Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU
At 6-foot, 200 pounds Fulton is a smooth athlete who does an excellent job mirroring routes and being physical at the line of scrimmage. Fulton lined up on the left side in Dave Aranda’s defense he also has experience playing in the slot.
Overall, Fulton needs to improve his tackling technique as well as his body positioning on downfield throws and become less handsy mid route, but he projects as a quality NFL starter. He finished last season with 38 tackles, 14 passed defended, and one interception.
What the experts say:
Kristian Fulton is a quality Day 1 outside corner candidate who is scheme-transcendent at the NFL level. Fulton’s best deployment is in the press, where he played comfortably for multiple seasons in Dave Aranda’s LSU defense. Fulton is an impossibly balanced and controlled corner who wins with smooth transitions, quick-twitch athleticism in tight areas, and great timing closing space on routes to all three levels. Fulton has delightful ball skills with his back to the football and enough speed to squeeze top receivers down the field without losing phase, and has ideal reactionary quickness and play recognition to win in a Cover 3 zone responsibilitiy. Fulton’s biggest weakness are his average play strength and accordingly inconinstent tackling, but he projects as a Year 1 starter with Pro Bowl potential in his future.
Press-man cornerback whose 40 percent rate of completion as an LSU Tiger may not tell the entire story as an NFL prospect. Fulton has good size and is usually searching to make plays on the football. He plays with decent eye balance in off-coverage but can be a tad late with response time. Once he gets behind he tends to stay behind against multi-breaking routes and his long speed and recovery burst are below average. Fulton showed improvement throughout the year, but his confidence has been an issue at times. When the pros and cons are balanced, he appears to be a good backup with a chance to work up the ladder.
For the NFL, Fulton projects as a starting cornerback who could contribute with significant playing time in his rookie season. He has quality instincts in coverage and versatility for the next level. Fulton can play off-man, press-man and zone coverages, plus outside or inside at the slot. He has shown the ability to run the route and prevent separation in 2019. Fulton also possesses quality feet and fluid athleticism to stay with receivers. Along with his skill set, he challenges receivers and closes quickly.