Malachi Corley

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Malachi Corley	Western Kentucky	2-Star CB Recruit (77)	RS Junior	Summer Scouting Report
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3	Positional Rank	Grade	Height	Weight	2023 PFF Grade
4	19	4th	5'11	215	82.6
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6	Year	Targets	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns
7	2023	115	79	985	11
8	2022	137	101	1282	11
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10	Year	Wide Snaps	Slot Snaps	Catch Percentage	Yards / Reception
11	2023	51	324	68.70%	12.47
12	2022	39	458	73.72%	12.69
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14	Overview:
15	Strengths:	Notes:
16	Run After Catch	Violent, powerful, and elusive with the ball in his hands.
17	Short Area Separation	He often flashes the suddenness to gain separation close to the line of scrimmage, even against man coverage. If he can translate this ability to his intermediate route running, then he could improve tremendously as a wide receiver. As of now, he is more of an athlete using natural quickness to separate as opposed to legitimate route running skills. He can cross his opponents hips in short areas, but fails to do so consistently and typically will not even attempt to do so on routes beyond five yards downfield.
18	Speed Cuts	He has reps throughout his tape with highly effective speed cuts. He just does not use them that often and fails to accelerate out of them despite his innate ability to acutely accelerate in any direction on a dime.
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20	Weaknesses:	Notes:
21	Route Tree	His route tree is incredible small.
22	Route Nuance	He does not accelerate at his breaks, vary his route speed, put any weight into his jabs, sell routes with his head or body language, or really perform any other action to help generate separation.
23	Downfield Separation	Corley is blanketed on all deep routes in man coverage regardless of his level of competition.
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25	Film
26	Game	Takeaways				Notes:
27	Mid Tenn (09/28/2023) Statline: 8-81-0	Explosive bulldozer. Took seven passing plays before WKU made him run a route. Decent speed cut in stride. Not varying route speeds. Not accelerating at his break points. Does not really seem to understand route running. Never generating space in his routes over the middle. Inconsistent stance. Appears to be a decent blocker. He has suddenness, but his hips stay high when cutting in his routes. Flashing the ability to cross his opponents hips. Not a downfield threat. Balance in question. Decent blocking, but poor technique.				5th round tape at best.
28	Ohio State (09/16/2023) Statline: 8-88-1 [Cut Up]	Excellent low one handed catch. Appears a bit stronger than twitchy. High hips on route. Absolutely not pulling away downfield. Always get additional yardage after contact. Route speed is too stagnant. Very good contact balance. Tough as nails. Stance appears too wide, but efficient release.				4th- 5th
29	LA Tech (10/05/2023) Statline: 8-207-3 [Cut Up]	Very strong. First step burst off the line and after the catch is slower than expected. Ridiculously strong. Will not go up for it successfully in contested situations. Needs to improve zone pacing and man coverage separation. Release is bland. NFL-ready strength and athleticism, but highly worried with his skill set.				Far from a finished product, but 4th round athlete. Should not see the field much year one.
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31	Final Scouting Report
32	Malachi Corley is a highly enticing athlete who is ridiculously strong after the catch. He always falls forward through contact like a running back, as he has previously played, and can run through tackles from defensive backs entirely. He is tough through contact, and the type of athlete that teams will want to get in the building and decide what to do with him once he is there. He hit 27 bench press reps at his Pro Day along with a sub-4.5 second 40-yard-dash. His RAC skill set is appealing with the recent success of Deebo Samuel, who had a very similar build. That said, Deebo showed far more prowess as a wideout in college than Corley. Corley has effectively no route running skills whatsoever. He can naturally separate slightly in short areas due to inherent quickness, but lacks a release package, any nuance, and does clearly not understand coverage looks. Any route beyond five yards downfield is consistently blanketed regardless of where he lines up. His pacing through zone is abysmal, he does not vary his route speeds, and his hips stay high through his breaks. He is not aggressive when the ball is in the air, typically preferring body catches and only hauling in four of 17 contested catch attempts in 2023. There is also a question surrounding ball security with six drops and two fumbles this last season. Corley is straight up not a wide receiver right now, but teams should be able to mold him and still get him the ball in space. While his athleticism is undeniable, the career trajectories of other recent RAC projects such as Kadarius Toney and Laviska Shenault should give teams pause. Corley should be drafted with the thought that he is a high upside WR4/WR5 who can get on the field as a gadget specialist earlier in his career. He also has tremendous upside as a returner with the new NFL kickoff rules being implemented in 2024. If teams draft him early on in the draft like the aforementioned prospects with the objective of improving their passing game from day one, then they will be highly disappointed. If teams draft him in the third to fourth round with realistic expectations regarding his ability as a true wide receiver, then he may be well worth the return despite there being a significant risk.
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34	Playstyle
35	Best Route	Drag Route. He is best when the ball gets in his hands early, and drag routes mitigate a slower first step.
36	Worst Route	Go Route. He will really struggle to separate on any route beyond five yards downfield at this point.
37	Pro Comparison	Deebo Samuel. Deebo was a much better route runner and more complete receiver, even as a rookie.
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