2026 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Jordan Dunbar, DB, Missouri State University

• Name: Jordan Dunbar
• Position: DB
• College: Missouri State University
• Height: 6′ 0″
• Weight: 194 lbs
• X: @JordanDunba11
• Instagram: @hdunbar12

What made you decide you wanted to be a football player?

I’ll say there were two probably aspects of my life that really contribute to that I would say the first is my older cousin Jo-Lonn Dunbar who played in the NFL for eight seasons, and I definitely looked up to him a lot and I remember when I was younger like when I was a kid the first NFL game I was with my dad was the Eagles game of watching Brian Dawkins playing in like 2006 or something like a long time ago. I think both those factors made me really love the game and just want to chase that dream.

What are your favorite moments from your football life?

First off I would say for sure this season I had the game-winning interception to send us to a bowl game and beat liberty where I think we were favored to lose that one by 14 points and we beat them at home. At Rice, I will say my second is probably beating UAB in 2021 that would be another one and then also even though we lost badly, I would say playing versus Texas in 2021 and also like proving I could belong on that field versus guys like Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington like people who are in the league and just i felt  like I kind of made some good plays that game and it kind of showed up long and then also last one in senior high school game-winning interception to beat our rival Archbishop Stepinac high school in New York.

What are you looking to achieve as a football player going forward?

The number one goal would be to end up on the NFL roster and make that 53 man roster and also prove that I belong on that level as well and that I’m confident with the intangibles that I bring to the game whether it would be mentally or physically, I can contribute to a team and hopefully win some games at that level too.

If you can hang out with any football player past present for a day, who and why?

So I would say for that one probably Darrelle Revis because I would say his resume and not just how he played corner but the people that he shut down and how he did it because he was a good athlete, but he also wasn’t just necessarily a generational athlete, but his impact on the game was still as if he could run a 4.42 even though that wasn’t really his game so I would say picking his brain mentally and also technique wise of like how he was able to do it and he really did it in two different eras and like the era like the late 2000s of like in 2008 and 2009 and was like the game was played a little bit differently but then he also was still playing when I was almost getting into high school around like 2014, 2015 and 2016 and he was still effective versus like modern type receivers so I would say he’d probably be the first guy. .

Which one of your family members inspires you the most and why?

I would say I would like to say my cousin who played in the NFL but in reality I’ll probably say my mom because she’s also a athlete and she ran track and is in the Syracuse Hall of Fame I think for both academics and athletics so her being as smart as she is and being driven as she is and being one of the fastest girls in New York during her time period I would say is definitely a big influence on me.

What is your favorite defensive scheme and why?

I would say although it’s a lot of pressure playing it like I would say probably cover four match because I was our base scheme at really just about every school I played at because if you have a good pass rush, it allows you too. Teams can’t really dip, dink and dunk their way down the field where it’s like if we play softer zones a lot of the time it’s like OK we’re giving up and we’re conceding but like in these cover four match or even I will kind of generalized it to just mass coverage in general cause even when we play like we did a lot at Missouri State like we played cover three but we cover three match which is basically saying depending on the route concept I’m going to man up on the number one receiver, even though it’s zone, but if he does certain type of route like runs underneath the linebackers, I can let them go so it allows us to play like tighter coverage and somebody like me who ended up getting way more comfortable in off coverage in my senior year at Missouri State when my defensive line was really cooking. I could kind of get a good read on the quarterback I could play downhill, I could play with vision and things like that and then on third and short situational, I could play for slant routes or other things like that so I’ll say that’s probably my favorite coverage now when I was at Rice it was a little bit different because I like playing cover one a lot because it allowed me to kind of play how I lined up to the coverage because whether it was a whole coverage or a true cover one it’s like for example like we had this one called Rice Taco it doesn’t exist anymore because of a different coaching staff but like we always had a hole defender so if you watch my Rice tape I was able to break up a lot of fades because I could sit there and kind of favor the outside leverage especially backside three by one and it’s like I know I have a post safety vehicle who’s playing inside and I also have a hole defender who back then it used to be Gabe Taylor who’s in the UFL he played with great vision so I’m in inbreakers like digs or even slants it was like I knew I was going to have help and he was going to pay that price if he ran that route.

