Darien Porter shot up draft boards with an impressive 2024 season, and his scouting report looks at what traits have led to Porter becoming a potential pick in the first three rounds of the draft.
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2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report and Film Analysis of Iowa State Cornerback Darien Porter
Measurables:
Height- 6’3”
Weight- 195 lbs
Player Background:
Porter was a star multi-sport athlete in high school excelling at both football and track and field. On the track, he won the Iowa Class 4A 400-meter State Championship in both 2017 and 2019. In 2019 he set the all-time Iowa high school 400-meter record with a time of 46.99 seconds. On the football field, Porter was a three-star wide receiver recruit. He played his first three seasons at Iowa State as a wide receiver, mostly seeing the field on special teams. He transitioned to cornerback as a junior in 2022. In 2024, Porter made his first career start at cornerback and served as Iowa State’s fourth captain in five games earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors.
Strengths:
Porter is an elite athlete. He dominated at the NFL combine with a 9.99 relative athletic score and a blazing 4.30 40-yard dash time. A track star in high school Porter’s speed on the track and at the combine translates to the football field. He has good recovery speed and can stay with receivers step for step vertically down the field. Not only is Porter an incredible athlete, but he has ideal height and length as well standing 6-foot-3 with over 33-inch arm length. As a former receiver, Porter has good ball skills. He has good hands, aggressively attacks the ball, and made some very impressive interceptions in 2024.
In coverage, Porter excels most in zone coverage. While Porter is new to the position he has good awareness and natural instincts at the position. He reads the quarterback well and has good route recognition. Porter also offers incredible value on special teams. He earned his way onto the field early in his career by providing special teams value and had four blocked punts and one blocked field goal during his college career.
Weaknesses:
Porter is an older prospect with little starting experience. He did not start his first game at cornerback until his sixth season in college, and at 24 years old he has just seven career starts and three years of experience at cornerback. There are areas of Porter’s game and moments in games where his lack of experience does show. He needs to continue improving his press technique and gain more experience in man coverage.
Along with some technique and experience concerns in coverage, Porter is also not a strong run support player. He lacks ideal play strength and often gets stuck on blocks against the run. Porter misses a high number of tackles and needs to improve his tackling technique to become a more consistent run defender.
Potential Team Fits:
San Francisco 49ers
Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens
NFL Projection:
Porter’s athletic traits, highlight plays, and special teams value make him a very intriguing prospect. He has all the traits needed to develop into a good cornerback in the NFL, but he will need to continue to develop and gain more experience at the position. There are some technical errors that show up for Porter, and he could struggle against more technically advanced route runners in man coverage early in his career. He can be a developmental depth corner or maybe even a developmental starter in the right scheme who contributes greatly on special teams early in his career. If Porter develops well he has the potential to be a great starting outside corner in the NFL.
Prospect Grade:
Early Third Round
Main Photo: [Vasha Hunt] – USA Today Sports