Andrew
Mukuba.
Andrew
Mukuba.
Texas· 5'11"· 186 lb· 4.45s 40
"A rangy, coverage-first safety with elite ball skills and undeniable production, Mukuba’s NFL value hinges on his ability to overcome an undersized frame that could limit his impact against NFL-caliber physicality."Pre-draft read
Single-high free safety who played most of his college snaps as the deep-middle eraser and rotated down as a robber or slot defender on passing downs. The trait that shows first is range: he reads the quarterback from a two-high shell, triggers on the throw and covers the far hash with economical footwork. Ball skills finish it — he tracks the deep ball like a receiver and attacks the catch point.
The secondary trait is downhill trigger. He fires into the alley against the run and arrives with force for his frame, but the finish is inconsistent and he leaves tackles on the field when he goes low. He tested in the top tier athletically. The signature is turnover instinct: five interceptions as a senior, most created by anticipation.
Two-high, match-zone defense (Fangio/Quarters family) that asks the free safety to play the deep half and rob route concepts
Year 1: rotational deep safety who takes over the single-high and split-safety job by midseason. Ceiling: high-volume starting free safety who produces four-plus takeaways a year as the back-end eraser.
A downhill 4-3 defense that parks its strong safety in the box, asks him to take on lead blockers and pulling guards, and to cover tight ends in true man — his 186-pound frame and inconsistent tackle finish get exposed on every early down.
Coverage snaps must outnumber run-fit snaps; keep him off the line of scrimmage and let the range play.
Andrew Mukuba | Safety | Full 2024 Texas Highlights | 2025 NFL Draft
Full senior-season reel showing the deep-middle range and all five interceptions.
Andrew Mukuba - Texas | 2024 Highlights | 2025 NFL Draft
Condensed draft cut-up focused on ball skills at the catch point.
Andrew Mukuba Significant Snaps vs Cowboys Highlights
NFL debut snaps with Philadelphia in Week 1 of the 2025 season.
A four-year starter and modern two-high safety whose identity is coverage first. He is a deep-zone processor who plays with his eyes, drives on route concepts before they declare, and produces takeaways as a function of anticipation. He is not a box safety and he is not a dime linebacker; put him on the back end and let him roam.
The production arc is the story. Three years at Clemson made him a known quantity — ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year as a true freshman with 47 tackles and seven pass breakups — but the middle years stalled, with one interception across 2022 and 2023 and a junior season cut to ten games. Texas restarted it. In 2024 he posted 69 tackles, five interceptions to lead the SEC, four tackles for loss and third-team all-conference honors on a playoff semifinalist. The flag was just as clear: at 5-11 and 186 pounds he is one of the lightest safeties in the class, and the tackling tape swings from violent to arm-drag.
The board had him as a clean Day 2 safety, roughly fourth or fifth at the position, with a range from late first to mid-second depending on how a team weighted the frame. Philadelphia took him at 64 as the answer to trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson, betting Vic Fangio's two-high structure would protect the size and monetize the range.
- 01
Deep range
reads the quarterback from a two-high shell and covers hash to hash with efficient footwork, erasing the middle of the field.
- 02
Ball skills
plays the deep ball like a receiver, high-points at the catch point and turned that into five interceptions as a senior at Texas.
- 03
Anticipation
processes route concepts early and drives on the throw before it declares, which is where most of his college takeaways came from.
- 04
Timed speed
ran 4.45 at 186 pounds, top-tier long speed for the position that lets him recover on double moves and carry vertical seams.
- 05
Alignment flexibility
logged real snaps at free safety, in the robber role and over the slot, giving a coordinator disguise on the back end.
- 01
Frame
5-11 and 186 pounds is among the lightest in the class, and it shows when tight ends and backs reach the second level on him.
- 02
Tackling finish
dips his head and goes low in the alley, which turns clean angles into arm drags and gives up yards after contact.
- 03
Middle-career lull
one interception across 2022 and 2023 at Clemson, with a junior year cut to ten games, so the resume rests on one big season.
- 04
Man coverage reps
limited experience matched up in true man against detached receivers, so his projection is largely zone-structure dependent.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.45sp50
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
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- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Clemson | 13 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2022 | Clemson | 12 | 40 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | Clemson | 10 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2024 | Texas | 15 | 69 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| Career | — | 50 | 191 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Fast, undersized starting safety with real playmaking and real tackling volatility.
Rangy, light-framed deep safety whose ball production carries the profile.
Athletic rotational safety who never locks down full-time snaps.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Philadelphia handed him the job almost immediately. He opened 2025 rotating behind Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown, then took over as the full-time starter next to Blankenship and finished with 11 games, 10 starts and 672 defensive snaps at 93 percent participation when active. The line reads 46 tackles, two interceptions for 41 return yards, three pass breakups, half a sack and two tackles for loss. Vic Fangio called the season "uneven" in October — the missed tackle that became a 35-yard Wan'Dale Robinson touchdown against the Giants was the low point — then publicly declared him "no longer a rookie" by Week 12. The Eagles placed him on injured reserve on November 26 and activated him on February 15, 2026.
The honest read is that the pre-draft split showed up exactly as scouted. Advanced charting had him allowing 16 receptions on 25 targets with three touchdowns and a passer rating above 117 in coverage, while his run-defense work graded near the top third of starting safeties. Range and takeaway instinct translated; the frame and the finish did not, at least not yet. With one full season of tape he is an entrenched Year 2 starter on a contending defense rather than a solved question, and the Gardner-Johnson replacement bet is still open.