Cameron
Dantzler.
Cameron
Dantzler.
Mississippi State· 6'2"· 188 lb· 4.64s 40
"A 6-2 press corner who allowed no touchdowns and a 41.1 passer rating in the SEC, then ran 4.64 at 188 pounds and watched the testing push him out of the top two rounds."Pre-draft read
Dantzler is a 6-2, 188-pound press corner built like a long jumper, and the length is the whole game. He uses his reach to disrupt the release, stays attached down the sideline and plays the ball at the catch point. He is fluid for his height, with a clean backpedal and no wasted gather when he closes.
The second trait is competitive stubbornness against the best competition. As a sophomore he allowed no touchdowns and a 41.1 passer rating, second among SEC corners, with his best tape coming against the top receivers in the conference. The thin frame shows up in run support and on contested throws. The signature is the press rep against an outside receiver where his hands ruin the timing of the route before it starts.
Press-man and Cover 3 structure that leaves him on an island outside and uses his length at the line rather than asking him to open and run from depth.
Year 1 starting outside cornerback in a press scheme, with a ceiling as a top-25 corner who erases the boundary with length and technique.
An off-coverage system that lets receivers release freely and turns every rep into a footrace, which exposes the 4.64 speed and the thin frame.
Mississippi State CB Cameron Dantzler Highlights
Career reel of the press technique and length that defined the evaluation.
Cameron Dantzler vs Ja'Marr Chase, Joe Burrow and the LSU Offense
Single-game coverage tape against the best passing attack in college football that year.
Cameron Dantzler (Mississippi State) In Coverage | 2019 Season Targets
Every target against him in his final college season, the cleanest look at the coverage profile.
Dantzler is from Hammond, Louisiana, where he played both cornerback and quarterback at Saint Thomas Aquinas and rushed for 1,901 yards as a senior. He redshirted at Mississippi State, then played all thirteen games as a redshirt freshman in 2017 with 25 tackles, two for loss, four passes defended and an interception.
The breakout came in 2018. He started all season, finished with 43 tackles, a sack, two interceptions and a team-leading eleven passes defended, and was named second-team All-SEC by the Associated Press. The underlying numbers were better than the counting stats: he was one of only four cornerbacks in the conference who did not allow a touchdown pass, and his 41.1 passer rating allowed ranked second among SEC corners. He entered 2019 on the Bednarik, Nagurski and Jim Thorpe watch lists as a Phil Steele preseason All-American, and added 40 tackles, two interceptions and ten passes defended before declaring early.
The evaluation was length and coverage instincts against a body that had not filled out. He measured 6-2 and 188 pounds with 30.6-inch arms and ran 4.64 in the forty, a time that pushed him out of the top two rounds despite film that held up against the best receivers in the SEC. Minnesota, rebuilding an entire secondary, took him at 89.
- 01
Rare length for the position
At 6-2 he disrupts releases, contests the catch point and takes away the back-shoulder throw against average-sized receivers.
- 02
Elite coverage efficiency
Allowed a 41.1 passer rating in 2018, second among SEC corners, and did not surrender a single touchdown pass that season.
- 03
Ball skills on the perimeter
Five career interceptions and 25 passes defended, including a team-leading eleven as a sophomore.
- 04
Fluid for his height
Smooth backpedal and clean transitions that are uncommon in corners who measure over six feet.
- 05
Tested against the best
Held up in single coverage against the top receivers in the conference, with tape rather than testing driving the grade.
- 01
Slight frame
Listed at 188 pounds with 30.6-inch arms, light enough that NFL receivers can body him at the top of the route.
- 02
Ordinary long speed
A 4.64 forty at the combine raised real questions about carrying vertical routes against NFL burners.
- 03
Inconsistent run support
Willing but not physical filling in the alley, and bigger ball carriers run through his tackle attempts.
- 04
Limited snap history
Three playing seasons after a redshirt and only 35 college games, with the final year interrupted by missed time.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.64sp50
- Vertical
- 34.5inp50
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Mississippi State | 13 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2018 | Mississippi State | 13 | 43 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| 2019 | Mississippi State | 9 | 40 | 0.5 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Career | — | 35 | 108 | 1.5 | 5 | 25 | 0 |
He redshirted in 2016, so no line exists for that year. Season tackle, tackle-for-loss and sack figures are confirmed by Mississippi State releases and match the 108-tackle, six-stop, 1.5-sack career totals tracked by CFBTrack. Passes defended here include interceptions, which is how the school reported them; CFBTrack counts breakups only and lists 20. Forced fumbles and fumble recoveries were not reported by these sources and are entered as zero only where the school confirmed none.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Big-bodied corner who starts for a couple of years, bounces between teams and remains a useful piece.
The ceiling: a long, technically sound corner who starts for a winner and gets paid on a second contract.
Corner whose injuries and frame end the starting career quickly and push him into depth and developmental-league football.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
The rookie year was the high-water mark. Dantzler started ten of eleven appearances in 2020, posted 46 tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, and made the PFWA All-Rookie Team despite rib, hamstring and concussion issues. He appeared in fifteen games with seven starts in 2021, then started nine of ten games in 2022 with 50 tackles and five passes defended before landing on injured reserve in November.
Minnesota released him in March 2023 and the bottom fell out fast. He was claimed by Washington, released, signed by Buffalo, released off injured reserve with a settlement, signed by Houston, and finished the year playing two games for New Orleans. That was his last NFL action: 37 games, 26 starts, 149 tackles, three interceptions and seventeen passes defended across four seasons. He has since rebuilt a career in the UFL with San Antonio, Memphis and Louisville, winning a championship in 2026. In hindsight the injuries and the thin frame beat the coverage skill. A corner with this length and this college efficiency should have been a long-term starter, and he was one for about two and a half years.
Data note: Imported from Wikipedia 2020 NFL draft player selections table.