What went wrong with Noah Igbinoghene?

Coming out of Auburn in the 2020 draft, Noah Igbinoghene was one of the mostly highly regarded cornerback classes in years – 6 were taken in the first round, including Igbinoghene.

Three years in with the Dolphins, however, he had only started in five games, and had collected a single interception. Before the 2023 season, he was traded to the Cowboys for a former second round pick, cornerback Kelvin Joseph, with each team perhaps hoping a change of scenery would benefit the pair. By any statistical account, it did not.

So how did Igbinoghene go from a former top 30 pick to signing with Washington at a vet minimum salary as a free agent over the span of four years?

The Beginning

The son of two Olympic-caliber athletes from Nigeria, Igbinoghene was a high school track star who began his college career at Auburn as a wide receiver and kick returner. During his sophomore season he moved to cornerback and started nine games there, continuing his kick returner duties – and improving as a kick returner year-over-year during his three years as a Tiger.

He decided to enter the draft after his junior season, where he started all 13 games.

Here is a sampling from his pre-draft profiles:

Stocky but explosive receiver-turned-cornerback whose play generates both intrigue and concern. He’s extremely physical from snap to whistle with the strength to alter route timing from press. He’s a good athlete with a plus burst to close. He’s naturally aggressive to ambush catch tries. Staying in phase on the vertical plane is a challenge and pattern recognition is surprisingly average. Improvement is likely with more experience and technique, but playing with downfield poise is not guaranteed. He’s good in run support and offers early special teams help as he continues to learn his craft.

Strengths

Very strong and very physical. Explosive athleticism. Tremendously competitive with outstanding practice habits. Treats press jam like a sparring session. Repetitive strikes to inside shoulder help grind on the release. Instant acceleration to open and chase. Low center of gravity for quicker change of direction. Shows ability for early recovery in short spaces. Aggressive challenges diminish receivers’ focus at catch point. Heavy chops through receivers’ arms and hands force incompletions. Good balance and radar as open-field tackler. Two career kick return touchdowns and gunner talent.

Weaknesses

Very raw with just two years playing the position. Lacks natural footwork and fluidity in space. Inconsistent mirroring release and timing up his opening. Slow to sort what he sees from off coverage. Eye balance between receiver and quarterback is lacking. Plays with all power and no finesse. Below average at staying in phase with the route. Panic sets in with his back to the ball. Yellow flags find him when he doesn’t find the ball. Tackles up high and needs to lower his target aim.

From another profile:

Bottom Line on Noah Igbinoghene

Igbinoghene’s speed, strength, and competitiveness make him an intriguing prospect for the NFL. Furthermore, his switch to cornerback makes him an unpolished but full-of-potential athlete. Igbinoghene’s physical characteristics and motivation will make up for his lack of experience at cornerback to start.

Igbinoghene will definitely have a learning curve in the NFL. But his last two seasons at Auburn showed that he’s ready for a challenge. When he lines up at cornerback or returns kicks, look for him to play with speed and intensity. Igbinoghene should be a day two selection, but his potential is through the roof.

NFL Comparison: Richard Sherman

And one, final profile:

Igbinoghene isn’t as polished as some of the cornerbacks ranked ahead of him, but he’s an intriguing athlete with all of the tools to be a good pro. He can excel in a press-man scheme—something he did a ton of in college—and has shown the fight to be a dog at the line of scrimmage and down the field in coverage. Expect him to work his way into a starting job quickly.

PRO COMPARISON: Desmond Trufant/Byron Murphy

So there are several common themes throughout his pre-draft evaluations, most notably, that he was extremely athletic, but raw, and that he probably needed some time to hone his skills. Throughout, he was also projected as a Day 2 pick in the lead up to draft, so – introspect – his selection was probably a bit of a “reach.”

Time in the Pros

The Dolphins tried to start him out of the gate opposite Xavien Howard – while Jalen Ramsey was out – but he lost his starting position to veteran, Eli Apple.

Like so many underperforming first round selections, the “bust” label eventually made its way to Igbinoghene, but right up to the moment he was traded to the Cowboys, he persevered:

No one has worked harder this off-season than Igbinoghene. He is trying to turn his career into something meaningful but so far, it doesn’t seem to be working out. His teammates were talking him up throughout the OTAs and mini-camps. Citing his work ethic and film study.

Unfortunately, Igbinoghene is still making the mistakes that by now he shouldn’t be making. He is biting on routes and player moves and allowing receivers to get behind him. He may be trying too hard.

Igbinoghene probably was never going to be an outside corner though, he seems more suited to being a float nickel back. More like what Brian Flores had in mind for Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Igbinoghene only played in five games with Cowboys last year, with most of his snaps on special teams (where he blocked a field goal against the Giants), but he did decided to follow Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt to DC, to see if he might be able to have one last chance to save his NFL career.

Checking in on Blogging the Boys, his departure merited almost no commentary from the fanbase:

The loss of Igbi is not significant news. Every team churns through the bottom depth of their roster, losing players who contributed very little and had very little potential of becoming major contributors. Regarding RB, there is no secret that Dallas wants cheap draft picks to fill this position—probably with a day 2 or 3 pick

Conclusion

It’s hard to get too worked up about “Igbi” at this point in the offseason, as the odds seem pretty heavily stacked against him. But in looking into his background, I do read several things that I like: He’s a very good athlete, he works hard, and he’s good around the line of scrimmage. That said, he continues to make mistakes that a four-year veteran should not be making.

It would probably be harder for him to be in better hands than those of Joe Whitt (and Dan Quinn), and its clear that he brings special teams talent to the team. The question will be, with the draftees, undrafted free agents, and existing DBs on the team, will Igbinoghene offer enough to be worth keeping around?