(Photo via @FSUFootball on Twitter)
Florida State cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. was on CBS Sports' "All Things Covered" podcast last month with former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden and current Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson to talk about the draft process, along with being the son of two-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowler Asante Samuel Sr.
"It's a blessing to have an NFL father. I mean, [there's] a lot of advantages to it," Samuel Jr. said. "But disadvantages, there's people trying to compare me all the time to him, thinking I'm him, thinking we just the same person. We kind of the same, but we very different in many ways."
Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert were both at the Florida State pro day and Samuel had a virtual meeting with the Steelers. Samuel said he has "pretty much" met with every team in the league twice, but there are a few from which he's getting a "good vibe." The Steelers are one of them.
"The Steelers, the Browns and the Jets," Samuel said, confirming that Mike Tomlin was at his pro day.
Tomlin was captured talking to Samuel at the Florida State pro day.
(Photo via @FSUFootball on Twitter)
With the Steelers losing Mike Hilton in free agency and releasing Steven Nelson as a cap casualty, the Steelers could use another cornerback and Samuel would be a good fit in the second round.
Samuel had four interceptions and 29 passes defended in his three years at Florida State. He was named first-team All-ACC in 2020.
Below is a scouting report on Samuel by The Draft Network.
"The son of four-time NFL Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel, Asante Samuel Jr. enters the NFL after a strong career in the ACC on a struggling Seminoles defense. Samuel Jr. is a touch undersized, but he is outstanding in man coverage where his natural pattern matching instincts, loose hips, and quick feet make him tough to separate from. Despite not having ideal size, Samuel Jr. is a competitive run defender and tackler that gets his work done and isn’t a liability. While his frame may suggest to some that he’s slot only in the NFL, he’s in the mold of a Brandon Flowers/Denzel Ward and fully capable of playing wide in the NFL like he did in college—although he does have some experience in the slot. Where Samuel Jr. has room to grow is in his zone coverage reps and ball skills. He played mostly man coverage in college and he isn’t nearly as comfortable in zone reps. From a ball skills perspective, he isn’t consistent finding the ball in the air and getting his head around, creating issues when challenged with his back to the line of scrimmage. Samuel Jr. has the potential to start at the next level for a defense that plays a lot of man coverage and is willing to move him around to maximize his strengths."