From now until the 2026 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way to Day 3 selections, and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Wofford S Maximus Pulley.
No. 2 Maximus Pulley/S Wofford 5107/197 (Fifth-year Senior)
Measurements
Player Ht/Wt Hand Size Arm Length Wingspan
Maximus Pulley 5107/197 8 1/2″ 29.5″ N/A
40-Yard Dash 10-Yard Dash Short Shuttle 3-Cone
4.52 1.52 4.25 7.27
Broad Jump Vertical Bench Press
10’3″ 41.5″ 16
The Good
– Compact, muscular frame that can absorb contact and deliver forceful blows
– Good straight-line speed that supports his vertical recovery
– Generates an accelerated “click-and-close” burst
– Excels in shallow zones and playing the “robber” role
– Innate feel for zone spacing with good peripheral vision during his drops
– Doesn’t get fooled by offensive eye candy
– Attacks the football while it’s in the air rather than waiting until the receiver has the ball
– Seeks to get his hands on receivers early in their route
– Capable of re-routing matchups with his dense frame
– Violent and proficient tackler near the line of scrimmage
– Consistently plays with good gap discipline and run fits
– Remains square to the line of scrimmage
– Strong block shedder even when taking on bigger linemen
– Made impact plays on special teams
The Bad
– Shorter height and arm length limit his impact contesting jump balls down the field
– Stiffness in his hips and change of direction
– Rigid transitions out of his backpedal into a sprint
– Footwork can become spotty while playing deep-zone coverage
– Struggles out of a single-high alignment
– Shows sub-optimal pursuit angles on throws to the boundary
– Slow to react when a receiver is able to close the cushion on him in man coverage
– Overcommits in the open field and struggles to throttle down his momentum efficiently
– Despite good positioning, ball carriers can cross his face in space
Stats
– 2025 stats: 83 tackles, 26 stops, 11 missed tackles, 24 receptions allowed, 5 interceptions, 4 pass breakups, 11 games played
– Career stats: 197 tackles, 53 stops, 25 missed tackles, 54 receptions allowed, 7 interceptions, 8 pass breakups, 44 games played
– Wofford career stats: 194 tackles, 51 stops, 25 missed tackles, 54 receptions allowed, 7 interceptions, 8 pass breakups, 34 games played
– WKU career stats: 3 tackles, 2 stops, 10 games played
– 11.7 missed tackle percentage (2025)
– Allowed 9.9 yards per reception (2025)
– 92.8 defensive grade per Pro Football Focus; ranked No. 1 among safeties at the FCS level (2025)
– 92.1 coverage grade per PFF; ranked No. 1 among safeties at the FCS level (2025)
Injury History
– Dealt with lingering pain in his knee that was fixed during pre-draft training (2026)
Background
– Began his collegiate career as a midseason walk-on at Western Kentucky before transferring to Wofford after two seasons
– Unranked recruit out of L.D. Bell High School after being a standout at running back and wide receiver
– Earned Academic All-District honors
– Participated in track and field
– Spent a year post-grad at Elite Sports Prep to continue developing
– His time at Elite Sports Prep provided the opportunity to walk on at WKU
– Consensus FCS All-American and first-team All-Southern Conference (2025)
– Buch Buchanan Award Finalist (2025)
– Named Wofford’s team MVP (2025)
– Second-team CSC Academic All-American (2025)
– Consistently named to the CSC Academic All-District and SoCon Academic Honor Roll
– Named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll during his time at WKU
– Earned a 3.64 GPA while majoring in sociology and anthropology
– His personal motto is “train and translate”
– Cited as a vocal leader
– Began playing football at the age of four
– Made the switch to defense after spending his early years at running back because he “didn’t want to depend on others to make a play”
Tape Breakdown
After an explosive pro day performance that would have placed Pulley among the top defensive backs in most drills, he captured NFL teams’ attention. He secured more than 20 meetings following his testing, and it’s easy to see why: his film backs up the numbers. He’s a strong athlete who consistently dominated at the FCS level. After primarily playing special teams at Western Kentucky, he transferred to Wofford in search of more playing time—and he made the most of it.
At 5-11 and 200 pounds, Pulley isn’t the biggest player on the field, but he’s compact, with a solid frame that generates outstanding lower-body explosion.
