2025 NFL Draft prospect profile: Darien Porter, CB, Iowa State

Porter is just scratching the surface of his upside

The New York Giants have invested heavily in their secondary over the last couple years. They have multiple high-round draft picks as well as high-dollar free agents at the cornerback and safety positions.

They are young, athletic, and talented all over the back end of their defense, so it should follow that they’re set there — at least for now.

However, we’ve also seen a high rate of attrition in the secondary and it pays to be deep. So could the Giants also look to add a corner who is already playing well yet also has vast untapped upside thanks to rare traits?

Iowa State’s Darien Porter only has three seasons at cornerback after starting his collegiate career as a wide receiver. However, he’s tall, long, rangy, fluid, and one of the best athletes at any position in the entire class.

Could the Giants select Porter as an investment for the future?

Prospect: Darien Porter (10)?
Games Watched: vs. Iowa (2024), vs. West Virginia (2024), vs. Central Florida (2024), vs. Arizona State (2024)

Measurables

Kent Lee Platte | RAS.football

Strengths

Best traits

• Athleticism
• Length
• Ball skills
• Versatility

Darien Porter is a tall, long, and exceptionally athletic cornerback prospect.

Porter combines rare length for the position at 6-foot-3 with 33-inch arms and exceptional athletic traits. Not only is Porter fast and explosive, but he also has excellent movement skills. He has remarkably quick feet as well as fluid hips which combine to give him simply rare traits for the position and Porter will enter the NFL with the fourth-highest recorded RAS among cornerbacks.

He is a converted wide receiver and as such he already has a firm understanding of offensive and route concepts. Porter does a good job of avoiding schemed traffic and his athletic traits allow him to recover and erase schemed separation. His traits also allow him to play both man and zone schemes well. Porter’s speed and hip fluidity allow him to stick in tight coverage with receivers through their breaks or sprinting down the field. His experience as a receiver, processing, and explosive closing burst, meanwhile, make him an effective zone defender.

Porter’s background as a wide receiver also gives him excellent ball skills. He understands how to read a receivers’ body language as well as a quarterback’s eyes and he is excellent at high-pointing the ball.

Weaknesses

Worst traits

• Experience
• Play strength
• Mass

Porter has two primary weaknesses in his game, one of which could be viewed as a long-term strength.

Porter is a wide receiver turned cornerback, and only changed positions prior to the 2022 season. As such, he’s still very new to the position and defensive side of the ball and needs development in multiple aspects of his game. He still needs to work on his technique, particularly when it comes to run defense. He doesn’t consistently use his hands when taking on blockers and instead uses a shoulder check, which leads to blockers controlling him and him. Likewise, his tackling is a definite work in progress as well. He needs to continue to work on his angles and form so he can consistently get ball carriers on the ground.

That said, his inexperience at the position, and on defense in general, suggests upside that can be tapped into with coaching.

There might not be much that Porter can do about his frame. He has rare length for the position, and even rarer movement skills for his length. However, he has a slender frame and his play strength is visibly lacking when tackling, taking on blockers, and at the catch point.

His frame might not allow additional muscle mass to be added without compromising the athleticism that is the strength of his game.

Game Tape

(Porter is the Iowa State DB wearing number 10 with white sleeves on both arms)

Projection

Darien Porter projects as a starting cornerback at the NFL level, with Pro Bowl potential if he reaches his upside.

Porter might have a rocky start to his career considering his inexperience at the position. And it might behoove a defense to try and put him in a position where he’s working his way onto the field rather than starting immediately. That said, he has elite traits and could excel if he lands in the right situation.

Teams might have to accept the fact that Porter may only ever be an “okay” run defender. However, his upside as a cover corner and his potential ball skills as a converted receiver could quickly make up for that limitation.

Does he fit the Giants?
Yes.

Final Word: An early second round value.