Nate Wiggins — NFL Mock Draft Roundup 1.0

Wiggins is a height-weight-speed corner. He's very rangy and will help a Lions defense that should often be playing with a lead, given the team's talent on offense.

If it weren't for the Eagles, the Jaguars 2023 collapse would garner more headlines. Following Week 12, the team sat at 8-3, after which the team proceeded to drop 5 of the final 6 games. The defense, full of high priced free agent and high draft picks, floundered badly. The team ranked 22nd in Total Yards Allowed at 342.8. The passing defense fared the worst, surrendering 239.8 ypg, good for 26th. There was virutally no improvement over the 2022 season, where the Jags allowed 353 ypg (24th). The Pass D (in 2022) was virtually identical to 2023, allowing 238.5 (28th). As a result, the Jags purged defensive coaches en masse.

Still, it's the offense where we see the gross negligence of overspending: Christian Kirk $18M per annum, Evan Engram $13.7M , Brandon Scherff $16.5M, Zay Jones $8M. All are contributors, but none produce results to justify more than half of their price tag.

The team will do whatever they can to ink Calvin Ridley and Josh Allen to new deals, but throw in Trevor Lawrence and you are potentially looking at $90-$100M per year for the three. Lots of work to do for GM Trent Baalke.

Regarding the Draft, pass-defense needs to be improved, and CB looks to be the most glaring hole.

Indianapolis' cornerback room was almost exclusively comprised of rookies. The group is not getting any older with the addition of Nate Wiggins, who may be the best man-coverage cornerback in the draft.

Wiggins is a sleek athlete on the perimeter who was around the football often in the air for the Tigers in 2023.

The Raiders have a number of needs to address and considering the top three quarterbacks are already off the board, they land a playmaking defensive back in Nate Wiggins.

I would love to see the Colts add LSU's Brian Thomas Jr. here, but they must also improve defensively on the back end — especially in a division with C.J. Stroud and Trevor Lawrence. With his length, short-area suddenness and 4.3 speed, Wiggins has the traits that fit what the organization targets.

My CB1, Nate Wiggins has the goods to slide in right away on the outside in Las Vegas. His instincts, fundamental cover ability, and awareness in space pop off the screen.

Another Clemson Tiger to the Jacksonville Jaguars as Nate Wiggins is the pick here. Jacksonville makes the right move to grab yet another cornerback after there's been quite a run at the position at the top of the draft.

Wiggins has the potential to be a CB1 if he can improve his down-to-down consistency. At his worst, however, he's still an incredibly gifted cover cornerback who has the physicality and reactionary skills needed to play against any receiver.

The Packers dealt Rasul Douglas to Buffalo at the trade deadline and former first-rounders Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes have both been plagued by injury issues. Wiggins might need to add some strength to his frame (6-2, 185), but he already has elite ball skills and athletic abilities.

Ideally, the Atlanta Falcons would love to move up and get one of the top three quarterbacks in this class. But in this mock, they stay at No. 8 and select the top cornerback: Nate Wiggins.

A.J. Terrell had another strong season in Atlanta, but the Falcons need a better option opposite him. Pairing him with another Clemson Tiger in Wiggins makes too much sense.

It was a down year for Carlton Davis after signing an extension last offseason, leaving cornerback a very real possibility for the Bucs with this pick (especially with the top three edge rushers off the board in this scenario).

Wiggins has excellent length, awareness and leaping ability in coverage. He also played 94 of his 277 coverage snaps in press, an added bonus.

Philadelphia's 97.6 passer rating allowed in 2023 was fourth-worst in the NFL. Darius Slay will turn 33 years old in 2024. James Bradberry is 30 and, notably, was mostly bad at football this fall (a 116.7 rating allowed in coverage).

The Eagles need more talent in the secondary, and while there's plenty of unproven blue chip guys waiting in the wings, adding a first round talent would give the team the high-floor successor they need for an aging group. Wiggins fits that mold as a long, 6-foot-2 corner who does a little bit of everything well. He can be useful in zone or press coverage, capable of closing fast on sideline routes or turning and running with deep threats.

The Packers have used only one first-round pick on offense (Jordan Love) over the past decade, and I'm projecting more of the same in 2024. Wiggins is a long and polished prospect who primarily plays on the outside. A strong argument could be made that he has the best technique in this cornerback class, and he has the movement skills and instincts to suffocate matchups in coverage. The trade of Rasul Douglas at the deadline left Green Bay thin in the secondary, and the Packers allowed 8.3 yards per attempt this season (22nd in the NFL). Over the past two seasons, Wiggins broke up 17 passes and picked off three.

The Bengals lost key members of their secondary last season and paid the price. There will be cries for a receiver if they lose Tee Higgins, but this defense was a letdown in 2023.