Cory Trice Jr. NFL Draft Scouting Report

CB, Purdue Boilermakers

Cory Trice is the starting cornerback for the Purdue Boilermakers. He is a former three-star recruit that began his career as a safety before transitioning to cornerback. Trice became a rotational starter within the first two years in his career. After returning from a season-ending 2021 injury, 2022 was Trice’s first full season as the starter. 

Trice is a big, long-limbed, competitive cover corner. He uses his reach advantage well in press alignment. He is a timing and rhythm disruptor that can cap routes with physical punches. Trice is an outside/boundary cornerback that understands how to use the sideline as an extra defender. He does a solid job staying attached in man coverage and remaining in phase throughout the rep. Trice flashes good and reliable tackling skills in space. Properly utitlizing his arm length to effectively wrap up the offensive player. He is not afraid to get active in run support either. As for zone coverage, there is value as a cover-2/flat or cover-3/deep-third defender. His physical build can stress ball placement and throwing lanes for the quarterback. He has solid ball skills to attack passes at its highest point. 

Trice’s size and length comes with a cost. He is not the most fluid with transitions. There is a little rigidness to his lower-body movements. Gearing down to change directions can be a bit of a task for him in coverage. In zone coverage, I would like to see quicker processing and play recognition from Trice. He can get caught with his eyes in the backfield, resulting in not hitting his landmarks in coverage. His long speed worries me. If he cannot effectively disrupt timing and re-route receivers, running step for step with vertical threats is a concern. With his physical profile, I would like to see more ball production with pass breakups and interceptions. 

In all, Trice looks like an enticing cornerback prospect. He projects best as a depth piece on a roster initially. One that will be valuable on special teams also. He matches up well in man coverage, especially with those bigger-framed wide receivers. I believe there is potential for Trice to operate at safety and matchup with tight ends at the next level also.

Top Reasons to Buy In:

• Great blend of height, weight, and arm length
• Competitiveness
• Man coverage ability

Top Reasons For Concern:

• Long speed
• Diagnosing plays in zone
• Ball production

Size (NFL Combine):

Height: 6′ 3”

Weight: 206 lbs

Arm Length: 32 3/8”

Hand Size: 9 3/4”

Athletic Testing (NFL Combine):

40-yard Dash: 4.47s

Vertical Jump: 35.5”

Broad Jump: 11′ 0”

Short-Shuttle: TBD

Three-Cone: TBD

Bench Reps: 17 reps

Ideal Role: Rotational cornerback 

Scheme Fit: Man-heavy with mixtures of zone coverage

TDN Consensus Grade: 74.00/100 (Fourth-Round Value)

• Parson Grade: 74.00/100

Written By: Damian Parson

Exposures: Penn State (2022), Michigan (2022), Illinois (2022)

Cory Trice NFL Draft Scouting Report. Add him to your big board here.