Over the last few months, we’ve been breaking down all undrafted free agents signed by the Jets. We continue today with former BYU cornerback Mory Bamba.
The 25-year old Bamba is listed at 6’2” and 193 pounds and started seven games in his college career. He had 47 tackles and nine pass breakups in 36 career games.
Background
Bamba was unranked as a high school recruit who ended up going to a Division III school (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) as a hurdler and triple jumper on the track and field team.
He then transferred
to ASA College, where he joined the football team after having had a late growth spurt and recorded 14 tackles and six pass breakups as well as an interception. After that, he moved onto Tyler Junior College, where he was on the football team but never played.
Finally, Bamba was able to transfer to BYU in 2022 and get a chance to play Division I football. He redshirted his first year, although he appeared in five games and recorded one tackle.
In 2023, he saw action in a reserve role, recording six tackles and a pass breakup in seven games.
2024 eventually saw Bamba start five games despite being injured at the start of the season. He had 17 tackles and four pass breakups. Then in 2025, he had a career-high 23 tackles with four more pass breakups. He also had the first two tackles for loss and the first fumble recovery of his career. However, he only started two of 14 games.
Despite not being invited to the scouting combine, Bamba’s excellent pro day numbers gave him an outside shot at being a late round pick in April but he ultimately went unselected.
Bamba was one of the first round of undrafted free agents signed by the Jets but his contract reportedly only includes just over $21K of guaranteed money.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Bamba brings to the table, based on in-depth research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Bamba is tall and has good length, but he’s wiry and may need to bulk up for the NFL level.
Some of his pro day numbers were incredible as he ran a sub-4.3 in the 40-yard dash and managed a 133-inch broad jump. Over the past two years, that would have represented the top 40-yard dash and the second-best broad jump by any cornerback at the scouting combine.
Bamba also managed a 36.5-inch vertical, but he didn’t do the bench press and his short shuttle (4.41) was below average.
Usage
Bamba played almost exclusively on the outside in college, only ending up in the slot or in the box when there was no receiver on his side or because someone went in motion. Within that role he played a mixture of man and zone assignments.
Coverage
Bamba is obviously a great athlete, with both short area burst and long speed to stay with his man on downfield routes. However, he lacks experience and can be lacking in natural feel. He also needs to clean up his technique.
On the whole, he didn’t fare too badly in terms of coverage numbers, as he only allowed a reception on 54 percent of his targets with an average of below 10 yards per catch and only two touchdowns at BYU. However, he did get taken advantage of from time to time.
He only gave up four plays of more than 25 yards in his college career, with a longest of 32. He also never gave up 50 receiving yards in any one game.
Ball Skills
Bamba never intercepted a pass for BYU although he did have one for ASA College at the Junior College level. He also had nine pass breakups in his career, which is pretty good considering he was only targeted 72 times.
He looks good on this play as he stays connected, locates the football and gets his hand up to make a play on it.
Tackling
Bamba wasn’t a particularly productive tackler but showcases good range in pursuit and an ability to close on the ball carrier and finish.
His missed tackle rate was acceptable, although he had eight missed tackles in his career, including four last season. At times, he would be guilty of throwing a shoulder at a ball carrier’s legs to upend him rather than wrapping up.
Run Defense
Bamba shows some flashes of being useful in run support. He made this great play on 4th-and-1 in a rivalry game.
There are, however, situations where he can struggle to get off blocks or caught up in traffic, preventing him from being able to affect a play.
Blitzing
As an outside corner, you wouldn’t expect Bamba to contribute as a pass rusher, but they did send him on a cornerback blitz a few times each year. On each occasion, these were either picked up or the ball was thrown before he could get there, as he failed to register a pressure.
Special Teams
Bamba made an impact on special teams during his career, even though he wasn’t credited with any special teams tackles at BYU and had four special teams penalties.
He played on the field goal block unit and also had some experience as a vice and gunner on punts. On this play he got downfield well and showed good instincts to react to the ball hitting an opponent’s leg.
Physicality
Although he is lanky, Bamba displays some play strength on the field in terms of his hitting and tackling. However, he is still trying to learn how to use his body in coverage.
He was often used in press coverage but didn’t consistently get his hands on his man when trying to jam them so that aspect of his game needs work.
He had six penalties in his college career, including three last season. These were for defensive pass interference on a downfield throw, a face mask penalty on a tackle and a defensive hold on 3rd-and-18.
As noted, he can get caught up in traffic or on blocks from time to time.
Instincts
Bamba showed some good examples of being able to diagnose, read and react to make plays during some of his best moments.
There have been some blown coverage situations where Bamba has been unsure about who he was covering during his career, though.
He was an academic all-Big 12 selection in 2025, completed a business degree in college and speaks three languages.
Attitude/Demeanor
Bamba is a good teammate and hard worker, and was obviously one of the older players on the BYU team for the last few seasons.
He is a devout Muslim, who opted to observe the fast for Ramadan during spring training at BYU.
Injuries
Bamba suffered a leg injury in August 2024 that caused him to miss the first few games of that season. He otherwise hasn’t been affected by injuries during his career.
Scheme Fit
Scouting reports suggest that Bamba’s length and athleticism will mean that NFL teams could view him as someone that would be a good press cover corner, but caution that he might be better off in press-zone where he can pass off downfield routes.
He clearly wouldn’t be suited to a role in the slot, so he will obviously compete outside with New York.
However, the Jets might ultimately be most interested in seeing whether they can groom him into a core special teams contributor because he has all the tools to be a good gunner, even though he didn’t produce much in that role in college.
Conclusions
Bamba is a 25-year old rookie cornerback who was a backup for most of his college career and didn’t intercept a pass so his body of work is underwhelming. However, his measurables are such that an NFL team was always likely to bring him in and see if he has any specific traits that could be harnessed. Indeed, the BYU coaches said that he had received plenty of NFL interest over the past two seasons.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Bamba is that despite his lack of experience and production, he doesn’t look too bad at all on film. While there are a few things to clean up, it was rare that he was exploited in coverage and, at times, he really looked the part.
The most likely path to playing time for Bamba is via a special teams role and, realistically, he could be looking at a year on the practice squad before he competes for a full-time job next season. The physical tools are tough to ignore though, so it could be interesting to see how he develops with a year of NFL coaching and conditioning under his belt.
