Amare Ferrell
Indiana#153 overallDraft Movement
Down 29 spots since Jun 8
Scouting Report
Amare Ferrell is one of the more well-rounded safety prospects in this cycle, a long, explosive 6-2, 205-pound defender who anchored an Indiana secondary that helped the Hoosiers reach the National Championship Game. He ranked as high as a top-50 overall prospect (a top-5 safety) early in the cycle before settling around the back of the top 100, and he turned in a strong coverage season in 2025. He plays with a sound backpedal, fluid matching skills in zone, and quick click-and-close reaction over the top of route breaks, giving him a wide technical palette to respond to concepts. He is also a reliable downhill presence in run support, fast-flowing and urgent with a quick trigger and the frame to size up ball carriers. Evaluators peg him as not elite in any single category but at least serviceable across the board, projecting best as a two-high safety with single-high appeal and playmaking upside. He proved his ball production with four interceptions in each of the past two seasons and a national-leading-caliber seven pass breakups among safeties in 2025. Against Penn State he managed space and route relationships well and notched a pass breakup at the catch point, then broke up the game-sealing Hail Mary. The knocks are real: good-not-great long speed, occasional lapses in coverage communication and role responsibility, and inconsistency engaging blocks against physical run games. He elected to return to Indiana for his senior year with his sights set on the 2027 NFL Draft.
Strengths
- Elite ball production with four interceptions in each of the last two seasons and eight career picks (tied 16th in IU history)
- graded as one of the top coverage safeties in the Big Ten in 2025 and among the conference's top-eight safeties in 2024
- sound, patient backpedal and fluid hip transitions to match routes in zone
- quick click-and-close reaction over the top of breaking routes
- wide technical palette in coverage with the movement skills to respond to multiple concepts
- reliable downhill tackler who flows fast and triggers with urgency in run support
- 6-2, 205 frame with length and explosiveness to play deep and contest at the catch point
- versatile two-high safety with single-high range
Weaknesses
- Good-not-great long speed limits true single-high range
- occasional lapses in coverage communication and role responsibility he must iron out
- struggled at times to engage and shed blocks against physical run schemes like Penn State
- needs to match NFL physicality to hold leverage in support
- not elite in any single trait, a jack-of-all-trades profile
- tackling consistency in space wavers when forced to impose his will
- modest interception return production (8.8 then 4.2 yards per return) shows limited burst after the catch
NFL Comparison
Jevon Holland (versatile two-high safety with zone fluidity and ball skills but not a true burner); Julian Blackmon (Indiana product who plays a savvy, well-rounded centerfield role with takeaway production); Jordan Poyer (instinctive, scheme-versatile safety whose value is the sum of solid parts rather than one elite trait)
College Stats
2023 (Fr): 12 GP, 10 tackles, 1 TFL; 2024 (So): 13 GP/13 starts, 49 tackles, 4 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 4 INT (35 yds), 5 PD; 2025 (Jr): 16 GP/15 starts, 48 tackles, 2 TFL, 4 INT, 10 PD; Career: 41 GP/28 starts, 107 tackles, 7 TFL-27 yds, 1.5 sacks, 8 INT-52 yds, 15 PD
College Market Value
Our model prices him at $903K on the open college market, built from production, pedigree, role and Indiana's program money. No credible deal has been reported for him this season.
Every P4 player priced, math public: College players & NIL · Roster spend
Measurables
Awards & Honors
2025 second-team All-Big Ten (media), All-Big Ten honorable mention (coaches); graded among the top safeties in the Big Ten in 2024; projected as a top-five safety in the class on early draft boards; a projected Day 3 pick in 2027 consensus rankings; CFP National Championship Game participant (15-0 Indiana); former four-star recruit, a top-40 DB nationally; All-First Coast (HS)