NFL Draft
3/31/25
5 min read
Caleb Ransaw 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Tulane Green Wave CB
Height: 5113 (verified)
Weight: 197lbs (verified)
Year: Senior
Pro Comparison: Sean Murphy-Bunting
Scouting Overview
Tulane Green Wave cornerback Caleb Ransaw projects as a starting nickel defender at the NFL level. This is an elite-caliber athlete with excellent tackling ability and appeal in man and zone coverage assignments.
Ransaw is missing a few things that could potentially help create a more buzzy profile, but any team looking for coverage-diverse talent who can fit the run and potentially develop into a feisty press-man defender would be wise to investigate Ransaw’s fit for their defense.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| CB | Caleb Ransaw | Tulane | 4.33 | 1.52 | 129 | 40 | 16 |
Positives
- Boasts elite recovery burst, long speed, and short-area transitional quickness with athleticism
- Illustrates a strong appetite for fitting the run and inserting into the D-gap
- Is a stingy tackler thanks to explosive pads and disciplined wrap-up attempts — his career missed tackle rate is at five percent
Negatives
- Has struggled with getting eyes back to locate the football for breaking up passes in man coverage
- Is likely a nickel-exclusive defender — just 13 snaps on the perimeter the last two seasons combined
- Aggressiveness at times can prompt false steps or over-commitment in the contact window
Background
Ransaw is from Harvest, AL, and played high school football at Sparkman HS. He is the cousin of former NFL cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. Ransaw was a productive talent at Sparkman, having defensed 51 passes during his final two seasons with the program. As a 2-star recruit (247 Sports), he committed to Troy as a member of their 2021 recruiting class.
Ransaw played three seasons with the Trojans. He was a depth player as a true freshman who played just more than 50 snaps in 12 games before claiming a starting role with Troy as a sophomore in 2022.
Ransaw started five games that season before suffering a concussion, which cost him several weeks of play. He returned to play after three weeks and finished the year with 11 games played. He then played 14 games for Troy in 2023, transitioning to the nickel in the process.
After the 2023 season, Ransaw entered the transfer portal as a 3-star transfer (247 Sports) and landed with Tulane.
Ransaw lived in the nickel during his one season with the Green Wave and played in 12 games before accepting an invitation to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl to finish his college career.
Tale Of The Tape
Ransaw has the look and feel of an immediate NFL contributor in the secondary. He can be a more refined player in man coverage, and his zone defending could ideally showcase more anticipation to create more plays on the football, but he’s a high-floor run defender with an elite athletic profile and a good play demeanor to play in the core.
Ransaw’s ceiling will be highest in man-heavy defensive coverage schemes. He’s got great transitional quickness, good speed to recover and attach to the hip of receivers down the field, and he’s a great tackler who can get ball carriers and receivers down in space.
Ransaw will need to add polish to his game as a press defender. He can take false steps or over-shade at times, which allows receivers to claim early space on him during the release. When he opens his strides and presses, Ransaw showcases great recovery quicks and will compress the throwing window.
You do wish he had some more length, which would amplify how tight he can play on the hip and allow him to extend and really attack the hands of receivers from the trail position. It plays a part in his lack of ball production during the last few years, as does his habit of face-guarding receivers and not getting his eyes back when receivers flash their hands as the ball arrives.
Ransaw’s instinct in the ball in the air is where he can expand and level up his game — be it from the trail or in vision zone leveraged overtop of the route.
With that said, he’s got good trust in his range and athleticism and showcases patience when passing off bunches and stack releases before aligning to his assignment. He has the ability to play overtop of traffic and still fight back to the ball before giving up the corner on shallow crosses away, and he’s closed ground off of rubs to recover on vertical shots when targeted with fades down the field.
Ransaw shines as a block deconstructor and run fitter on the edge of the core. He’s compact and physical, with good eyes to see run assignments while blockers close in on his position. He shows authority with his punch and stack to disengage and uncover to play the run.
This is an impressive tackler who is capable of striking blows, cutting low, or wrapping up. He shows impressive cognitive awareness of his leverage and angle of pursuit before selecting the appropriate tackle type.
In addition to Ransaw’s profile as a run defender with man coverage potential, he should be an effective special teams contributor at the NFL level. His application of block deconstruction and tackling will pair well on special teams phases and give him a floor on gameday to dress and contribute from the jump as a rookie.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Ransaw projects as a competitive nickel cornerback in the NFL. With his burst, explosiveness, and tackling profile, he has the upside of being a coverage-transcendent talent, but his lack of length could be a barrier to teams embracing him playing on the perimeter.
Grade: 74.50/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: 94
Position Rank: CB13
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