NFL Draft
1/1/25
7 min read
Andrew Mukuba 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Texas Longhorns SAF
Height: 6000 (unofficial)
Weight: 186lbs (unofficial)
Year: Senior
Pro Comparison: Jalen Thompson
Scouting Overview
Texas Longhorns safety Andrew Mukuba finally made the leap in 2024. Mukuba was a prized high school recruit who earned early accolades at Clemson but endured a collegiate plateau before transferring to Texas for his final season of eligibility this past season.
His game has exploded, illustrating a dynamic athlete who punches above his weight class as a tackler and has finally found the ball with consistency in coverage. The Longhorns have benefitted from his range on the back end while still tapping into his ability to play on the second level as a nickel or subpackage defender in the box — but his explosion this season is rooted in his ability to diagnose coverages and trigger with aggressiveness from depth. He is an ascending talent with strong physical gifts and could, in time, develop into an impact starter in the pros.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Fluid frame and rapid feet allow him to collect and drive in pursuit of the ball as both a run support and coverage defender
- Is a willing tackler who is unafraid of unloading into contact with his full frame behind his pads
- Coverage instincts took a major step forward in 2024; nearly doubling his career forced incompletions
Negatives
- Lean frame does offer some limitations against powerful and bigger skill players, regardless of his willingness for contact
- Might be a matchup-specific option for man coverage teams due to lack of size & power — ideally left in the post for C-1 opportunities
- Is not a prominent presence in pressure situations, lacks the physicality to run through blocks on the edge in blitz-heavy defenses
Background
Mukuba hails from Harare, Zimbabwe. His parents and older siblings were refugees from the Democratic of Congo, and his family was granted asylum in the United States when Mukuba was nine years old. Settling in Austin, Mukuba would go on to start playing football in middle school and would play his high school football for Lyndon B. Johnson HS in Austin. During his recruitment, Mukuba would garner ample interest as a 4-star recruit (247 Sports) and ultimately chose Clemson over Texas — in part due to uncertainty around the Texas Longhorns program and coach Tom Herman’s status with the program.
Mukuba became the first true freshman starting defensive back for the Tigers program since 1972 when he opened the season as a starter and collected 31 starts in 35 games played for Clemson between 2021-2023. He earned ACC Defensive Rookie Of The Year and Freshman All-American honors in that first season, although that was the high point of his time with the Clemson program. Mukuba entered the transfer portal in December of 2023 as a 4-star transfer (247 Sports) and ultimately returned to Austin to play for Texas.
Mukuba was named Third-Team All-SEC in his lone season with Texas and accepted an invitation to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Tale Of The Tape
Mukuba’s potential was evident in his debut season at Clemson. However, the version of himself that he fielded for the Texas Longhorns in 2024 is an outstanding development for the 2025 class.
Mukuba’s natural athleticism oozes off the film, and he is a standout player in space as a back-end defender. He’s silky smooth with his transitions and shows little strain while roaming cover areas that include deep middle, deep half, robber, and hook/curl assignments. With his twitch, length, transitional quickness, and eyes, he’s a natural fit for zone-heavy schemes that look to weaponize their safety and attack passing games by flooding areas of the field.
Mukuba’s optimization at Texas has included being charged with these roles much more frequently than with playing free safety and being out of the nickel. Mukuba’s standout freshman season was paired with star defensive coach Brent Venables at Clemson, but Oklahoma hired him away after the 2021 season, and Mukuba’s play suffered. He was charged more frequently with box and nickel assignments — where his stature is generally fine but not optimal.
As a coverage player, Mukuba’s instincts flash in his ability to leverage his assignment relative to available threats and eligibles. He’s patient with his base and not overeager to drift back and surrender unnecessary space for easy completions. His athleticism allows him to sink suddenly and squeeze layered throws between the second and third levels. His leaping ability further complicates the difficulty of throws when he’s charged with intermediate coverage.
That said, you do wish Mukuba had better hands; he nearly missed several other interceptions that glanced or grazed off his hands. On the back end, Mukubua has the hip looseness and range to play high in the post and work to attack red-line throws down the field.
As a man coverage option, Mukuba is likely best served with his athleticism developing more in the slot against quick-footed receivers or backs. In off-man assignments, he likely has the length necessary to defend tight ends at the catch point, but his ability to consistently collision, re-route, and stay sticky at the top of the route against 240lb+ pass catchers is not a recipe for success. Even better, man-free calls can make the most of Mukuba by putting him high on the post.
In run defense, Mukuba is quick to trigger and confident in his tackling ability. He does a nice job of squeezing and taking good angles to the ball carrier when playing in the alley or inserting from depth. As a last-line defense, he does well to patiently allow the run to develop before cleaning up the play if the ball carrier pops out of the pile. He sticks people better than you’d expect for a player with his mass — but the mass does pop up against bigger skill players.
He’ll be forced to drop low and cut bigger-bodied backs who are working north. He’s still a reliable tackler (a career 13 percent missed tackle rate is a sturdy number for a safety), but the efficiency of yards after contact dwindles against powerful opponents.
Mukuba offers the length, aggressiveness, and pop necessary to attack seal blocks or stalk blocks in space and does well with the lateral mobility through contact necessary to play off of blocks and uncover in continued pursuit of the ball.
Mukuba’s background in track and soccer is evident on the field. He boasts comfort in playing in isolation and covering a lot of grass and twitchy range. Asking him to continue building out his eye for the game while leaning into those core elements of who he is as an athlete is the key to him reaching his ceiling.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Mukuba projects best as a starting free safety at the NFL level. In Cover-3 & Cover-1 heavy schemes, Mukuba has the range, vision, instincts, and open-field tackling ability to serve as a last line of defense and the potential to be a high-impact safety.
In contrast, split-field coverages should give him more opportunities to get involved with rolling into intermediate zones and allow his vision and feel for pattern combinations to take over. Mukuba’s an admirable striker with coverage versatility in zone but should not be frequently charged with playing in the box on account of his stature to keep his range and burst available to pursue the football freely.
Grade: 78.50/100.00, Second Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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