2024 Mock Draft

Typically when I do mock drafts I prepare two versions: what I think will actually happen, and what would happen if I was making all the picks. This year, however, I didn’t watch enough draft prospects to put together a full first round of what would happen if I was in charge. But I think I can come up with a reasonable top 20, so I’ve included that here.

 

If I Was In Charge

1) Chicago Bears – Caleb Williams, QB, USC

2) Washington Commanders – Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU

3) New England Patriots – JJ McCarthy, QB, Michigan

4) Arizona Cardinals – Marvin Harrison Jr, WR, Ohio State

5) Los Angeles Chargers – Malik Nabers, WR, LSU

6) New York Giants – Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina

7) Tennessee Titans – Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame

8) Atlanta Falcons – Jer’Zhan Newton, DT, Illinois

9) Chicago Bears – Laiatu Latu, EDGE, UCLA

10) New York Jets – Taliese Fuaga, OT/OG, Oregon State

11) Minnesota Vikings – Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo

12) Denver Broncos – Rome Odunze, WR, Washington

13) Las Vegas Raiders – Troy Fautanu, OT/OG, Washington

14) New Orleans Saints – Jared Verse, EDGE, Florida State

15) Indianapolis Colts – Brian Thomas, WR, LSU

16) Seattle Seahawks – Byron Murphy, DT, Texas

17) Jacksonville Jaguars – Olu Fashanu, OT/OG, Penn State

18) Cincinnati Bengals – Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia

19) Los Angeles Rams – Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama

20) Pittsburgh Steelers – Cooper DeJean, CB/S, Iowa

 

 

And now here is how I think things will actually go.

 

What Will Actually Happen

1) Chicago Bears – Caleb Williams, QB, USC

As in most years, the first overall selection has been set in stone for a couple of months now. Williams is not without flaws, but the things he can do throwing a football are extraordinarily rare, and if he can develop, the Bears may finally have a real quarterback for the first time since Sid Luckman. He’s entering a good situation as well, with a developing offensive line and a pair of quality veteran receivers (coaching is still a concern, but no situation is perfect).

 

2) Washington Commanders – Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU

This has also been the favorite at this selection for a long time, and even though there has been some buzz from the other two quarterback prospects in the past week, I’m still sticking with Daniels as the guy here. He fits what Kliff Kingsbury wants to do on offense (what he wants to do is dumb, but it still fits), and he has a safer floor than either of the two who will go below him, at the bare minimum an accurate distributor with explosive running ability.

 

3) New England Patriots – Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina

This is where things get interesting. The Patriots need a quarterback, but they also need a lot of things. And having just watched Mac Jones fail in part due to a horrendous supporting cast, they may be wary about throwing another quarterback into an even worse situation. If the right trade package comes—at a minimum three first round picks, probably even four—they could choose to slide down and try to build a better supporting environment for when they finally do get their quarterback. But I think the most likely course is to stay here and take the high upside of Maye.

 

4) Arizona Cardinals – Marvin Harrison Jr, WR, Ohio State

Arizona could trade too, but Harrison is probably too much to pass up. He is a pretty much sure thing superstar at a position they desperately need. If they choose to stay in this spot, there’s really no other pick to be made. The Cardinals already have an extra first round pick, so they’re a team that can afford to pass up on draft capital for a shot at a player who can define their roster for the next decade.

 

5) TRADE – Minnesota Vikings (from Chargers) – JJ McCarthy, QB, Michigan

I’ve never predicted a trade in a mock draft before. Trades happen, obviously, but I’ve always felt that predicting them takes away the fun of a mock draft, which is trying to slot players within the confines of the draft order. I’m making an exception this time though. Maybe it’s because I believe there’s a better than 50/50 chance someone moves up to grab the fourth quarterback. Or maybe it’s because the most likely team is my favorite, and I want to see them get that quarterback.

Either way, I think the Vikings do move into the top five, and I think the Chargers are the most likely destination. The cost for this will likely be both of Minnesota’s first round picks this year, plus some additional compensation (maybe their first next year, though that seems a bit rich.)

Whatever the cost is, they’ll pay it to get McCarthy. The Vikings are a team that is perfectly situated to support a young quarterback, and they know that if they don't get one of the top four, there isn’t really another opportunity available (this year or maybe even next year). I think their preference would be for Maye, and they will try everything they can to get high enough to select him. But McCarthy fits what they want to do as well, even if he doesn’t have the same limitless potential.

