2023 Draft Board: Defensive Backs
The below information I included in the QB draft board yesterday, I'm going to include it for every board, but it will be identical on each.
If you've ever read one of my draft board articles before then you have an idea of what you'll see below, but there is a slight change. If you haven't read them, quick explanation, I use stats, athletic testing, past performance from current pro players, and formulas to try and determine the chances a prospect in the current draft has at succeeding as a pro. In the past I used a "PSR", and an "A Met" and "S Met" to give every player a round grade. I still use all three of those, but it's put into a formula to determine a Score, which is on a 0-100 scale. The scores differ by position, so before each draft board I will put what the high score was between the 2021 and 2022 drafts at that position. And at the bottom you will see a small blurb I wrote up for each position.
High Score for CB: 61.79
My CB Draft Board
| Players | College | Score | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emmanuel Forbes | Mississippi State | 60.29 | Day 1 |
| Mekhi Blackmon | USC | 59.81 | Day 2 |
| Jartavius Martin | Illinois | 56.79 | Day 2 |
| Jakorian Bennett | Maryland | 55.75 | Day 2 |
| Anthony Johnson | Virginia | 55.47 | Day 2 |
| Cory Trice | Purdue | 54.86 | Day 2 |
| Riley Moss | Iowa | 54.61 | Day 2 |
| Deonte Banks | Maryland | 54.28 | Day 2 |
| Julius Brents | Kansas State | 54.10 | Day 2 |
| Christian Gonzalez | Oregon | 53.90 | Day 2 |
| Devon Witherspoon | Illinois | 53.67 | Day 2 |
| D.J. Turner II | Michigan | 52.40 | Day 2 |
| Mekhi Garner | LSU | 52.04 | Day 2 |
| Kelee Ringo | Georgia | 51.57 | Day 3 |
| Cam Smith | South Carolina | 51.43 | Day 3 |
| Clark Phillips III | Utah | 50.79 | Day 3 |
| Cameron Mitchell | Northwestern | 50.79 | Day 3 |
| Darrell Luter Jr. | South Alabama | 48.80 | Day 3 |
| Cameron Brown | Ohio State | 47.79 | Day 3 |
| Darius Rush | South Carolina | 47.76 | Day 3 |
| Myles Brooks | Louisiana Tech | 47.53 | Day 3 |
| Kei'Trel Clark | Louisville | 44.68 | Day 3 |
| Carrington Valentine | Kentucky | 43.56 | Day 3 |
| Eli Ricks | Alabama | 43.54 | Day 3 |
| Tyrique Stevenson | Miami | 43.34 | Day 3 |
| Alex Austin | Oregon State | 43.08 | Day 3 |
| Joey Porter Jr. | Penn State | 43.06 | Day 3 |
| Nic Jones | Ball State | 42.95 | Day 3 |
| Jaylon Jones | Texas A&M | 42.62 | Day 3 |
| Terell Smith | Minnesota | 42.48 | Day 3 |
| Kyu Blu Kelly | Stanford | 41.21 | Day 3 |
| Jay Ward | LSU | 41.03 | Day 3 |
| Rejzohn Wright | Oregon State | 41.03 | Day 3 |
| Arquon Bush | Cincinnati | 35.96 | Undrafted |
| Garrett Williams | Syracuse | 32.45 | Undrafted |
| Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson | TCU | 0.00 | Undrafted |
| Lance Boykin | Coastal Carolina | 0.00 | Undrafted |
High Score for S: 99.88
My S Draft Board
| Players | College | Score | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney Brown | Illinois | 74.52 | Day 2 |
| Ronnie Hickman Jr. | Ohio State | 67.66 | Day 2 |
| Ji'Ayir Brown | Penn State | 67.21 | Day 2 |
| Kaevon Merriweather | Iowa | 67.01 | Day 2 |
| Brian Branch | Alabama | 66.92 | Day 2 |
| Christopher Smith | Georgia | 64.84 | Day 2 |
| Jason Taylor II | Oklahoma State | 64.52 | Day 2 |
| Daniel Scott | California | 64.17 | Day 2 |
| Jammie Robinson | Florida State | 62.43 | Day 3 |
| Jordan Howden | Minnesota | 61.97 | Day 3 |
| Brandon Joseph | Notre Dame | 61.69 | Day 3 |
| Chamarri Conner | Virginia Tech | 60.38 | Day 3 |
| Rashad Torrence | Florida | 57.56 | Day 3 |
| Anthony Johnson Jr. | Iowa State | 56.69 | Day 3 |
| DeMarcco Hellams | Alabama | 55.14 | Day 3 |
| Jordan Battle | Alabama | 54.27 | Day 3 |
| Gervarrius Owens | Houston | 53.61 | Day 3 |
| Antonio Johnson | Texas A&M | 53.53 | Day 3 |
| Brandon Hill | Pittsburgh | 52.15 | Day 3 |
| Tyreque Jones | Boise State | 40.36 | Undrafted |
| JL Skinner | Boise State | 38.34 | Undrafted |
| Trey Dean III | Florida | 0.00 | Undrafted |
My Take: Cornerbacks first, and I promise it will be brief. You'll notice the top four guys all have two things going for them: solid college production and great athleticism. Joey Porter Jr., a highly touted player in this draft, is listed as Day 3 on my board because he doesn't have much going for him in either category. If you're not going to have one, you gotta have the other. As for the Safeties, I know Brian Branch is talked about highly, but he landed in fifth in my system. To be fair, no one really graded out all that well at the position. Side note - Kaevon Merriweather is my sleeper at the position. He was spectacular in coverage at Iowa.