rating Allowed: 59.4

Summary

Muhammad does a lot of things well, and has the movement skills necessary to be a CB that plays both outside and in the slot, which is a nice benefit. Probably better in teams that go off-man or zone, and then you hope the body positioning improves so he can really capitalize on the route recognition. If it doesn’t, you probably have a nice CB2/3.

Tape Grade: RD 3 (7.50 - Average Starter)
NFL Position-Type: CB - Any

2025 Games watched: Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma
2024 Game watched: Ohio State