Rookie free agent profile: Dionte Dinkins, CB, Fort Valley State

Dionte Dinkins 6'1” 195
CB, Fort Valley State

Rankings: 42nd-ranked cornerback by Pro Football Weekly. Free agent grade. Should be able to make an NFL training camp.

NFLDraftScout: Ranked 60^th at cornerback, 600^th overall. Free agent grade.

Biography/honors:
2010: 16 tackles, one INT, 5 pass break-ups, 6 passes defended, one forced fumble, two blocked kicks in 7 games.
2009: Second-team all-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 4 INTs. Usually assigned to cover opponent's best receiver.

If Fort Valley State keeps football statistics, they're not very big on putting them where they can be found easily online.

Major: Unknown.

Injuries:
2010: Missed four games early in the season with an unspecified injury. Was limited at his pro day due to a shoulder injury, which may also have kept him from participating in the 2011 CACTUS BOWL. Hard to know for sure, I'm flying blinder than usual here.

Pro Day Stats: (not invited to NFL Combine)
4.57 40
4.30 short shuttle
7.15 3-cone drill
33” vertical jump
9'10” broad jump

Did not bench press due to shoulder injury.

Positives: Physical corner with excellent ball awareness. Impressive physique with very good size for the position. Big enough to play safety. Defends quick slants and back-shoulder passes well. Reads the QB well and reads routes well. Doesn't back down from big receivers. Can knock receivers off their routes, cut off their routes, beat them to the ball. Decent closing speed. Nice open field hitter. Doesn't need a lot of buildup to deliver a solid hit. Factor on special teams; can block FGs and punts. Solid work ethic and mental approach to the game. Drew interest from the Giants.

Negatives: Is already 25 years old. Marginal speed. Turn-and-chase defender, overreliant on late close on ball. NFL QBs are going to eat that for lunch. Appears to have played mostly man, but in a six-minute highlight film of a big corner, I don't believe he ever jams a receiver at the line. Doesn't appear that he played very much zone. Receivers with speed are going to give him fits. He'll draw more illegal contact flags in the NFL than he did in college, too. Plays at a level of competition where there's hardly any scouting information available. Hell, there's hardly any reliable statistics available.

Compares to: William Gay.

Fun Facts: FVSU's defensive captain Dinkins' junior season was a senior corner by the name of... Steven Jackson. Fort Valley State, in central Georgia, has produced NFL players such as Hall-of-Famer Rayfield Wright, Greg Lloyd, Tyrone Poole and Nick Harper.

RamView: When you play Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis, Mike Williams and now Sidney Rice and Zack Miller twice a season, you load up on all the big corners you can find. Dinkins fits that bill, looks good matched up against big receivers on tape, and is an impact player on special teams. We'll see if he can take the route Dominique Curry took to the pros last season. Excel at special teams in camp, and let the rest take care of itself. He has the physical tools to be developed into a nice press corner by a team that has the time to do it.

Sources: Pro Football Weekly 2011 Draft Guide, NFLDraftScout.com, CBS Sports, DraftBulletin.com

Photo: North Carolina Central University