Duce Chestnut S Syracuse | NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
Duce Chestnut S Syracuse
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| ROLE: Zone Slot/Nickel Safety | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 05/04/2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 40 time: 4.56 seconds (52%*) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age: 22.5 DOB: 12/05/2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ROLE: Zone Slot/Nickel Safety | |
| Last Updated: 05/04/2025 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| 40 time: 4.56 seconds (52%*) | |
| Age: 22.5 DOB: 12/05/2002 | |
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| Overall Rating: | 77.0 / 100 | |
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| Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced | ||
| Offense Rating: |
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75% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| QB Rating When targeted: | 76.4 | |
| Tackling: |
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52% |
| Run Defense: |
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68% |
| Coverage: |
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74% |
| Zone: |
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69% |
| Man/Press: |
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74% |
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DRAFT PROJECTION:
UDFA
Overall Rank:
#321
Position rank:
#66
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| College Games: 41 College Snaps: 2211 | ||
ESPN RATING: 78/100
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247 RATING: 88/100
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RIVALS RATING: 5.8 (95%)
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Beau Brade - Maryland |
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95% |
| Gervarrius Owens - Houston |
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86% |
| Trey Taylor - Air Force |
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86% |
Draft Profile: Bio
Duce Chestnut established himself as a foundational piece of Syracuse's secondary, starting all 12 games as a true freshman in 2021. The Camden, New Jersey native earned Freshman All-American honors and was runner-up for ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, showcasing his immediate impact at the Power 5 level. Through his collegiate career, Chestnut accumulated 89 tackles (63 solo), five interceptions, and nine pass breakups across 28 games.At Syracuse, Chestnut demonstrated his versatility and football IQ by anchoring a defensive unit that finished 14th nationally in passing defense (184.8 yards per game) during the 2022 season. His sophomore campaign highlighted his coverage skills, allowing just four touchdowns on 356 coverage snaps while drawing only one penalty. After a brief stint at LSU in 2023 where he appeared in four games, recording six tackles and an interception, he returned to Syracuse.
The former Camden High School standout arrived in college as a highly-regarded prospect, earning four stars from Rivals and recognition as one of the top-25 cornerbacks in his class. His high school career showcased his playmaking ability with three interceptions and an impressive 13 special teams touchdowns, demonstrating his natural athletic gifts and instincts for finding the end zone.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Natural feel in zone drops with plus click-and-close ability, drives downhill on underneath routes with conviction
- Fluid hip flip and mirror technique in man coverage, maintains leverage through stem phase of routes
- Plus jam technique at LOS, consistently re-routes receivers and disrupts timing with heavy hands
- Above-average ball skills when playing through receiver's hands, tracks deep ball effectively over either shoulder
- Shows position flexibility between boundary corner and box safety, demonstrating smooth backpedal and plant-and-drive
- Brings pop as a tackler, wraps up consistently and drives through contact with proper pad level
- Snap count machine who answered the bell for 24 straight starts at Syracuse, showing plus durability
- Quick processor who IDs route combinations early, maintains disciplined eyes against play action
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Lacks ideal long speed to carry vertical routes, will need safety help over top against burners
- Gets choppy in transition, plays too high in pedal and struggles to maintain balance through breaks
- Undersized frame leads to issues when matching up against bigger bodies in contested catch situations
- Takes questionable angles to the football in run support, gets washed out by bigger blockers
- Limited playing time post-transfer raises red flags about development curve
Scouting Report: Summary
The natural feel in coverage and plus ball skills translate well to a zone-heavy scheme at the next level. Shows ability to process route combinations quickly and drive on the football with conviction, though will need to be protected against vertical threats.Physical nature and heavy hands suggest immediate contribution as a press corner in sub packages, with potential to develop into a boundary defender. Versatility to play in the box adds special teams value early while technical refinements are made to his pedal and transition game.
Tool set best fits as a zone corner with matchup flexibility against bigger slots. Will need to be deployed strategically to maximize strengths in underneath coverage while limiting exposure against pure speed threats on the boundary.
Written By:
Felix Green (ACC)
How other scouting services rate Duce Chestnut (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
501.0
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
107.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.