2021 Draft Board: Cornerbacks

Go check out my 2021 Quarterback Draft Board article if you want to get more background information on how this all works.

A little over a month ago I wrote an article about the prospects they missed when putting together who they would have invited to this year’s Combine (link). I listed Devin Taylor out of Virginia Tech and then found out while looking at Tech’s pro day results that he went back to school. It’s a good choice by him, he had a phenomenal career at Illinois State before putting up solid numbers in his first year at VA Tech. By going back he’s giving himself an opportunity to show what he can do in a full year at a Power 5 conference school.

TOP FIVE

1) Eric Stokes (Georgia)

Analysis: Stokes’ college production may not have been through the roof, but it was solid enough and a lot better than his three counterparts at Georgia (Tyson Campbell, Mark Webb and D.J. Daniel). His pro day results pushed him over the top. The 4.28 forty was phenomenal and as I mentioned in my Scouting fact or fiction article (link), the forty carries a lot of weight in the success department for this position.

2) Greg Newsome II (Northwestern)

Analysis: His 4.39 forty was not as good as Stokes, but it was still very good nonetheless. He also did a great of making plays on the ball while at Northwestern. The fact that his pass deflections were so high and the interception totals didn’t really seem to match worries me a little, but not enough to drop him.

3) Patrick Surtain II (Alabama)

Analysis: His college production doesn’t necessarily match the hype, but you have to believe that at least some of that has to do with opposing passers avoiding his side of the field. It’s one of the big reasons why I wish I had access to more statistical information. Still, his production was along the same lines as Stokes, though his forty wasn’t. That 39” Vertical, 131” Broad Jump and 6’2” frame are all very exciting for this position.

4) Jaycee Horn (South Carolina)

Analysis: The 6’1” frame, the 4.4 forty and the 41.5” vertical and 133” Broad Jump are all very nice, but it’s the genuine improvement you see in his game over his three (two and a half) seasons. The biggest one that I will point out is the fact that he had 17 pass deflections total in his first two seasons with ZERO interceptions. But he ended his career on a high note tallying two interceptions in seven games. Hands/eye-hand coordination is something that can be coached up, so it’s nice to see that he improved in an area like that. His athleticism and size can’t be taught.

5) Robert Rochell (Central Arkansas)

Analysis: Go ahead and remove that bias in your head that says “ignore this guy, he only played FCS ball.” Done? Good. Rochell had two seasons of significant playing time before COVID caused the FCS season to get pushed back to the start of 2021 and he opted for the draft instead. In those two seasons he averaged 4.5 interceptions and 9.5 pass deflections. As if that wasn’t enough he went out on his pro day and ran a 4.39 forty, 4.08 short shuttle, 6.83 3-cone drill and jumped 43” in the vert and 133” in the broad. INSANE numbers. His PSR is higher than any other player on my board, but the fact that he played FCS ball does drop him down to the 2nd-3rd round range.

Sleeper: Israel Mukuamu (South Carolina)

Analysis: I’m not really sure how much of a sleeper Mukuamu is but there hasn’t been a whole lot of hype surrounding him and his name has really cooled off over the last month, so I’m counting it. He had very good ball production in college, and he showed a willingness to tackle which is something you always want out of your Corners. I wish he would have done his runs at his pro day, or at the very least his forty, but that 6’4”(!) frame with that college production is hard to ignore.

SURPRISINGLY LEFT OFF

I could see a few people being surprised by the absence of Paulson Adebo or Asante Samuel, but the biggest surprise for most is going to be Caleb Farley. He’s been widely considered a top two or three Corner in this draft for much of the process, but his name is actually starting to slip elsewhere (not just on my list). His lack of tackling production had me worried before the announcement that he wouldn’t test at his pro day because he was going to undergo back surgery. Back injuries are nothing to take lightly, they’re difficult to get completely over and aren’t always the easiest area on your body to diagnose. For that reason I’m sticking with the 4th-6th round grade I have on him. It might come back to bite me later, but I’m ok with that.

DRAFT BOARD

My Draft Board

REMOVED FROM DRAFT BOARD

For each position there are players who either had a red flag in their college production or athletic testing (or both) that led to them being removed from my draft board. These are referred to as negative factors and can lead to one of two labels: Depleted or Empty. In order for a player to receive a Depleted label, they had to have a negative factor that significantly decreased the chances of success in players who had that same factor from 2009-2018. In order for a player to receive an Empty label, they had to have a negative factor that led to zero successful players who had that same factor from 2009-2018. This year there were ten Cornerbacks removed from my Draft Board:

Chris Wilcox (BYU) - Depleted

D.J. Daniel (Georgia) - Depleted

Mark Gilbert (Duke) - Depleted

Mark Webb (Georgia) - Depleted

Olaijah Griffin (USC) - Depleted

Rachad Wildgoose (Wisconsin) - Depleted

Lorenzo Burns (Arizona) - Empty

Michael Carter II (Duke) - Empty

Nahshon Wright (Oregon State) - Empty

Tyson Campbell (Georgia) - Empty

**I’ve seen Michael Carter II and Mark Webb listed at Safety and Corner, Carter received an Empty label for both, and Webb received a Depleted label for both, so I left them both on my list of Corners.