Idaho State CB Sanborne Melson is an active young cover man with room to grow
Sanborne Melson is a 6-foot, 185-pound redshirt sophomore cornerback for Idaho State who is already in the Bengals’ rotation and listed as active for 2025, but his publicly logged production is still light, with ESPN showing one tackle and one game appearance in the 2025 regular season. His appeal is more about profile and projection: he has ideal CB size, multiple years in the program, and developmental upside in a position that rewards length, speed, and confidence. If you want a young defender who could fit as a developmental depth piece or special-teams contributor, he’s a reasonable watch-list name rather than an established shutdown playmaker.[1][2]
