This grade is pedigree, not tape. Mbakwe was the No. 12 player in America in 2024 and a two-way star at Clay-Chalkville, and two Alabama seasons later the entire college ledger reads 16 tackles, two breakups and one interception across 12 games — 2025 was three appearances and a single tackle before the Georgia Tech reset. The traits are why SI has floated day-one draft language and why the ceiling stays high, but nothing about his corner play is verified at the college level yet: coverage workload, ball production, even his final position remain open questions, with Tech itself still discussing whether he lives at corner or moonlights at receiver. The 2028 timeline buys him two seasons to build an actual resume. Right now he's a blue-chip lottery ticket — full pedigree credit, zero proven production — and one full year as CB1 would tell us more than everything to date.