Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Another Fuller brother is headed to the NFL, and he's not shy about saying that he might be the best one yet.

Virginia Tech cornerback Kendall Fuller is a projected top-50 pick in this spring's NFL draft and is the youngest brother of a talented family that already has produced three NFL players.

Oldest brother Vincent Fuller played seven seasons as a safety with the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions. Wide receiver Corey Fuller, the only offensive player in the family, spent the last three years in Detroit. And Kyle Fuller started every game at cornerback last season for the Chicago Bears.

"I think all of us do the little things right," Kendall Fuller said at the NFL combine. "We all work hard. We’re all competitors. We all carry ourselves right on the field and off the field. I can say that I’m the best, but I can’t say why, just because I respect all of their games just as much as mine. But I’ll definitely say that I’m the best."

The baby Fuller is widely considered one of the most talented cornerbacks in this year's draft, but two seasons of injuries have his stock all over the board.

Fuller, who measured just under 6 feet and 187 pounds last week, played just three games at Virginia Tech last season, before suffering a knee injury that required microfracture surgery. He also underwent wrist surgery for a 2014 injury but said he should be healthy for the 2016 NFL season.

“My knee’s doing really well," Fuller said. "I feel like I’m about 90%. I’m doing pretty much everything. Doing a lot of drills. I’m doing cutting, planting, things like that. Still just working on getting that power back. But other than that, the motions and everything that I do feels really well."

Corey Fuller, an exclusive rights free agent for the Lions, occasionally told reporters in recent seasons to keep an eye on his younger brother and that Kendall might end up being the best player in the family.

Kyle was the only other Fuller to get drafted in the first round, going 14th in the 2014 draft, and Kendall said he sees plenty of similarities in their games.

"I think we’re so much alike," said Fuller, who had eight interceptions his first two seasons at Virginia Tech. "It’s kind of weird how much we’re alike. I’ve seen pictures from when he was at Tech to when I was at Tech, and the pictures look identical. Both of us are competitors. Both of us are instinctual, physical, ready to come downhill and make tackles. Great ball skills, things like that. So we’re so much alike. I know, coming into Virginia Tech as a freshman, I was doing anything that he did. So I'm not surprised."

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Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@davebirkett.

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