What should we know about Jordan Dunbar the person?

I would say as an individual, first off I’m very process driven. I’m very professional in everything I do so I would think that was regardless of the NFL or any professional aspiration that I chase. I feel like I’ll be successful in that like for a long time like I had to learn how to do that in college, how to be a pro I feel like towards that time I got to Kansas State for that brief time like I really became that, but that would be the first one I would say that the second thing I would say is I’m a very open person. I’m very easy to get along with.. So regardless of what institution school I was at you can basically essentially ask any coach who was there I was very well liked by my teammates and I’m not necessarily a rah-rah guy or let’s bring it in like team speech type of guy, but like I’m able to lead by example even though it’s kind of cliché just doing things the right way whereas it’s like showing up on time or being reliable or if your team needs help regardless of this in-house or out of house it’s like you’re able to provide help and I will say like I’m a intuitive person. I like to understand why we’re doing things and why we are playing certain coverages like my curiosity. I feel like it makes me better for the sport or this sport because unless you are going go out there and be the most athletic player at all times I feel like you have to be able to think.

What stands out about your film the most?

I would say there are two different stages of my film as my career progress if you were watching my tape at Rice. You would really look at me like ok he’s a big, long, physical press corner. He likes his hands on. He also is very good with his feet, but like that was like the main focal point in my game back then it’s like I have this confidence of I didn’t think I could lose in press. It was just like that was just my comfort. It was my thing it was like we are going to do this all game. We’re going to see kind of who taps out first I think once I got to Missouri State that’s how I knew, I was kind of ready to move on. Was my game has progressed into ok I’m not just going to sit there and play with you in press coverage all day I understand isn’t like the intellectual part of game is what it stands out in my ability to watch them and when you pair that with the talent level, what you get from training,, for example like the New Mexico State game I watched a whole lot of film on their RPO game I was able to know certain formations they had high tendency to run RPO and the guy was guarding was one of the fastest players in the country but I battled with him and read him the right way and won most of the battles and got an interception and sometimes you have to be patient I wasn’t really out there guessing or playing conservative and sometimes you get beat like that , but you can’t have that fear when you’re playing on island by yourself so I feel like that’s the aspect of my game where it can translate to the next level the best.

How do you handle challenges both in life and on the football field?

So I think handling challenges and the thing about my career is there’s I have actual evidence of how I deal with these things so I really had to go through a lot of things with college football and even high school football to stick with it and get to where I am now, I think the key to it is you can’t lose sight of yourself regardless of wherever you are and you have to keep in mind that ok even when things are cloudy right now if you stick with it. There’s no guarantee of what the result is, but you have no choices like you got to keep pushing and when you keep pushing, you’ll be happy with the result. So, it’s like high school, I was not highly recruited. I got recruited late towards my junior season. Didn’t get any power five offers only group of fives and FCS, but I just stuck with it and then towards the high school I felt like I was able to prove that ok I belong and then when I got to college, I got the Rice. First year we didn’t play many games so I didn’t really have an opportunity to like get the most freshman to get a play towards the end of the yea, but I did not play the first year and I was kind of buried in the depth chart with corners and it was like I could’ve just sat there to be like I’m going to just leave, but I stuck with it and obviously a few things were in my favor, but I was able to start next season. I started all 12 games, and you know like 2021 and 2022, I was a young player, and I think it was kind of evident that I would have some really good games, but I played some really good receivers that year a lot of draft picks so it’s like the ups and downs with it is where I will learn from this and I’m like ok you might have three really good games with the fourth one, he might give you some work and God just stay down and stay with it and then obviously leaving Rice and going to Kansas State trying to get a bigger opportunity  Got there a little bit late and you know things didn’t go as planned but the end of the day it was like I had to stick with it. I had to be like you know for my last season like I’m going to find somewhere where I’ll able to showcase what I could do because a lot of people they might not believe that could do what I do but like I believed it so it’s like even though Kansas State really wanted me to stay and kind of be more of a role model towards younger kids and I love Kansas State and what I was able to get out of it. I wanted to still show I could play and that I could still do the things I did at Rice and at Missouri State, I got there and I was not a starter. I got there had to go compete had to go compete in summer workouts, compete in fall camp, earned a starting job and then when I went out there, it’s like. I didn’t have that respect yet because it was like I haven’t played in two seasons so these schools I’m going against there’s basically no film on me and they’re going to come test me and that’s what I wanted so it was like when you get to that point it’s like ok you compete and stick with it and god willing I was able to show in my opinion and It wasn’t perfect but I could still compete with just about with anybody.

