Jaycee Horn
No. 2 CB, No. 11 Overall
Born: 11/26/1999
Height: 6’1
Weight: 205 Lbs
Position: Cornerback
University: South Carolina
About Jaycee
A Georgia bred product, Jaycee Horn played high school football at Alpharetta High School in Alpharetta, Georgia. Horn was an unanimous four-star cornerback, and helped lead his high school to the third round of the Georgia 6A Playoffs. Schools from all over the country offered Jaycee Horn a scholarship to their school. Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, and of course Georgia. At one point Horn was committed to the University of Tennessee, but ultimately chose to commit to the University of South Carolina on December 18th, 2017.
Jaycee would see the field early in his career, starting in 10 of the 11 games he played in during the 2017 season. This would make him just the seventh true freshman to start in a season opener for the Gamecocks, joining a list with names like Stephon Gilmore and Jadeveon Clowney. He finished the year with 45 total tackles, four for a loss, two sacks and eight pass deflections. His performance was strong enough to earn him a selection to the SEC All-Freshman team from league coaches. An ankle injury would cause Horn to miss the last two games of the regular season, but was able to play in the Belk Bowl vs Virginia.
We would see no drop off going into his sophomore season, putting up great numbers once again. This time around he would finish with 40 total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, two forced fumbles and nine pass deflections. Both forced fumbles and the sack came in their season opener against North Carolina. Horn would also have a career high seven tackles in their upset victory over No. 3 Georgia. Shockingly this didn’t earn him any off season accolades but don’t let that take away from him being one of the best cornerbacks in the SEC in 2019.
Just like many other prospects 2020 would make for a very odd season. Early in the season you saw Horn put up the best performances in his career vs Auburn. Then in games like Texas A&M, and Mississippi State the Gamecock defense was hopeless. After the Miss. State loss South Carolina fired head coach Will Muschamp after a 28-30 record over five years. The very next day Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu announced they would be opting out of the rest of the season to pursue the 2021 NFL Draft.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Big or small, Jaycee Horn can cover you. He is physical at the line of scrimmage, and can really bully receivers for most of the game. His quick feet, and strong stance at the line of scrimmage allow him to do so. He does a good job at staying calm, and patient while covering his routes.
The game against Florida (2020) is a perfect example of his ability to cover all sizes of receivers. At one point in the game you can find him covering in the slot receiver who stands 6’5. At other points you see him lined up against Kyle Pitts, undoubtedly the best tight end in college football, and cover him very well.
Weaknesses
One of my favorite things about Horn, also tends to be his downfall at times too. His physicality against receivers will cause him to be flagged in the NFL, and already shows a slight problem with it in college. I would much rather him be aggressive than timid, and is a trait that will need to be worked on as he gets to the next level. You would like to see him create more turnovers, only having two interceptions in 30 career games, but the ball still isn’t being caught either.
NFL Draft Projection/NFL Player Comp
NFL Draft Projection
The race to be the No. 1 CB in the 2021 NFL Draft class is probably the tightest of any position group. We have five cornerbacks that could easily be the representative for the position, and it seems who No. 1 is will change week to week. With that being said all five will also most likely be taken in the 1st round of this year’s upcoming draft.
Currently I have Horn as my No. 2 cornerback, and my No. 11 prospect overall. Defenses are going to need to start matching up their secondary depth with the receiving depth pumped into the NFL. With teams like New England, Chicago, and San Francisco all picking in the middle of the draft right now; it is hard for me to see him not being called with the first 25 picks.
NFL Player Comp
Teams might be a little discouraged to draft Horn due to his lack of interceptions, but that would be a mistake. Similarly to Byron Jones, Jaycee Horn is a premier cornerback even though his stats may not suggest as much. Both are big athletic cornerbacks, who can be top level cornerbacks but just don’t get the love they deserve. As stated earlier, Horn has two interceptions in 30 career games, but he also has 23 pass break ups to his name. Not to mention all the smart cornerbacks wouldn’t test his side of the field half the time anyway.
