Bishop Fitzgerald S USC |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #19 ROLE: Man-Zone Slot/Nickel Safety | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 03/08/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.55 seconds (56%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl Invite: Shrine Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jersey: #19 | |
| ROLE: Man-Zone Slot/Nickel Safety | |
| Last Updated: 03/08/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.55 seconds (56%*) | |
| Bowl Invite: Shrine Bowl | |
| Overall Rating: | 84.0 / 100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced | ||
| Offense Rating: |
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76% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| QB Rating When targeted: | 83.2 | |
| Tackling: |
|
86% |
| Run Defense: |
|
79% |
| Coverage: |
|
92% |
| Zone: |
|
90% |
| Man/Press: |
|
92% |
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DRAFT PROJECTION:
4th
Overall Rank:
#125
Position rank:
#28 (DB)
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| College Games: 36 College Snaps: 1802 | ||
247 RATING: 88/100
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Malachi Moore - Alabama |
|
86% |
| Xavier Watts - Notre Dame |
|
85% |
| Jordan Battle - Alabama |
|
85% |
Draft Profile: Bio
Bishop Fitzgerald played quarterback at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, leading the program to its first district title since 1994 as a senior in 2021. He threw a 97-yard touchdown and ran for a 39-yard score in the championship, earning offensive player of the year honors. But with the pandemic shifting Virginia's football schedule and most recruiting classes locked in, college offers at quarterback dried up.Fitzgerald landed at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, switched to safety, and immediately took off. In 2022 he posted 50 tackles, 8 pass breakups, and 6 interceptions, finishing as the consensus No. 1 JUCO safety in the country. NC State signed him, and he produced two solid years in Raleigh: 97 tackles, 16 pass breakups, and 5 interceptions across 26 games, earning All-ACC honorable mention in 2024.
His transfer to USC in January 2025 was supposed to add depth. Instead, Fitzgerald seized the starting job and led the Big Ten with 5 interceptions in just 10 games before a late-season knee injury cost him the final two contests. That season earned him Consensus All-American honors from AP, FWAA, and Walter Camp, and a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist nod.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Hands are natural and soft. Catches the ball away from his body and secures it through contact.
- Coverage instincts are the best part of his game. Receivers look open and then he is just there.
- Sits in zone with patience, lets routes develop in front of him, then drives on the throw with conviction.
- Holds his own in man assignments too. Stays in phase through breaks and mirrors routes with clean footwork.
- Reads the quarterback's shoulders and gets his breaks started before the ball is out. The eyes never lie.
- The Purdue pick told you everything. Recognized the red zone concept pre-snap and jumped the route before it formed.
- Three schools, three systems, and the turnovers followed him to every stop. That is not scheme or luck.
- Picked up D'Anton Lynn's defense at USC in one offseason and started day one with no adjustment period.
- Combine positional drills showed smooth feet and fluid transitions that his testing numbers did not reflect.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Combine forty came in well below his pre-draft number, and the gap raises honest questions about his range.
- Vertical tested near the bottom of the safety group, which compounds the athletic concerns from the forty.
- Only ran two drills in Indianapolis. Teams are working with an incomplete picture of his movement profile.
- Takes poor angles in run support and gets washed by lead blockers more than you want to see.
- Gives up size to bigger tight ends and slot receivers, and it shows in contested situations near the boundary.
- Ten games at USC is a small window, and the late-season knee injury adds a medical question on top.
Scouting Report: Summary
Fitzgerald ran a 4.55 forty in Indianapolis. Slowest safety in the group, and this was the fastest safety class in Combine history. The vertical at 33 inches did not help. Before the Combine, the speed was supposed to be a strength on his profile. Now it is a question mark, and evaluators have to weigh what they saw on the stopwatch against what they have been watching on film all year.But go watch the Michigan tape. Fitzgerald sits in the deep middle, reads the route combinations developing underneath him, waits, and then breaks on the ball before the quarterback finishes his throwing motion. That is not a forty time. That is a player who understands what offenses are trying to do to him and refuses to bite. He covered ground at USC because he processed fast and started early, not because he ran past people. His quarterback background shows up everywhere in his coverage. Three different schools, three different systems, and the ball kept finding his hands. You do not luck into 16 interceptions across three stops.
A defense that keeps him at centerfield or in the deep half is where he belongs. The run defense is a work in progress and the athletic testing caps what you can ask him to do near the line of scrimmage. Those are fair concerns. But a team that passes on him because of a stopwatch is going to watch him pick off their quarterback from somebody else's secondary. The Combine dropped his stock. The film says he is a better football player than those numbers will let some people believe.
Bishop Fitzgerald percentiles vs other Safetys (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Bishop Fitzgerald (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
173.8
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
47.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.