Cornerback is the one position of need for the Green Bay Packers that is projected to be deeper than average within the space of the draft the Packers will truly decide in, as they’ll be out of their first-round picks for the following two years. We’re slowly chipping by way of some cornerback prospects for the 2026 draft right here at Acme Packing Company, and have already got scouting experiences up on Alabama’s Domani Jackson and Washington’s Tacario Davis. Today, although, we’re right here to speak about Arkansas’ Julian Neal, a prolonged former receiver and basketball participant who will most likely be picked on Day 2 this yr.
Background
Neal performed prep soccer at Mission High School in San Francisco, California, the place he performed security, together with vast receiver (all-city) and basketball (all-city). Unfortunately, as a result of pandemic, he didn’t have a senior season earlier than signing his letter of intent to Fresno State.
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As a recruit, the one provides he acquired had been from Fresno State, San Jose State and the FCS’ Eastern Washington. Overall, he was thought-about to be the 1,068th high school player in the 2021 class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings, making him the 136th California product and the 128th “athlete” within the cycle. “Athlete” is a designation given to a participant who can play a number of positions. Neal was checked out as each a receiver and a defensive again on the subsequent degree.
According to the charting information, Neal solely performed 11 snaps of protection over his first two years at Fresno State, regardless of taking part in in seven video games mixed over 2021 and 2022. He took a redshirt yr in 2021, however didn’t see the sphere a lot in 2022, both.
By 2023, he began getting concerned extra within the exterior cornerback rotation for the Bulldogs, taking part in 103 snaps. In 2024, he was a full-time starter for the primary time, taking part in 450 snaps at exterior cornerback. Then, issues bought funky together with his teaching scenario.
In 2022 and 2023, he performed for head coach Jeff Tedford, who was additionally Aaron Rodgers’ head coach at Cal. Before the 2024 season, Tedford stepped away to cope with a well being difficulty (this has occurred earlier than with Tedford, notably through the 2014 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and after the 2019 season, his first stint with Fresno State).
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The interim head coach for the Bulldogs in 2024 was Tim Skipper, the previous assistant head coach and linebackers coach of the group. Skipper had beforehand been the pinnacle coach for the group’s bowl recreation in 2023, after Tedford stepped away.
After the 2024 season, when the Bulldogs went 4-3 in convention, 6-7 total and misplaced the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in a double extra time recreation in opposition to Northern Illinois, Skipper was let go (he resurfaced at UCLA, the place he was once more named an interim head coach in 2025). Less than per week after Fresno State employed Matt Entz, former USC assistant head coach and North Dakota State head coach, Neal hit the portal.
Neal, a highschool honor roll scholar, had the grades to switch to Stanford as a graduate, which is pretty uncommon. For perspective, Stanford has informed loads of starters prior to now that that they had the grades to play for them as undergraduates, however that when they graduated, they didn’t have the grades to stay on the roster as graduate college students. It’s truly a fairly large deal that Neal, who held an accounting diploma from Fresno State, was capable of switch into Stanford as a redshirt senior.
Then the Cardinals fired Troy Taylor in March, after he had twice been investigated for his treatment of fellow athletic department employees. Because of the teaching change, Neal hit the switch portal for the second time in a single offseason, and he was thought-about to be one of many largest names within the spring portal window. Neal was hardly the one Stanford participant to go away after Taylor was fired, too. Notably, David Bailey of Texas Tech, currently considered a top-10 prospect in the upcoming NFL draft, additionally left the Cardinal within the spring.
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In the portal, Neal was ranked the 73rd overall player in the class by 247Sports. Those rankings included each winter and spring portal transfers.
He ended up at Arkansas, the place he earned his second season as a full-time starter on the school degree, regardless of lacking all of spring apply with the Razorbacks.
Neal is a little bit bit on the older aspect, as he’ll flip 23 years outdated in February. And for what it’s price, his brother, EJ Neal, is a guard on USC’s basketball group.
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Scouting Report
The first issues that stand out about Neal are his measurement and his ball expertise. The vast receiver/basketball background actually reveals up throughout the board.
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He measured in at 6’1.5” and 202 kilos on the Senior Bowl. He additionally has 33 1/eighth” arms, which are in the 94th percentile of cornerbacks according to Mockdraftable. In his closing two years of school soccer, his two years as a full-time starter, he posted 16 complete move breakups and introduced in 4 interceptions.
I don’t consider that the Packers are going to be a press-man protection group beneath Jonathan Gannon, whose defenses have played quarters coverages more than any team in the NFL over the last five seasons, however Arkansas did play an honest quantity of it this yr. Often, Neal doesn’t present a terrific skill of having the ability to use that size when pressed up on receivers, which finally ends up making him look flat-footed when he misses his preliminary strike. A clip under reveals a rep of Neal in one-on-ones on the Senior Bowl, which is a style of what his lowlights appear like.
With that being stated, he does have stable motion expertise, even when it takes him some time to construct as much as full velocity. He’ll by no means get beat deep with out at the very least making it a contested catch, however he can fall behind on digs and crossing routes. I’m assuming that he’ll run within the 4.5s within the 40-yard sprint this draft season. What’s fascinating is that his click-close skill is fairly good when he has to set off downhill. He’s rather a lot sooner going downhill all of the sudden than in protection for some motive. That could also be a development alternative, relying on how he runs.
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Speaking of his skill to go downhill, he fights blocks on screens and sticks his nostril right into a ball-carrier when given the possibility. It’s no shock that he tackles a little bit excessive, contemplating his body, however he makes use of his arms to carry guys down as an alternative of solely counting on going low together with his pads, like some smaller cornerbacks.
Ultimately, I view him as a stable mover who wants a LOT of development if he’s going to be taking part in in a press-man scheme (not a lot of them left in 2026), however needs to be extra valued by groups who will need him to play off protection, the place his measurement and ball expertise are able to have an effect on video games already. He doesn’t have a ton of expertise beneath his belt, so there’s an opportunity that the arrow continues to go up year-over-year. Neal could be very a lot an outdoor cornerback who you most likely don’t need within the slot. He seems to be the a part of a Day 2 choice to me.