 

6) New York Giants – Malik Nabers, WR, LSU

The Giants are another team that is rumored to want a quarterback, and if one of the top four slides to this spot I could see them pulling the trigger. But I think they may be overselling it with their public comments about wanting a quarterback, potentially trying to make sure that one of the top two receivers is available when they pick. I’m not one of the people who believes Nabers is on the same level as Harrison, but he’s an explosive player with the potential to break the game open anytime he has the ball in his hands, the sort of player the Giants have been trying to find for years.

 

7) Tennessee Titans – Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame

This is a common linkage of team and player, because it just makes sense. Even after landing a solid piece in Peter Skoronski a year ago the Titans still have glaring holes on their offensive line, and if they really believe Will Levis deserves a shot, they need to give him some protection up front. Alt is the clear best lineman in this class, and I could see him going even higher than this. But if he’s here, the Titans will happily take him.

 

8) Atlanta Falcons – Dallas Turner, EDGE, Alabama

This is commonly expected to be the first defensive player off the board, though it’s pretty wide open which the Falcons will choose. They could go for one of the top cornerbacks, or take a defensive tackle as the heir apparent to Grady Jarrett, or even choose a different edge rusher than the one I have slotted here. They are even a decent candidate to slide down, as there are a handful of players on that side of the ball I could see them liking. But I think Turner’s impressive athletic testing makes him the most likely choice, even if he hasn’t shown a great deal on film.

 

9) Chicago Bears – Byron Murphy, DT, Texas

The most common position mocked to the Bears here is wide receiver, with the idea that they would pair Williams with a young talent who can grow with him. But at their core the people running the Bears still put a heavy value on defense, and they may feel that with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen they can afford to wait on what is considered a deep receiver class. I think they will try to bolster the defensive side of the ball, where they showed growth over the second half of 2023 but still lack a disruptive force on the interior.

 

10) New York Jets – Rome Odunze, WR, Washington

Odunze isn’t going to last long if the Bears pass on him. The Jets could go a number of different directions with this pick, but I feel like the offensive side of the ball is most likely, and Odunze is probably the best-case scenario in their minds. His skillset might be a bit redundant in the short-term with Mike Williams, but in the long-run he and Garrett Wilson can form a dynamic pair for whatever comes next at quarterback when the Aaron Rodgers experiment runs its course.

 

11) Los Angeles Chargers (from Minnesota) – JC Latham, OG, Alabama

The Chargers desperately need to improve their offensive line and their wide receivers, and I think they use their first pick to address the former. Jim Harbaugh has always had a bit of a run-heavy approach, and his time at Michigan only pounded that in deeper. And Latham is the best run blocker in the draft, a powerful people-mover who will struggle in pass protection if they try to keep him on the outside.

 

12) Denver Broncos – Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia

It’s easy to imagine a team falling in love with Bowers and taking him in the top ten. It’s also easy to imagine teams being wary of an undersized tight end and letting him slide into the 20s. The Broncos feel like a team that could fall in love with him though. They would love to add a quarterback, but with their limited draft capital and barren roster, a trade up is probably a stretch. So instead they’ll load up on weapons so they’re more ready for whenever they can get their hands on a real quarterback.

 

13) Las Vegas Raiders – Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo

The Raiders are another team that wants a quarterback and could look into reaching for one here, or trying to trade back in the hope they could get the same player later in the first round. If they stay put though, their best option is to just grab the best player available. Mitchell is a high upside cornerback with tremendous athletic ability, and he could be a very valuable asset in a division with two top-level quarterbacks.

 

14) New Orleans Saints – Taliese Fuaga, OT/OG, Oregon State

One of the hardest things to predict in this draft is the order in which the offensive linemen will come off the board. I feel reasonably confident that is the position the Saints are going to address, but I could see as many as five different players that could be their guy here. Fuaga seems the safest bet though, a polished player with good athleticism and positional versatility.

 

15) Indianapolis Colts – Olu Fashanu, OT/OG, Penn State

The Colts are still building everything around Anthony Richardson, and that means getting him as much help as possible. A receiving threat could be the play here, but with the way the board falls I think they’ll go for one of the linemen instead. In this case I’ll give them Fashanu, who has been sliding down boards some over the past couple months as people pick apart his game, but whose physical potential will be enough to keep him from falling too far.

