Lions draft prospect of the day: Malik Mustapha, S, Wake Forest
Today’s Lions Draft Prospect of the Day is one of the most physically impressive figures in the 2024 draft class.
The focus for these potential Lions prospects is on players who should hold some appeal for Detroit in the draft. Not all will be top-100 players, though today’s featured player could threaten to crack that mark.
Malik Mustapha, S, Wake Forest
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 209 pounds (measured at NFL Scouting Combine)
Mustapha was a three-year player and two-year starter for a good Demon Deacons defense, primarily playing as a box safety. A transfer from Richmond after one year, Mustapha racked up 175 tackles, four sacks, 10 pass breakups, four INTs and also forced four fumbles in his three years in Winston-Salem. He was a team captain in his final season and appeared in the Senior Bowl. He led all DBs in bench press reps at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine with 22.
The Lions met with Mustapha at the Senior Bowl and informally at the combine. Age is not verified, but he was in the high school class of 2020.
What I like
Very impressive muscular build
Despite being very muscular, he’s not stiff as an athlete
Big-time hitter with an enforcer mentality in short-area coverage and run defense
Really good closing burst to the point of attack; GPS timed over 23 MPH in-game
Impactful between-the-tackles run defense, an excellent terminator of interior run plays
Good at avoiding blocks, and his angles to the ball have shown improvement
Disciplined in containment and gap assignment in the run game
Can turn and run with any RB or TE in coverage
What worries me going into the NFL
Bites hard on play-action and well-run route fakes and has never gotten better at avoiding it
Can be very late to recognize the ball in the air
Does have special teams experience but missed as many tackles (6) as he made for Wake Forest in kick coverage
Lacks length in coverage
Has an oddly small tackling radius with short arms (30″)
Missed tackle rate over 18 percent for three years, did improve in 2023 (12.5% per PFF)
Instincts in coverage are spotty
Wasn’t asked to blitz despite often being in an alignment where he could
Overall
Mustapha has a first-guy-off-the-bus build and the explosive athleticism to match. He did play some high safety and a little bit of heavy slot in college, but Mustapha doesn’t have the savviness or ball awareness in coverage to do that very often. In the NFL, he’s a box safety who is really more of an undersized linebacker. Think of a shorter Miles Killebrew but with much better run defense. Mustapha generally projects in the 90-150 overall range, an area where the Lions don’t currently have any selections.