Welcome back to Saturday Scouting (back on a Saturday!). One of the frustrating things about living outside of the Tampa market is that I can’t attend training camp nearly as often as I would like. And so, like many of you I rely on the fantastic reporting of my colleagues at Pewter Report and elsewhere to better understand who is standing out during camp.

One name I can’t seem to get away from is rookie undrafted free agent cornerback Ayden Garnes. Garnes, the just under six-feet-tall is vying for one of the legitimately up-for-grabs spots on the final 53-man roster as the Bucs’ fourth/fifth outside corner. Admittedly, prior to the Bucs signing him, I had not heard of Garnes before. That makes him a perfect subject for this week’s Saturday Scouting!

Bucs Rookie CB Ayden Garnes

Ayden Garnes was a zero-star prospect out of Drexel Hill, PA, who committed to Duquesne in the fall of 2020 and enrolled the following year. After playing three years there, including a fantastic 2023 season where he notched eight pass breakups and two interceptions plus five pressures and a sack, he transferred to West Virginia in 2024.

While only playing six games with the Mountaineers, Garnes allowed a catch rate just barely north of 50%. At that point he had raised his profile enough to be a three-star prospect in the transfer portal as he moved to Arizona for his final season of college ball. In 2025, Garnes posted 44 tackles, 12 defensive stops, four pass breakups and an interception according to Pro Football Focus.

His overall production profile, playing in a power four conference was solid as a coverage defender.

Ayden Garnes Physical Profile

Garnes was not invited to the NFL Combine, but did post a few eye-opening numbers at his Pro Day.

Height – 5-11.25
Weight – 181 pounds
Arm Length – 31.25″
Hand Size – 8.625″
40-Yard Dash – 4.39 seconds
10-Yard Split – 1.58 seconds
Broad Jump – 10’9
Vertical – 36″
Short Shuttle – 4.28
3-Cone – 7.03

His 40-yard dash and broad jump belie a player with a strong lower half who can create real speed.

Ayden Garnes Scouting Report

I watched three of Ayden Garnes’ 2025 games: Week 8 @ Houston, Week 13 vs. Baylor and Week 14 @ Arizona State

What I found over that period is a player with quick and agile feet, smooth hips and game speed that make him a perfect option for man or zone concepts, but whose smaller stature may prove problematic, especially in a league where offensive coordinators will pick at any deficiency they can find.

Coverage

Garnes seems to prefer working on the line in a press alignment. Here he can match footwork and stay in phase from jump street. He doesn’t often throw a jab/punch/stab off the snap. He prefers to win the matchup with footwork, mirroring and forcing receivers to release to the outside where he can condense space and force quarterbacks to turn down throws in his direction.

As a man corner this often works and when he is covering verticals he almost always caps the route.

Against hard, static stems he is quick to decelerate and stay in the receiver’s hip pocket, covering curls, hitches and comebacks quickly. Part of this is because Garnes is so comfortable in his backpedal, not transitioning out of it until the last possible moment and forcing receivers to declare their routes.

Alternatively, he can play half-turn and because his hips are so smooth – something his athletic testing fails to show – and that combined with his plus angles relative to his coverage assignment, he can do it without too much worry that he may get his face crossed. Those loose hips also aide him when playing in off coverage to turn and burn quickly, or when necessary, click and close on short breakers.

In zone, Garnes shows he’s a quick processor. He deciphers games, shadows, and switches easily as he passes off and picks up receivers. From my watch he rarely ended up out of position when playing a deep third or in a quarters match assignment. And beyond his own processing he also showed high-level communication skills pointing out what he was seeing and doing to make sure his teammates were on the same page.

Todd Bowles’ defense requires plus communicators, so this bodes well for him sticking on the roster.

Bucs CBs Ayden Garnes and Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In the red zone he trusts his eyes and natural athleticism, choosing to undercut in-breaking routes in an effort to break up, or even intercept passes. That’s something I wish Garnes would implement in between the twenties as it would improve his ball production. As it is he does force contested catches and incompletions more than he breaks up or intercepts passes. And the middle of the field is where he allows most catches as he can be late to bite on in-breakers.

My biggest concern with Garnes comes down to how well he develops his press technique. I understand his preference to mirror footwork as his lighter weight make jabs a dangerous proposition. Against bigger and more physical receivers he can get shoved out of position rather easily. But without the threat of a shove, he’s inviting the receiver to bring the fight to him. It’s a real flaw that may be beyond coaching.

Run Defense and Tackling

This is the biggest deficiency in Garnes’ game. His size puts him at an extreme disadvantage. When he tries to square up a ball carrier, he cannot bring the pop necessary for a quick and physical takedown. He really needs to wrap and drag. The problem is that too often Garnes is aiming at their ankles leading to whiffs or glances. His fifth percentile missed tackle rate (24.1% in 2025) is real and all over his tape.

The demeanor is fine as he closes with speed and confidence. It’s the aiming point and lack of size that lead to issues with his finish.

Beyond the tackling issues, Garnes is a smart player when defending the run. He aggressively attacks perimeter screens and holds outside leverage well, actively working to funnel wide zone and sweeps back to the inside where his help is located. But when engaged with larger humans Garnes understandably struggles to hold up due to his smaller size. He has to rely on his quick feet to get around and under blocks and put him in position to make a play.

But the consistency at which he does it is fair to question – especially when considering the jump in competition.

Bucs CB Ayden Garnes – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Pass Rushing

I doubt Garnes is used as a pass rusher all that often, but when asked to in the past he has the timing and speed to be effective, especially as a backside rusher off condensed looks. As a slot defender his ability would be lessened because protection plans would account for him more often pre-snap and his size limitations would factor in more heavily.

Summary

Ayden Garnes is a smart, quick-twitch coverage corner with good balance and footwork and an ability to transition that goes well beyond what his athletic testing would insinuate. But his smaller frame and poor tackling tendencies put a real ceiling on who he can be at the NFL level. Had I evaluated him for the 2026 NFL Draft I would have had him in my fifth tier which is a draftable grade across a full draft class.

The athletic traits are real. As are the size limitations. But Garnes has the smarts to leverage his pluses into a depth corner with special teams functionality. And while I did not see any tape of him in the slot, his best coverage season came in 2023 where he predominantly played inside. Conventional football wisdom would say that is where he best profiles because of his smaller frame.

But I believe he can hang on the outside in coverage, and with run games what they are in the modern NFL, Garnes’ tackling issues would be exacerbated in the slot.