Even with his elite testing, Pulley’s most striking athletic trait is his instant burst. Thanks to his lower-body power, he reaches top speed quickly, a skill that shows up in every facet of his game. His click-and-close ability—triggering downhill and erasing the separation created by offensive players—is among the best in the FCS. While he lacks outstanding change-of-direction skills, which limits his appeal as a deep safety, he’s excellent in tight, close-quarters situations.
As a coverage defender, Pulley steadily improved throughout his career. His alignment has a significant impact on his performance, and he’s clearly more comfortable and efficient when playing closer to the line of scrimmage. At his best, he operates in shallow zone assignments or in a robber role. When he can patrol the intermediate middle of the field and read the quarterback’s eyes, he maximizes his burst to undercut routes.
Pulley’s feel for zone spacing appears innate. Post-snap, he gains his depth efficiently while maintaining strong peripheral vision on routes entering his vicinity. He is rarely displaced by play-action or deceptive route stems. Once the ball is released, Pulley leans on what separated him at his level of competition: elite closing burst. His ability to close space often determined whether a play resulted in a positive or negative outcome for his defense.
When tasked with man coverage from the slot, he often used variations of seam and curl-flat techniques. This allows him to establish early physical contact, disrupt the receiver’s timing, and alter the intended route. However, because of his limitations in change-of-direction and lateral agility, his success in man coverage depends heavily on that initial disruption. He’s not a defender you can consistently count on to recover once a receiver eats up his cushion and gets onto his toes.
In run defense, Pulley’s comfort level largely mirrors his coverage usage. He’s more efficient and decisive when aligned closer to the line of scrimmage. When playing inside the tackle box, he adopts a linebacker’s mindset despite his smaller frame. He shows good gap discipline and makes a concerted effort to stay square to the line of scrimmage until the ball carrier commits. By staying square, he eliminates vertical cutback lanes that more polished running backs can exploit.
He also shows no hesitation when taking on offensive linemen or lead blockers in space. Pulley demonstrates strong hand placement and sound block-shedding mechanics. Rather than attacking bigger blockers head-on, he’ll strike from an angle off their centerline, helping negate their size advantage.
His tackling efficiency rises significantly inside the box. He’s a tough, reliable wrap-up tackler who drives through the ball carrier’s hips instead of consistently lunging at ankles. In the open field, however, his consistency dips. His limited lateral agility can cause him to overcompensate and overcommit on pursuit angles, often opening cutback lanes for ball carriers to cross his face and make him miss.
Conclusion
Pulley’s tape backs up everything he showed at his pro day. He’s an outstanding athlete capable of impacting the game at all three levels. In a zone-heavy or match-coverage system, his ceiling rises considerably. Deploying him in a robber role would best showcase his top trait: rapidly erasing separation.
His run defense is equally impressive thanks to his willingness to play with physicality in the box. He doesn’t shy away from bigger blockers and often functions as an extra linebacker. However, his NFL transition will be hindered by his limitations playing deep and in open space. His lateral agility issues cost him valuable recovery time, preventing him from fully leveraging his straight-line speed.
Because of his physicality and reliability as a tackler, Pulley should be able to compete for a special teams role immediately. He brings extensive experience in that phase, having primarily contributed on special teams early in his collegiate career at Western Kentucky.
A realistic blueprint for Pulley’s ceiling is Taron Johnson. A full-time role near the line of scrimmage would allow him to maximize what he does best. Both players have similar frames and win with their eyes on the quarterback, triggering downhill and breaking on the ball with outstanding short-area burst. The difference is that Johnson developed enough transitional quickness to occasionally survive on an island in the slot. Pulley’s margin for error in coverage is smaller, but he can still win matchups in a similar fashion if he’s kept in roles that accentuate his strengths.
NFL Draft Projection: Late Day 3 – UDFA
Steelers Depot Draft Grade: 6.8 (Pure Backup)
Grade Range: 6.3 – 7.3
Games Watched: vs. William & Mary (2024), vs. East Tennessee State (2024), @ Furman (2024), @ South Carolina State (2025), vs. Furman (2025), vs. Samford (2025), @ VMI (2025)
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