2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Sebastian Castro

Castro completed every test at the NFL Combine except the three-cone test and bench press. His relative athletic score of 4.48 out of 10 is low, but this can change as official results are finalized and pro days occur. However, safety is a position where the RAS scores have historically been less correlated with success. 

Background

Sebastian Castro hails from Oak Lawn, Illinois, where he played quarterback and defensive back for HL Richards High School. As a senior, he was named Player of the Year by The Reporter and Daily Southtown and earned first-team all-state honors by the Champaign News-Gazette.

A three-star recruit per 247sports, Castro enrolled at Iowa in 2019 and took a redshirt year for the Hawkeyes. By 2023, Castro had cemented himself as a mainstay in the secondary. He was named second-team All-Big Ten, PFF first-team All-American, and third-team All-American by the Associated Press for the 2023 season.

Castro's 2024 campaign saw him notch 57 total tackles, two forced fumbles, and one interception on his way to third-team All-Big Ten honors.

Strengths

• Polished Performer: With over 2,100 career snaps for the Hawkeye defense, Castro plays with a veteran savvy that's clear on tape. He can pass off coverages in zone and has a good feel for both the scheme and spacing of plays.
• Aggressive Defender: Castro's coverage technique is aggressive, but he knows how to rein it in to avoid penalties. In his four years at Iowa, he only accrued three penalties.
• Solid Blitzer: When asked to blitz off the edge, Castro wastes no space and often finds a way to disrupt the quarterback's timing.

Weaknesses

• Age: Castro will be an older prospect (24 at the time of the draft, 25 in October of 2025), so it's worth wondering how much further you can push his development.
• Modest Traits: Castro's traits don't pop off on film, and his lack of athleticism (4.48 RAS score) will likely prevent him from being able to flex the slot corner versatility he showcased in college.
• Overpursuit: Castro struggles to get off blocks and is overly aggressive in run defense, leaving open run lanes that better competition could exploit (he had a 17.1% missed tackle rate in 2024).

Final Thoughts and Chicago Bears Fit for Sebastian Castro

I have Sebastian Castro as one of my higher-floor players for this year's safety class. At 25 years old, I'm not sure how much higher his ceiling can get, but he can be a plug-and-play starter at the NFL level.

In coverage, I really like Castro's aggressive playstyle. The fact that he's only drawn three penalties over his 2,100-plus snaps is a testament to his ability to time his aggression and know when to pull back. However, I worry about his athleticism at the next level, particularly his play speed. He makes up for it with a lightning-fast processor, but against NFL competition, he'll need to continue to hone his excellent instincts to cover up his slower foot speed.

At Iowa and in the Big Ten, Castro benefited from not having to line up in the slot against a jitterbug like Tank Dell. However, I don't think he has the hip fluidity or foot speed to cycle between slot cornerback and safety like his predecessor, Cooper DeJean, could. For that reason, I have him pegged as a strong safety at the NFL level, and that brings down his overall grade into round three territory.

Dennis Allen will love Castro's aggression and toughness. His makeup is similar to what Allen looks for in his defense, but I don't know if he has the play speed to project to the next level as a starter.

Pro Comp: Taylor Rapp