ESPN draft analyst is 'in' on Clemson's Nate Wiggins

Nate Wiggins has done plenty in his college career and is improving his standing in pre-draft exercises.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Mon Mar 11 13:13:29 GMT-04:00 2024

Nate Wiggins made himself known at the NFL combine with his incredibly fast 40-yard dash, and that’s rightly caught the eye of ESPN analyst Field Yates.

“My general rule of thumb is if you’re big and you can run at corner, I’m in, and Nate Wiggins -- a tall, fast corner, second-fastest player at the combine,” Yates said.

His official time was a 4.28 on the 40-yard dash, 0.05 seconds faster than the next-closest player. The only person at the combine with a faster time than Wiggins was receiver Xavier Worthy out of Texas, who broke the record for the fastest 40-yard dash at the combine. Had Wiggins not gotten injured running his first attempt, perhaps he could have bested his original time and even Worthy’s time.

Two games on Wiggins last season that stood out to Yates were his forced fumbles versus Miami and North Carolina.

“I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll reiterate it, Nate Wiggins had two separate plays this past season where he was offscreen when you’re watching film and it’s on a run play, that ended up being long, long runs where if not for Nate Wiggins, the play is a runaway touchdown. In both cases, he ends up forcing a fumble on the one-yard line. One of them was recovered by Miami for a touchdown, so the effort was not in vain, but it ended up still being a score,” Yates said. “The other one that ended up being a touchback against North Carolina and it was a testament to, to me, that’s like a championship-effort. So, it caught my attention. If he had sort of just given up on the play and felt like there was nothing left to prove, no one’s going to notice Nate Wiggins. Instead, on two separate occasions, he shows up and makes potentially game-altering plays.”

Did I mention he's fast??? He pulled his hip flexor running a 4.28 at the combine. He's got blazing speed!

This might be the most impressive play of all the CBs. Great effort and fight here from Nate Wiggins!

(Full Video: https://t.co/kyv0ahO6mk) pic.twitter.com/oBTI97NoRg
— Mighty Kaos aka Coach Williams 🏈 (@mightykaos41) March 11, 2024

Wiggins tied his career high in tackles with eight in both the Miami and North Carolina games. Specifically, in the game against the Tar Heels, he also registered the game-sealing interception, his second interception of the season. Wiggins’ first interception came against Florida Atlantic, which he returned 46 yards for a touchdown.

The concern Yates has with Wiggins is his size. While Clemson had Wiggins listed as 185 pounds, he came in at 173 at the NFL Combine, the lowest out of any cornerback prospect and about 20 pounds lower than most of the prominent cornerbacks in the league. For reference, Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is listed as 196 pounds, which is just about average. Wiggins is a little on the taller side as he is 6-foot 1. Using the same comparison with Johnson, he comes in at exactly six feet, so there is not any concern with Wiggins height.

“The questions with Nate after the combine are going to be he’s 173 pounds, which is light for a cornerback. There’s not a ton of guys at that size that are in the NFL playing cornerback for a lot of snaps,” Yates said. “And then, he has shorter under, I think under 29 and a half inch arms. Those are the only two things, though, because pure cover corners with that kind of size and speed are good players in my book, and I want as many of them as I can get. So, I think that Nate is definitely a first-round pick and the best Clemson prospect in this year’s class.”

For clarification, Wiggins actually had an arm length of 30 and a half inches. Regardless, that is still on the smaller side, with NFL Draft Buzz ranking him in the No. 28 percentile in arm length.

One thing that should also be taken into account is that Yates appears to be a little lower on Wiggins compared to other analysts. He currently has Wiggins ranked as the No. 4 cornerback available in the draft, while NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah has Wiggins as the second cornerback taken in his mock draft, with Wiggins going No. 15 overall to the Indianapolis Colts. The Clemson pro day on March 14 could provide more insight into where Wiggins will get drafted.