Derek Pegues Scouting Report

Pegues enters the NFL Draft with plenty of positives and negatives by his name. Let's start with the good: Mississippi State called Pegues the most athletic player on the team last season. The free safety was named to the All-SEC First Team by the Associated Press in 2007 and to the All-SEC Second Team by the conference's coaches in both 2007 and 2008. He has good speed (has reportedly run as fast as 4.40 in the 40-yard-dash), but he is really more quick than fast. Pegues has a knack for the big play with the ball in his hands and he could be a significant contributor on special teams at the next level. Now, for the not so good: He does not have great size at 5'10' and 193 pounds, so he is small for a safety (especially by NFL standards). Even if he moves over to cornerback, where he started at MSU, he will still be over-matched against wide receivers. Pegues also ran into some minor off-the-field problems in college, so he goes into the NFL with a few additional red flags. He also needs to improve his tackling technique because he won't be able to overpower ball-carriers due to his relative lack of size and power. In short, Pegues has a lot of upside, but he has to be considered a project. Coming off the board in the third round of the draft is what should be expected at the moment.