NFL Draft
4/15/25
5 min read
JJ Roberts 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Marshall Thundering Herd SAF
Height: 5106 (verified)
Weight: 181lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Karl Joseph
Scouting Overview
Marshall Thundering Herd safety JJ Roberts is a stick of dynamite on the backend. His explosive athletic profile is evident when you watch him flip his hips in coverage or trigger to attack the run. His aggressiveness can be his own worst enemy at times, and he’ll take run fits too steep or overcommit when tracking the ball in the air and be forced to make late adjustments to the ball’s flight path.
If you can teach him to put a little more trust into his burst and range as a means of playing with some added patience, you could have a developmental starter on your hands.
2025 NFL Combine Results
DNP
Positives
- Twitchy burst and acceleration to run the alley from depth or trigger the catch point
- Capable of creating violent collisions that jar the football loose or stick ball carriers in their tracks
- Plays with an incredible motor to play in pursuit and seek out the football
Negatives
- Undersized frame puts necessity on aggressive striking form — but comes at the cost of control at first contact
- Will get bigger eyes than he should when fitting from depth and take his angles too steep
- Failed to convert a number of his turnover opportunities in 2024 due to misplays of the football
Background
Roberts is from Ona, WV, and played high school football at Cabell Midland HS. There, he was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in West Virginia for 2019. Roberts played option quarterback and defensive back at high school while also lettering in basketball. He was ranked as a 3-star recruit (247 Sports) and committed to Wake Forest as a member of the school’s 2020 recruiting class.
Roberts played cornerback for Wake, starting one out of eight games during the 2020 season before playing in another 14 games played as a redshirt freshman in 2021. Roberts finished his career at Wake after the 2022 season, entering the transfer portal as an unranked transfer (247 Sports). He landed with Marshall over offers from Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Virginia, Memphis, and others.
He transitioned full-time to safety upon arriving at Marshall and started all 23 games he played for the program across 2023-2024. He was second on the team in tackles (94) and tied for the nation’s lead in passes defensed (14) during his 2024 final campaign. He was named First Team All-Sun Belt for his performance.
After the 2024 season, Roberts accepted an invitation to play at the 2025 Hula Bowl.
Tale Of The Tape
This is a really fun football player who seems to be scratching the surface of his overall potential. Roberts has a prolific athletic profile and, despite his unassuming frame, has explosive striking capabilities as a tackler. Roberts shows the willingness to play on the roof and subsequently run the alley in run support.
He covers a ton of grass and offers the desired urgency to his play on each and every rep, but he will need to refine his exit angles, pursuit approach, and form as a support player to ensure he’s maximizing his potential at the next level.
As is, Roberts is a hyper-aggressive player who can, at times, be guilty of steep angles into the line of scrimmage, leaving him vulnerable to backs with vision who can cut and bounce the run outside of his fill and bubble to the sideline for added yardage.
When he does have his fit lined up, he is a swooping tackler who throws his frame into contact with reckless abandon. You love the intensity, but against better competition, it did yield some near misses as a tackler that nearly sprung bigger plays.
Roberts has a background as a cornerback, and it will serve him well in his transition to the league. As a zone defender, Roberts has eyes that give him a wide vision to see route development and key through the quarterback to react and flip open to the target.
He’s a rare talent for today’s game in that he can play in the high post and challenge throws outside the numbers. He’s got the hips, the burst, and the speed to work down the field man-free and provide support along the red line.
The footwork and spacing can be refined, but when you view him through the lens of a former corner with two years working as a high safety, there’s reason to believe he has the ability to refine and optimize this element of the position.
Roberts has good ball-tracking skills on vertical shots. He flies through the catch point and, on more than one occasion, has elevated and extended to attack the football at its highest point. Routes that break in front of his face are currently more collision reps as compared to cutting the route and breaking on the football — he’s still developing his feel for tracking throws in this regard.
As a special teamer, Roberts has logged in excess of 450 total snaps. This should give him a playing pathway immediately as he looks to fortify his defensive game and add polish to his play.
He blocked a field goal attempt against Coastal Carolina, hurdling the guard to come up the pipe on a play that was eventually returned for a touchdown. He has triple-digit reps on kickoff and punt return units as well.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Roberts projects as a developmental starter at the safety position. He has prolific range, explosive pads, and the play demeanor to be a featured talent on the back end.
Still, he must reign in his aggressive tendencies to reduce the risk and high-variance potential of his play on a down-by-down basis.
Grade: 71.00/100.00, Fifth Round Value
Big Board Rank: 171st overall
Position Rank: SAF15
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