2022 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Akayleb Evans

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NAME: Akayleb Evans

POSITION: Cornerback

SCHOOL: Missouri

HEIGHT: 6’2”

WEIGHT: 197 pounds

CAREER BACKGROUND

A native of McKinney, Texas, Akayleb Evans attended McKinney High School. He primarily played cornerback on the high school football team. A two-year letterman, Evans recorded 80 tackles with increased playing time as a junior. He then recorded 48 tackles, five pass breakups and one fumble recovery throughout eight games played as a senior. Evans was recognized as second-team all-district 10-6A for that senior season.

Tulsa

Evans began his college career at Tulsa, where he appeared in parts of all four seasons from 2017-20. He would play in a total of 30 games for the Golden Hurricane. To boot, the cornerback made 14 starts throughout his time at Tulsa. Evans registered 81 tackles and 11 pass breakups throughout those four years. 2019 was the only season where he was severely limited. A season-ending shoulder injury limited him to just three games played that year, allowing Evans to earn a medical hardship to extend his eligibility.

Transfer To Missouri

After transferring from Tulsa, Evans made the jump to the SEC and joined the Missouri Tigers. He would go on to appear in 11 total games, starting eight of those. Evans tallied 30 tackles (27 solo), six pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one interception and one tackle for loss. After the season, he went down to Mobile, Alabama and participated in the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

SCOUTING REPORT

Instead of listing positives and negatives for traits, this year we will be listing the best trait of each prospect and work our way down to the biggest area of improvement/absent trait(s), from top to bottom.

Length

It is a fact that Evans possesses the prototypical length that NFL teams long for from aspiring outside cornerbacks. This cornerback utilizes this to his advantage in a number of ways. Let’s start with how Evans can frustrate opposing wide receivers during the course of the route. He will use hard, stiff jabs and places his punches into the chest of the wideout. Thus, he is capable of throwing them off-balance before they finish the route stem.

You also see Evans minimize throwing windows. Because of the urgency within his hand technique, opposing passers often have to be stout in their ball placement when throwing down the field against Evans. Finally, he is a bit sneaky at getting his hands into the catch point at the last moment to time up a pass breakup. Receivers appear to have an opening. However, Evans slices his arms in between the opponent’s hands at just the right moment.

Competitiveness

Evans is not afraid to get physical against the opposing pass catchers. While in coverage, he does a solid job of squeezing and collapsing upon the receiver, sometimes stopping them in their tracks. His ability to maintain advantageous leverage is crucial, at the same time. Meanwhile, Evans has the confidence and assertiveness that allow him to be a pest in many areas of the field. He can punish pass catchers with a press man coverage technique. Or, Evans will not hesitate to get up and into the chest of receivers at the top of route, forcing them to make possible adjustments.

Ball Skills

Despite a lack of consistent statistical results, there is plenty to like about Evans’ technique when playing the football. He remains resolved on watching the opponent’s eyes or hands before looking to find the football. As a result, Evans is able to stay close to the receiver’s hip and made it a habit to not get caught watching the ball in the backfield. His ability to adjust and find the football was precise as well. Due to his focus on playing the receiver’s hands at the catch point, Evans is capable of creating ball production in numerous ways.

Athleticism

There is a sort of tenacity that Evans displays within his click and close ability. He fires downhill with a quick trigger, that allows him to get in and out of breaks smoother than some other cornerbacks. Elsewhere, Evans is fluid enough to flip his hips and carry routes down the field. There are times where he can get a bit too high in coverage. Additionally, Evans may need to improve on sinking his hips more often against shorter routes. He makes up for it by possessing the necessary long speed to recover and defend against deep routes or horizontal routes, however.

Coverage Skills

There is probably more upside for Evans in man coverage, as things currently stand. We alluded to his comfort and determination within press man coverage reps earlier. He is simply disruptive and irritable to opposing receivers in those moments. This is largely due to his hand technique, length and underrated strength. In off-man coverage, Evans does a fine job of staying on top of routes and remains patient against any possible fakes or double moves by pass catchers.

As a zone coverage corner, his ability to play trail technique and with a half-turn technique make it possible for him to make stops in many areas. He is more successful against routes that are in the flats. In those moments, Evans does well to trigger downhill and process the play with astute processing speed. He has enough speed to handle playing an entire deep third, if need be.

Football IQ

The ability to focus squarely on his man or role is what will give Evans a smoother transition to playing one of the most difficult positions in today’s NFL. Yet, there are still a few items that must be refined throughout the early portion of his professional career.

Better body positioning and more consistent recognition of landmarks on the field will likely make his game more well-rounded. That is especially true when you look at his results against quick passes or passes to the intermediate area of the field. Finally, Evans anticipation can be hit or miss, depending on the kind of coverage that he is in. Being much earlier with his reactions will likely lead to more productive results.

Tackling

There is a significant willingness that Evans showed in this area, compared to other defensive backs. He can lay quite a boom if he is able to square up his target. Mainly, there is just a couple of tackling form issues that could be ironed out. Evans can sometimes fail to take proper angles when looking to make stops in space. Furthermore, the cornerback will have to lower his strike zone when attempting to wrap up a ball carrier or wide receiver.

Versatility

This defender did see matchup specific assignments in the slot on occasion at Missouri. However, Evans is likely more suited to remain as an outside cornerback only. He also provides more questions than answers right now, in terms of scheme diversity. Being part of a defense that uses more aggressive blitzes and multiple fronts may be what is best for him. Consequently, the more man coverage reps that Evans sees, the more beneficial the results may be for his team.

CHIEFS FIT

The Kansas City Chiefs are in need of adding more talent at the cornerback position. After losing Charvarius Ward and Mike Hughes in free agency, the defense will have to replace two defenders who played a fair amount of snaps last season. Akayleb Evans will still need time to develop. But, the confidence and play style that he has is similar to what the Chiefs have been drawn to at the position recently. His length speaks for itself. Moreover, Evans is not afraid to be physical, is comfortable in press man coverage and has the athleticism that aligns with Kansas City’s changes this offseason. Allowing him to learn from L’Jarius Sneed, Rashad Fenton and another possible veteran free agent addition would do wonders for a slightly raw cornerback.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles throughout this spring. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.