CORNERBACKS
Travis Hunter CB/WR Colorado
We all know how talented Travis is and how well he can play multiple positions on both sides of the ball. But what makes him different from other players with the same physical talents? I'll tell you because I'm the only one you can. It's his football intelligence and situational understanding of down and distance. Add to that, Travis's innate instincts, problem-solving intelligence, and camouflage ability of an eight-limbed octopus. Travis is a competitive junky. The only thing that will confuse any team about Travis is what side of the ball he wants to become an impact player on because his body will not take the pounding of playing both sides. If Travis can get through his first contract without many injuries, he should be able to break the bank on his next contract. That being said if he insists on playing both sides of the ball his impact will be less on both sides and the injury factor will increase. Talent Grade: 1.27
Maxwell Hairston CB Kentucky
Maxwell is a pure cover corner with the skills, speed, quickness to play in single coverage, and the instincts and high football IQ to play in zone. He can jump and knock down passes like a kangaroo and that means those taller receivers will not have much of an advantage in the red zone. Maxwell is a good tackler and before he hurt his shoulder, he had 53 solo tackles and 5 interceptions in 13 games in the 2023 season. He has good enough hands to make interceptions and be used to return punts on special teams. Maxwell is so lighting fast and thunder quick, that Webster’s Dictionary could put his face right next to the definition of the Big Bang Theory. Max is about the same size as Denzel Ward, the Brown's 5th pick, in the 1st round of the 2018 draft. That being said, Danzell has a long history of missing games in every season since he was drafted and this bit of information will most likely affect Maxwell’s draft status. I think most teams want to see their corners in the 200 Lb range and Max came into the Combine at 188 lbs. My talent grade does not reflect a player's, injuries or injury history. I will mention them when I do a profile, but all I see on film is the player’s talent, any speculation by me about injuries or lack of them is up to the teams and how they value that information in their profiles. Nevertheless, Maxwell has top-ten talent and where he gets selected will be interesting for sure. Talent Grade: 1.40
Will Johnson CB Michigan
Will is an aggressive defensive back with excellent size, strength, and speed along with a high football IQ that makes him very dangerous. Will has the unique talent for reading body language. He recognizes, on the snap, who will be blocking him and that allows him to jump the block and make tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He also reads the receiver when lining up, and knows if the ball is going to go to his side. This makes it easy to bait QB’s into throwing the ball and allows him to jump routes to make a play on the ball. He will get beat deep because of his aggressiveness against double moves and by receivers who are just as smart and just as sneaky as he is at the next level. That being said, because of Will's athletic talent, size, and speed and his high football IQ, he will adjust, to become one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL for the team that selects him. He can play in any style of defensive back system, and position, because he is one of the smartest Defensive Backs coming out, I have seen in a long time. Talent Grade 1.62
Trey Amos CB Ole Miss
Trey is a potential lockdown corner who can start the day after he is drafted. Trey’s high football IQ, allows him to anticipate routes likely to be run against on every down and distance and that is what gives him the edge against most receivers before they run their routes. He has the size, length, and speed, along with the quick-twitch athleticism needed to cover all types of receivers at any place on the field. He is smart and can play in any style of defense. Trey is a good tackler but will get sloppy at times because he likes to go for the ball in the air rather than make the tackle. Trey’s ability to anticipate and slip blocks, making tackles behind the line of scrimmage, is outstanding. He shows leadership skills through his play on the field and reminds me a lot of former Buffalo Bills CB Tre White. Trey’s size and quick-twitch skills give him the ability to recover quickly when he does get fooled. Nevertheless, his workout numbers at the combine will be the deciding factor of where Trey will most likely be selected but for me, it’s 1st Round all the way. Talent Grade: 1.62
Jahdae Barron CB/S Texas
Jahdae is a multi-position Defensive back with the leadership skills and high football IQ to help turn a team's defense around. In the right defensive system, he can play cornerback and in any defensive system, he can play either safety position. He is “coach–smart”, on the field, and that along with his size and sure tackling skills makes him the type of player who can play all over a team's defense. Texas would sometimes even play him as a linebacker because of his intelligence of understanding down and distance and situational football. At Texas, he played in a lot of off-coverage type of defense at the corner position so at the combine his workouts will set the table for teams to decide what position he will play. Of course, if Jahdae insists, on being “labeled” as a cornerback, he must show the speed and agility to be a lockdown corner to be selected early in this draft. I don’t see that type of athletic talent in the film but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have it. Despite all of that nitpicking, Jahdae is an extremely talented player, and selecting him early in this draft if you need a defensive back who can play multiple positions, and be a coach on the field would be a hell of a value pick no matter what round you select him in. He’s a “plug and play” type of player for your defense for sure.