What would a team get in a player like you?

I think a team gets first and foremost a well-rounded individual. I’m a positive influence in the locker room. So, it’s not just like ok I’m a rah-rah guy or I’m going to be seen. It’s just like the first thing you want to do. Obviously, the NFL is a little bit different from college because in college you kind of have make the team already but NFL you have to make the team first but I’m somebody who’s like ok team first let’s go win these games and then secondly you get a guy who is like a smart player, even though again that’s a cliché thing, but when you have things like my game really translates . You could tell by the plays I make that I have a understanding of the game. That’s what you get. You have a guy who and obviously the NFL will be different. It’ll be more layered and complex, but the thing that I feel separates me from a lot of other players, not just corners players is the ability to learn and pick things up. I feel like going to school like Rice University you kind of got to have that, you going to survive academically there anyways mentality wise. So I feel like the ability to pick up a playbook and the ability be able to change techniques change with different schemes because I played in about three or four of them so it’s like I feel like those are things where not everybody like diversity that I  had through college was honesty what made me a better player because like was just like different defensive coordinators, different coaching styles different techniques like I’m not going to say I played with all of them but I played bunch of them so you have adaptable player in me.

What do you love the most about the game of football?

So, football has been a game I’ve been playing since I like five so I would say the thing that makes football the most fun and like love the sport for me is it’s a blend of competition and teamwork in like one. So you’re still going to figure out like football is going to show you who you are as an individual but also going to bring you together with a group of men as a team wanting to accomplish a certain goal so for me, I think that’s what corner is like. But when I started playing corner in high school. It really made me like develop a love for the game was like at the end of the day like it still me versus me with my technique every single play cause if I played with perfect technique, I’m going to be in the right position but at end of the day I’m still relying on my teammates for the pass rush to get there, for my safety to have played in his right quarter of the field that he needs to play as all these things connect and also shoot having a good offense helps us a lot too. I would say and just the grind of it too like Is the most time-consuming at least college for sure like you’re going to be there all day and you’re going to have to put all that extra work and extra hours in but like that’s the stuff that I think it would became an outlet for me being able like on Tuesday, we had morning workouts and might’ve had some on film sessions in the off-season but it’s like at 4 PM . I could hit that field and get that working with my teammates. That’s like you just developed like it becomes a part of you and as you know, life continues so I would say like that.

Who is the most underrated player you played with and why?

Austin Trammell from Rice University that was my freshman year wasn’t playing much and like Trammell he’s in the NFL so it’s so hard to say he didn’t get credit but we’re going off of underrated cause I would want to say guys like DJ Giddens and Jacob Harris and guys from Kansas State but I feel like they got the recognition they were draft picks or even Jacob Clark from Missouri State like they’re still in like senior bowl or Shomari Lawrence. But with Trammell, he kind of motivates me like he was not a very big name coming out of Rice and still was one of the most productive receivers in the nation that year though and I witnessed it upfront and he grinded and he’s in his fourth and fifth season in the NFL right now and I look at him as an underrated player because he was giving a whole lot of people who were drafted work in season, but he didn’t get invited to any of those senior bowls or he wasn’t in all the draft writeups, but he went and crushed it on pro day and he showed us that this thing is really possible.