Height: 5’ 11 ½ “
Weight: 190 LBS
College: Florida
The secondary players in this year’s draft class have pretty good depth especially at the corner back position. One of the player’s that may be selected come May is Loucheiz Purifoy from the University of Florida. Purifoy is my seventh- rated cornerback in this year’s draft.
Strengths
Press coverage: One thing that is evident in watching Purifoy this past fall is that coach Muschamp asked his corners to play a lot of press man coverage. Purifoy seemed to be very comfortable with doing this, as he does a really good job at getting his hands on the wide receivers off the snap of the ball.
Special team contributor: Perhaps the part of Purifoy’s game that I happened to like the most was his wilingness to play all parts of special teams units. Purifoy lined up at gunner on punt returns, and also was the kick and punt returner this past fall when Andre Debose went down due to injury. His ability to play special teams will be a big reason why teams will take a shot on him at the next level.
Weaknesses
Tackling: Time and time again it was evident that Purifoy does not like to tackle the ball carrier. Against Arkansas this past fall, I counted five missed tackles, one in the backfield on the running back, and several outside the hashes when he was on an island with his man. He has a habit to go after the strip too much which causes him to go try and tackle high which ended up resulting in wide receivers breaking his poor arm tackles.
Coverage down field: Even though Purifoy has the ability to be decent press coverage corner he seems to really struggle at sticking with receivers in and out of there breaks. Against Florida State in 2012 Ej Manuel had a field day with Purifoy in man coverage. Several times Florida State ran 15 yard dig routes and Purifoy was four yards behind the receiver, which resulted in big gains for Florida State's offense.
NFL Comparison
Purifoy is a project to say the least, but if someone can get him the right coaching I can see a lot of Ike Taylor in him. They both are similar in the fact they like to get physical in the point of contact in press coverage, however both have shown coverage issues down the field, and can have games where they look to shy away from contact.
Draft Outlook
I see Purifoy as a potential fifth-round pick come this May, but would not be surprised if he has to sign somewhere as a undrafted free agent. Purifoy does have a lot of raw talent to offer, and with the right coaching given to him he can be a contributor to a team with special team needs, or for a team with solidified corners at the end of their careers.
Best Fit
The St. Louis rams head coach Jeff Fisher has been known to get the most out of his cornerback prospects dating back to his days with the Titans and even now with the Rams. Fisher would love Purifoy's physical style of play, and with them recently letting go of Cortland Finnegan, they may look to add another corner late in this year’s draft.