2026 Draft Board: Defensive Backs

The below information I included in the QB draft board earlier in the week, 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 I did overhaul the system a little bit. Basically I just moved all of my formulas over to using a z-score method. If you haven't read them, quick explanation, I use stats, athletic testing, past performances 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. Now, it all comes down to a Score. The scores differ by position, so before each draft board I will put what the high score was between the 2020-2023 drafts at that position (those are draft years that I've done this for, as well as ones that have been in the league for at least 3 years). And at the bottom you will see a small blurb I wrote up for each position.

Real quick additional note: I'm including a "My Top 5" section this year. You will notice with some positions that the top 5 doesn't line up with the top five on the actual draft board. There's a reason for that. When I grade out the pros to determine the "success rate" factor, I actually give them a grade (A = Superstar, B = High-end starter, C = Solid Starter, D = Rotational at best, and F = Fail). I hadn't considered using that in the past, but I realized I can use it to get a little more granular when it comes to ranking them. Sometimes a guy that is lower on my draft board than another guy, actually has a higher chance of being a high-end starter or better. So along side the name of the player and their school, I will include a B+ which is just the percent chance they have of being a high-end starter or better, and a C+ which will be the percent chance they have of being a solid starter or better.

NOTE: Unlike in season's past, with the addition of the Slot CB group, you will see a third board below. How I decided what players ended up on what board is simple: If a player received an undrafted grade on one board, but not the other, then they only show up on the board they received a "Day" grade on, if they got an undrafted grade on both boards, then I listed them on the board that they played the majority of their snaps at in college.

This will be updated as pro day results become available.

High Score for CB: 85.65 (Zyon McCollum - 2022)

My CB Draft Board

High Score for Slot CB: 62.07 (Devon Witherspoon - 2023)

My Slot CB Draft Board

My Top 5 Corners:

1) Treydan Stukes (Arizona)
Outside: B+ = 26.79, C+ = 78.27
Slot: B+ = 25.00, C+ = 91.67

2) Toriano Pride Jr. (Missouri)
Outside: B+ = 13.36, C+ = 39.86
Slot: B+ = 50.00, C+ = 66.67

3) Keith Abney II (Arizona State)
Outside: B+ = 13.36, C+ = 39.86
Slot: B+ = 50.00, C+ = 66.67

4) Chris Johnson (San Diego State)
Outside: B+ = 13.36, C+ = 39.86
Slot: B+ = 25.00, C+ = 91.67

5) D'Angelo Ponds (Indiana)
Outside: B+ = 12.50, C+ = 35.42
Slot: B+ = 25.00, C+ = 91.67

High Score for Safety: 95.14 (Kyle Dugger - 2020)

My S Draft Board

My Top 5 Safeties:

1) Dillon Thieneman (Oregon): B+ = 16.12, C+ = 57.20

2) Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (Toledo): B+ = 15.85, C+ = 52.07

3) Jalen Huskey (Maryland): B+ = 12.20, C+ = 41.62

4) Bud Clark (TCU): B+ = 12.20, C+ = 41.62

5) Bishop Fitzgerald (USC): B+ = 12.20, C+ = 41.62

Things worth noting:

-I used a combination of the Outside Corner and Slot Corner results to come up with my Top 5. I had a very difficult time choosing between Chandler Rivers and D'Angelo Ponds for that 5th spot.

-I've seen Stukes listed as a Safety. I disagree. He played a decent amount in the Slot, on the outside, at Safety and in the box in college, with Slot being the predominant position for him, but Outside Corner wasn't too far behind that. And then he had that performance at the Combine that thoroughly proved he can play Corner as a pro.

-Corner isn't alone with this statement, but those players that elected not to perform in the athletic testing hurt themselves this year. It seemed like almost every single player that ran/jumped did an incredible job. It shows on my boards too. At Corner alone McCoy (still recovering) and Delane are now buried in my rankings. It's just crazy to see. Hats off to big names like Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles for taking on the challenge and showing off what they got.

-Sleeper Corner: I have two, Charles Demmings and Daylen Everette. Demmings actually hit on a sub-plus-factor. Still, pretty impressive and definitely put the small school kid on my radar. Everette, on the other hand, hit on a plus-factor, but for Slot Corner. And even though he didn't at Corner, his athletic testing did give him a huge boost up my board.

-It might not look like Lorenzo Styles' ridiculous forty time actually helped him, but it really did. Prior to the Combine testing he was third to last on my board and had an Undrafted label. His athletic testing not only helped him jump 5 spots on my board and earn him a Day 3 grade, but it also gained him 27 points for his score.

-I became a big fan of Jalen Huskey's while tracking the Safeties through the college season. I would, however, really like to see him run and jump at his pro day. I'd also really like to see Caleb Downs do his athletic testing at his pro day. Even if his athleticism is average, he'd likely still boost his rank on my board.

-For my top 5 Safeties Caleb Downs did hold a slight edge in the B+ category over Huskey, Clark and Fitzgerald. But it wasn't enough to make me slot him over them when compared to the difference they held in the C+ category.

-Sleeper Safety: Genesis Smith. His run defense is a weak point and something he will need to improve. But his coverage is a solid selling point and that 4.18 he posted in the short shuttle was a win as well.

I've been tracking the success rate of each position individually based on my grades from 2020-2023, and I'm going to include that for each position. It might help shine a light on some of my "things worth noting." No Slot Corner to work from since it was new last year, so no board for them below.

CB Success Rate

S Success Rate