 

16) Seattle Seahawks – Michael Penix, QB, Washington

Penix is probably the hardest player to forecast in the draft. It’s easy to imagine a team talking themselves into him if they can’t get one of the top four quarterbacks, and he could end up going even higher than this. Or he could slide out of the first round entirely. I think the most likely place for him is somewhere in the 20s to a team jumping up from the early second round, but Seattle is a destination that makes some sense as well. Geno Smith’s contract gets too expensive after this season, and Penix reminds me a bit of Smith stylistically, so it would be a sensible, if uninspiring, transition.

 

17) Jacksonville Jaguars – Brian Thomas, WR, LSU

The Jaguars let Calvin Ridley walk in free agency, so a receiving corps that was already holding their young quarterback back is now an even more glaring need. I could see them trying to trade up to grab Odunze, but if they stay put the best option available is Thomas. He is extremely gifted physically and will become an immediate weapon as a vertical threat, though there is plenty of risk if he can’t develop a more complete game.

 

18) Cincinnati Bengals – Troy Fautanu, OT/OG, Washington

Cincinnati has spent the past couple years reinforcing their offensive line through free agency, and they now have a pair of massive bookend tackles to help keep Joe Burrow upright. But I don’t think that will necessarily stop them from adding another piece on the interior. They could also look to add a receiver here with the possible loss of Tee Higgins coming, but I think they’d be more likely to go on the defensive side, if they don’t have a lineman like Fautanu available for them.

 

19) Los Angeles Rams – Laiatu Latu, EDGE, UCLA

The last player the Rams selected in the first round was Jared Goff, so there are no real tendencies to study here. A quarterback isn’t out of the question, but I think the most likely course is for them to try to add to their young and unproven defense. No one can replace Aaron Donald, but Latu would at least give them someone who can threaten the quarterback. He should go higher than this, but he plays with a unique style and has some past injury issues that will likely scare teams away from his undeniable ability.

 

20) Pittsburgh Steelers – Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia

A year ago the Steelers used their first round pick on a raw but talented tackle out of Georgia. This year I think they will use the pick on an even more talented but even rawer tackle out of Georgia. Mims is massive and can move extremely well. He also only had eight career starts in college. It’s possible the Steelers could prioritize someone with more experience—Graham Barton would make sense, if they want to try to fill their hole at center as well—but the Steelers have often prioritized athletic upside in the draft, and Mims has plenty of that.

 

21) Miami Dolphins – Jer’Zhan Newton, DT, Illinois

The Dolphins lost Christian Wilkins in the offseason, and they should waste no time replacing him if they have a shot at Newton. They have some promising pieces up front on defense if they can stay healthy, and Newton would give them another dangerous pass rusher to bolster that depth and give them a shot at slowing down the dangerous quarterbacks they will have to go through in the AFC.

 

22) Philadelphia Eagles – Cooper DeJean, CB/S, Iowa

Getting younger on the offensive line would be a good move, but Philadelphia almost has to go defense with this pick after the way that unit crumbled down the stretch in 2023. DeJean is a somewhat tricky prospect who doesn't have a clearly defined role yet in the NFL, the Eagles could use help at pretty much every spot in their secondary.

 

23) Los Angeles Chargers (from Vikings) – Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas

The Chargers use their first pick on offensive line, and with their second they get a wide receiver. Most people have a couple other receivers ranked ahead of Worthy, but fast receivers always go earlier than expected in the draft, and after setting a record at the Combine in the 40 yard dash, it would be a surprise if Worthy doesn’t end up somewhere in the first round.

 

24) Dallas Cowboys – Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas

The Cowboys mostly ignored free agency, which means they now find themselves with a lot of holes needing filled. A second wide receiver across from CeeDee Lamb probably isn’t the biggest of them, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt, and Mitchell has incredibly impressive tools that will be hard to ignore.

 

25) Green Bay Packers – Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson

Death, taxes, the Packers spending a first-round pick on the defensive side of the ball. They could definitely choose to try to add more talent to their offense, but that is a unit with a lot of young players who showed promise last year, so I expect them to give them room to grow. Instead they will address their secondary, where Eric Stokes has been simply okay his first three years and Jaire Alexander seems to be slowly working his way towards the exit.

 

26) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jared Verse, EDGE, Florida State

This is a bit of a slide for Verse, but I think his somewhat limited upside will hurt him on draft night. The Buccaneers will happily take him, though. Shaq Barrett is in Miami now, and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka hasn’t shown he has what it takes to be a team’s primary pass rusher. Verse brings impressive power and a developed array of attacks, and he should be able to contribute fairly quickly for a team that is hoping to stay perched at the top of the NFC South.

