Mel Kiper Jr ranks one Gamecock among top players at his position for 2021 draft
South Carolina cornerback Israel Mukuamu has already started to get pulled in the updraft of way-too-early mock draft season. Multiple outlets have pegged the 6-foot-4 Gamecocks corner as a first-rounder, through at times folks in that world can get a little preemptively excited.
But ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. jumping in certainly puts it on another level.
The longtime draft analyst had Mukuamu among his top five corners when he released his latest list of top prospects and top players by position. He didn’t make the list of top 25 prospects but was No. 4 at his position.
He was listed being corners such as Shaun Wade out of Ohio State, Patrick Surtain II from Alabama and Washington’s Elijah Molden. Mukuamu was ahead of Stanford’s Paulson Adebo.
According to Pro Football Focus, when he played on the outside, Mukuamu gave up only 19 catches on 286 coverage snaps last season. Of those, 13 were just 9 yards or less downfield.
At times, his play was up and down, with a few big plays allowed against Tennessee and Clemson. But he also delivered three interceptions, one for a touchdown, in an overtime upset of No. 3 Georgia.
Overall, he made 59 tackles, picked off four passes and broke up nine more.
His counterpart on the other side, Jaycee Horn, doesn’t have quite the production of interceptions, but at a long 6-foot-1, the third-year starter has been talked about as potentially a top corner in the 2021 draft in some corners as well.
