Now that free agency is mostly in the books, most of the league-wide attention is shifting to the 2026 NFL Draft. We are officially less than a month away from the Las Vegas Raiders being on the clock, and since we're watching Pro Days across the nation, front offices are too suffering from draft mania.
The Atlanta Falcons are doing their homework on said prospects, especially the ones close by, but one player really gave Ian Cunningham and this front office something to think about with a strong Pro Day. And that player is Miami cornerback Keionte Scott, one of the better DBs in college football.
At Miami's Pro Day yesterday, Scott sent a clear message to the teams that may draft him, a list that almost certainly includes the Falcons now. He ran a 4.33 40-yard dash, but scouts clocked him as fast as 4.3 flat, which is exactly what teams want to see from a 5-foot-11, 193-pound cornerback.
Keionte Scott's impressive Pro Day put the entire NFL, including the Falcons, on notice
However, the 24-year-old's impressive afternoon didn't end there. He recorded a 10.3" broad jump, a 34 inch vertical jump, and 1.57 second 10-yard split. The Cotton Bowl MVP came through for the Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff too, so it's more than just his testing that teams trust.
Scott spent the season at Miami after transferring from Auburn, where he ended up as a juco transfer from Snow college. That's a pretty rapid rise for a player who ultimately became an all-ACC defender. The broadcast reported that his 40 time was a 4.25 unofficial, but unfortunately, that was debunked,
He's mostly been regarded as a third-round prospect Atlanta had a shot at landing at 79, but a performance like this could be a tough sell to catapult him into the top 64 picks, meaning that if the Dirty Birds are really enamored by what they saw, they would have to draft him with their 48th pick.
The big concern that comes with the Falcons drafting Scott is that he best projects as a nickel corner, so unless Jeff Ulbrich plans to test him out as a boundary corner or move Billy Bowman Jr. back to the outside, this fit isn't the most logical, even if Bowman is recovering from an Achilles tear.
Part of why the Falcons made the Sydney Brown trade was because they trust him in the slot if Bowman is sidelined, and since this regime didn't draft Bowman, they're not hitching their wagon to him. So from that perspective, drafting Scott makes sense, but a physical outside corner like Keith Abney is a bigger need.
He's also about to turn 25, so for as talented of a football player he is, you're going to have to bank on him to instantly compete. But as a guy who is able to make plays all over the secondary, I love the fit in this Atlanta defense if the price is right.