Troy

Pride Jr.

The 2020 fourth-rounder had 529 snaps for the Panthers in his rookie season, and was more of a problem than a solution as a rookie with 32 tackles and a ghastly 39.3 PFF grade. Pride was carted off in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s preseason loss to the Indianapolis Colts. The Panthers new-look cornerback corps includes veteran signings Rashaan Melvin and AJ Bouye and Pride wasn’t expected to have a huge role this season even if he’d been healthy.

A rare athlete who won four state titles in track and field as a senior sprinter in high school, Pride (5'11/193) allowed just six catches on 38 targets 20-plus yards downfield in his four-year stint with the Fighting Irish. Although he was seldom burned on fly routes due to his elite 4.4 40-speed, opposing quarterbacks clearly weren’t scared to throw his way, beating him for four touchdowns in 2019 alone. Pride has the athleticism and aggression to excel in man-to-man coverage, but he may have to settle for special teams until his defense at the catch point significantly improves.

A rare athlete who won four state titles in track and field as a senior sprinter in high school, Pride (5'11/193) allowed just six catches on 38 targets 20-plus yards downfield in his four-year stint with the Fighting Irish. Although he was seldom burned on fly routes due to his elite 4.4 40-speed, opposing quarterbacks clearly weren’t scared to throw his way, beating him for four touchdowns in 2019 alone. Pride has the athleticism and aggression to excel in man-to-man coverage, but he may have to settle for special teams until his defense at the catch point significantly improves.

A rare athlete who won four state titles in track and field as a senior sprinter in high school, Pride (5'11/193) allowed just six catches on 38 targets 20-plus yards downfield in his four-year stint with the Fighting Irish. Although he was seldom burned on fly routes due to his elite 4.4 40-speed, opposing quarterbacks clearly weren’t scared to throw his way, beating him for four touchdowns in 2019 alone. Pride has the athleticism and aggression to excel in man-to-man coverage, but he may have to settle for special teams until his defense at the catch point significantly improves.

“He needs to be paired with a scheme that allows him to play more off-man and zone so he can keep the game in front of him and use his burst to close coming downhill,” Zierlein wrote in his analysis. “Pride has pro traits, but he also has NFL-backup tape.” As a senior he started all 13 games, tallying 40 total tackles, one interception and six pass breakups. He ran a 4.4 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine, and he’ll need to hope that the athletic testing numbers are given more weight due to the inconsistent in-game performance.

Pride (5'11/193) posted the fourth fastest time of all cornerbacks on Sunday. It certainly helps answer some questions about straight-line speed, although that really wasn’t the biggest question mark involving the former Fighting Irish corner. Pride is viewed as a mid-round pick, and assuming the rest of his testing went well, he likely established that mark with this time.

“Although he was beaten a few times, he had more wins during one-on-one’s than any other cornerback prospect, using his athleticism to blanket different types of receivers,” Brugler writes of the 6-foot, 194-pound Pride. The analyst believes the with his respectable work in Mobile, the Notre Dame corner “now has a legitimate case to be one of the top-10 players drafted at his position.” Look for Pride to fly come the combine. He plays with track speed and could post a 40-yard dash time in the mid-4.30’s.

Regardless of how accurate Lenzy’s relaying of the 40 time might be, there is no doubting Pride’s speed. The 6-foot, 190-pounder is a track standout at Notre Dame in addition to a member of the football team and was clocked at 10.50 seconds in the 100-meter dash during the 2018 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships last February. On the gridiron last season, Pride recorded 47 tackles and two interceptions with 10 passes defensed. NFL Media’s Gil Brandt ranked Pride as his No. 5 senior cornerback prospect for next spring’s draft back in May.

Pride (6'0/190) has collegiate track speed and should post strong athletic numbers during pre-draft testing, so his film will largely determine his draft stock. With former Irish CB Julian Love in the NFL, Pride will be tested often in 2019, but he should win most matchups as one of the more intriguing corner prospects in the country.

A star on the Fighting Irish track squad, Pride has turned in times of 6.77s (60 meters), 10.60s (100 meters) and 21.36s (200 meters) in college. He had 12 total tackles in eight games (three starts) last year. He came out of spring ball listed third on the depth chart.