Jabbar Muhammad, CB, Oregon
Size:
Height: 5091
Weight: 182
Arm: 28 ⅝”
Hand: 9”
Accomplishments:
Second-Team All-Big Ten (2024) • All-Pac-12 Second Team (2023) • Honorable mention All-Big-12 (2022)
“Jabbar Muhammad is a scrappy, sticky cover corner who thrives in coverage because of his technique, instincts, and high football IQ.”
Strengths:
Patient in man-to-man coverage
Mirror and matching
Technically sound
Positional flexibility
Ball skills and production
Concerns:
Smaller frame and arm length
Role-specific
Missed tackling
Film Analysis:
Jabbar Muhammad is a former three-star recruit with football in his bloodlines—both of his brothers played defensive back in college, at Nevada and North Texas. Muhammad began his career under head coach Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State for three seasons before transferring to Washington in 2023 and then to the University of Oregon for the 2024 season. Muhammad was a key piece of a talented defense that helped the University of Oregon go undefeated in the regular season and enter the playoffs as the number-one ranked team in the country. Muhammad showcased that he can thrive in both man and zone defenses and is also a willing participant in run defense.
In man coverage, Muhammad thrives in soft-man coverage with a slight cushion, allowing him to read the receiver and mirror/match their releases. He is an intelligent and disciplined defender who plays with good technique. Muhammad utilizes kick steps, peer steps, timely punches, patience, and a squared base effectively, staying with his receiver. He is also effective in off-man coverage with good pre-snap leveraging, squeezing the receiver to take the air out of the route. He is competitive at the catch point—he does a great job of punching through the receiver’s hands to dislodge the ball and force pass breakups.
Muhammad is a quality zone defender who hits his landmarks with the spatial awareness needed to take away throwing lanes. He effectively hinges and takes away route leverage. He has a quick and smooth side-saddle technique and cover-3 ability to stay on top of vertical route stems, allowing him to drive downhill on the underneath action. With his instincts and football IQ, Muhammad passes off switch releases well and maintains good pre-snap depth to avoid being picked early in the rep.
Muhammad does not have the prototypical outside cornerback body and frame. He has a smaller build, and concerns about handling bigger receivers are valid. His lack of height and weight can create issues with positioning against NFL outside receivers, especially at the catch point. Muhammad could stand to improve his tackling in space. He was charged with 13 missed tackles on the season. He attempts to engage with the ball-carrier but strikes too high, leading to missed tackles. This needs to be cleaned up for him to be trusted versus the run by NFL defensive coaches. Muhammad can be had with double moves due to his eyes occasionally peeking into the backfield. His long speed is adequate at best, without verified athletic testing information.
Muhammad projects as a versatile cornerback with a starting skillset. Due to his size/frame, he may be pigeonholed into the slot/nickel position full-time. Muhammad plays a sticky brand of coverage. Utilizing his intelligence, he works to stay in phase and in the hip pocket of the wide receiver. Whether in the nickel/slot or outside, Muhammad impacts the game.
Prospect Projection: Day 2 — Winning Starter
Written By: Damian Parson
Exposures: Ohio State (2025), Michigan (2024), Penn State (2024), Ohio State (2024), Texas (2023), Oregon (2023), Oregon State (2023), Michigan (2023), Utah (2023), USC (2023)