 

27) Arizona Cardinals – Chop Robinson, EDGE, Penn State

The Cardinals used their first pick to add a dynamic offensive threat, so with this one I expect they’ll go defensive. They have very little talent on that side of the ball, and bringing in an explosive pass rusher will help everyone else on the unit. Robinson is small for the position, but his athletic ability is rare, and that should be enough to get him into the first round.

 

28) Buffalo Bills – Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina

As with the offensive linemen above, there is a big cluster of receivers around this range who could go in just about any order. Legette seems like one who could really stand out from the pack, an extremely physical receiver who thrives on contested catches and running with the ball in his hands. The Bills are almost certainly going to try to add someone for Josh Allen to throw to, and the only real question is whether they are patient enough to see who will fall to them.

 

29) Detroit Lions – Darius Robinson, DT/EDGE, Missouri

Cornerback is the position that makes the most sense for the Lions, but as they showed a year ago, they don’t really care about what makes sense. Robinson is a massive athlete who can bounce to multiple spots on their defensive line, giving them even more flexibility to slide Aidan Hutchinson around and let him work attacking the interior where he’s at his best.

 

30) Baltimore Ravens – Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma

The Ravens have struggled to keep their offensive line healthy and effective for a couple of years now, and they badly need an injection of youth and athleticism. Guyton certainly has those in supply, even if he still needs to figure other things out. The Ravens have the luxury of letting a first round draft pick sit on the bench while they teach him, either to learn for a year or to come in after what feels like another inevitable Ronnie Stanley injury.

 

31) San Francisco 49ers – Graham Barton, OT/OG/OC, Duke

San Francisco put together an elite offense a season ago with a mostly mediocre offensive line. I’m not sure where exactly Barton would slide in, but he has the experience and athleticism to be an immediate contributor at several different spots. The 49ers could also use help in their secondary, but at this point in the draft Barton is a talent that they will gladly take.

 

32) Kansas City Chiefs – Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia

We’ve spent the past few years saying that the Chiefs really needed to get some receiver help for Patrick Mahomes, and they have kept declining to do so, and it has all worked out perfectly fine. But I could see this being the year they finally bite the bullet and do it. McConkey is the sort of vertical game changer they’ve been lacking since they traded away Tyreek Hill, and he should have an easy path to becoming a major contributor.

2024 Defensive Prospects

Defensive Front

Jer’Zhan Newton, DT, Illinois

Newton is the premier defensive player in this class, and I really don’t understand why he isn’t a lock to go in the top ten. The biggest criticism you can make of him is that he is a bit small for a defensive tackle, standing only 6-2 with short arms. But he still has good weight at 304 pounds, and he doesn’t get pushed around too much as a point-of-attack defender. Adding a little strength to be able to hold his ground better would definitely be a nice addition, but it’s not going to hold him back from becoming a high-level NFL player.

Newton boasts rare quickness for someone his size, and he combines that with excellent hand usage to enable him to shed blockers and then race around them into the backfield. He covers a lot of ground laterally and can make plays in the backfield in both run defense and as a pass rusher. The only thing that could stop him from being an elite sack producer is that he occasionally struggles to finish plays, and even then he’s still able to force the quarterback off his spot and disrupt the play.

The one area of the game that I think Newton can really improve is explosiveness. He has plays every now and then where he fires off the ball and shoots through a gap deep into the backfield, showing that he is capable of doing this. But most of the time he plays a bit more passively, coming out of his stance upward and prioritizing hand-fighting. He’s very good at this as well, and I think if he can find a better balance between these approaches he can keep opposing linemen off-balance the entire game, allowing him to be a true destructive force on the front line of the defense.

 

Laiatu Latu, EDGE, UCLA

With Latu I can at least kind of understand the people who are lower on him than I am. He is a very unique player who wins in unique ways, and it’s reasonable to worry how that will translate to the NFL. Latu isn’t the traditional speed edge rusher, and his first step up the field is simply not very good. He can occasionally win around the edge using his strength and his aggressive hands, and when he does get the edge he shows pretty impressive bend to get back to the quarterback. But he'll be facing better tackles in the NFL, most of whom won’t have any trouble beating Latu with their drops.

Of course, staying in front of Latu after these initial couple of steps is pretty much impossible. His quickness and flexibility are unmatched in the draft class, and combined with his excellent hands that makes it virtually impossible for a blocker to sustain contact. He’s even more dangerous in tight spaces rushing against guards, and there will be opposing linemen who simply can’t handle what he brings to the table.