Talent Grade: 1.83
Jordan Hancock CB/S Ohio St
Jordan is a multi-positional defensive back, showing a high football IQ and leadership skills. He is a good tackler in the open field in zone coverage and has the cover skills to be effective in single coverage. Jordan’s high football intelligence allows him to minimize his weaknesses if he were to be asked to play one position on every down and distance. I believe his impact position at the next level will be as a safety, keeping the play in front of him, allowing him to use more than just athletic talent to make an impact play. He is adept at reading receivers and knowing when to look back into the backfield for the QB’s eyes to make a defensive play. Jordan also has that long, lengthy size that makes it easy for him to trail a receiver and make a play, but he is better, as I stated before, with the play in front of him. He has played nickel and has been effective on those quick passes to slot receivers, showing his cover skills close to the line of scrimmage, but this success is mostly because of his length and toughness. When Jordan plays safety, that's when he can use both his athletic talent and high football IQ to make plays all over the defense. When he keeps the play in front of him, that’s when he truly becomes dangerous. I don’t expect Jordan to be selected early in this draft, but I do believe he will show up big for the team that selects him. A bargain basement player, for sure. Talent Grade: 2.31
Azareyeh Thomas CB Florida St
Azareyeh is a big physical cornerback with long arms and legs like a giant Huntsman Spider. At the Senior Bowl practices, he dominated as an outside corner, using all the tricks of the trade and his length to dominate any size receiver. Azareyeh has the physical tools to play in any style of defense, but he hasn’t played much in zone coverage. Therefore, he lacks the interceptions that most others get from playing in zone coverage. He is 20 years old and will not be 21 until he starts camp with the team that selects him, and that is a big positive. Azareyeh is smart and very confident, and that is important. He has a powerful punch at the line of scrimmage that stops receivers from getting into their routes, and this helps him big time against the smaller, quicker receivers. That being said, Azareyeh has a lot to learn. Zone coverages, stack receivers and how to play them, one one-on-one with move receivers and how not to get lost in traffic. Understanding the blocking of Tigh Ends coming at him and getting off blocks quicker to make a tackle. Also continuing to tackle the way he has been tackling in his last year of college. He will even have to learn nickel coverages and to play a little safety. In fact, he just might be moved to safety if he shows the ability to break down in space and make a sure tackle. Right now, Azareyeh has the ability to be effective in single coverage and should be able to help right away in that capacity. That will help him get on the field and learn quickly. This is one young, talented, smart, athletic football player. Talent Grade: 2.44
Shavon Revel CB East Carolina
Shavon has the athletic talent, speed, length, and quickness to be a potential shutdown cornerback for the team that selects him. He is aggressive in single coverage with good strength to manipulate receivers off their routes and affect the rhythm of the play. Shavon struggles in zone coverages, and because he is injured, he will struggle to work out, and this will affect his draft status. Looking just at his film and not taking into account his injury, I see an athletic corner who will struggle to get up to speed mentally to be effective at the next level. Even if a team is using single coverage, Shavon hasn’t been up against the quality of quarterback play and play callers and smart receivers that he will have to learn to deal with at the next level. Yes, he will make some great plays, but he will also commit penalties and give up big plays at inopportune times of a game, too. Shavon is a good tackler, and this will help him when learning zone coverages and spacing. That being said, consistency is a big part of being a great corner at the next level. Remember what I say every year...it takes more than talent to play in the NFL. Talent Grade: 3.06