So the question becomes whether the first-step explosion can be developed, or if it is simply missing from his game. It’s hard for me to believe that someone this explosive with his second and third steps can’t find a way to harness something similar with his first, but it’s also hard to buy it when the evidence is nowhere on film. Even if this doesn’t develop, I think he can become a very good player, and probably worth a selection in the top ten. But there’s also a pretty good chance this limits his ceiling, and he’ll have to settle for being simply a good player rather than a great one.

 

Jared Verse, EDGE, Florida State

Verse fits the mold of a traditional pass rusher better than Latu, while still having a fair number of shortcomings as well. His burst off the ball is decent, and occasionally it can get him in position to attack the edge, though usually he still has to rely on his other tools to get him around the corner. He isn’t the bendiest athlete, but he can cut the corner short by sweeping away the opposing tackle’s arms and then using his power to drive through.

Power is the strongest part of Verse’s game, and he has a bull rush that complements the speed he brings to the table. Very few tackles have the anchor to just sit back and absorb him, which forces them to play more aggressively and opens things up on the outside. Verse doesn’t really have any counter-moves, and his lateral agility is underwhelming, but the combination of power and speed is enough to make it difficult for any lineman to shut him down.

Verse has a couple of pretty good traits, but ultimately nothing I would consider elite, and I think he’s a fairly low-ceiling player. He has no experience dropping into coverage and can get pushed around in run defense, which limits his versatility and usefulness. I think he’s a safe enough bet as an above average starter to justify a selection in the middle of the first round, but I’m not sure he has all the tools necessary to be a consistent ten sack a season producer in the NFL.

 

Byron Murphy, DT, Texas

Murphy is a versatile defensive tackle, with the strength to hold up as a two-gapping presence in the running game and the burst to threaten quarterbacks in the backfield. Neither of these traits is at an elite level, and he falls short of a more explosive prospect like Newton, but his capability to be above average in both makes him very versatile from a scheme perspective, the sort of player you can count on no matter what you want to do on defense and someone worth taking in the middle of the first round.

As a pass rusher Murphy isn’t super technically refined, but he has enough skills to go along with his physical tools to win on the inside. He’s quick enough off the ball to get the opposing blocker in an awkward position, then strong enough after that to power through into the backfield. He doesn’t fire off quickly enough to get deep, immediate penetration, but he can drag a blocker behind him as he gets into the quarterback’s face and pushes him out of the pocket.

That is where things can get a little dicey though, because Murphy isn’t great as a finisher. He doesn’t have a lot of lateral range, and he doesn’t bend very well, meaning quarterbacks are typically able to sidestep his rush and let their blocker wash him out of the play. These struggles show up in the running game some as well, where Murphy can get into good position but then struggle to shed a blocker to make a play on the ball. These are probably physical limitations that can’t be improved too much in the NFL, and will keep him from making the sort of dynamic plays that separate the top defensive tackles from the simply very good ones.

 

Dallas Turner, EDGE, Alabama

Turner is this year’s gamble on athletic upside. He may have had the best Combine performance of anyone this year, running a 4.46 forty and posting similarly incredible numbers in both his leaps. He is an explosive, rangy athlete, and when he’s let loose to just run he can make some impressive plays on defense. He’s very dangerous as a backside run defender, able to chase plays down from behind and swallow them before they can reach the line of scrimmage. He also has experience dropping into coverage and looks reasonably comfortable doing so, though he was never challenged in the three games I watched.

As a pass rusher there is still a lot of work to do, and a pretty good chance he never figures it out. The majority of his rushes end with him slamming into the opposing tackle’s chest, and it’s a rare occasion when he can even make the quarterback notice him. He doesn’t really use his hands, and never comes in with a pass rush plan other than using his physical abilities to win. Simply put, he is not an immediate impact player in the NFL.

The pieces you would want are there though, just not put together. He will explode up the field and gain the edge, then not be able to bend to get to the quarterback. He will drive a blocker into the backfield, then not be able to separate to bring the passer down. He shows tremendous lateral quickness, but rarely applies it as a pass rusher. Over the three games I watched there were maybe two plays where he put all his tools together, and they were breathtaking. Not often enough for me to describe them as anything more than random flukes, but often enough for me to believe there is something there to build on. Turner probably never will figure it all out and become an elite pass rusher. But the upside of him doing so is enough that I’d still take that gamble sometime in the late first round.

 

 

Defensive Backs

Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo

Mitchell is probably the most challenging evaluation of any player I looked at this year. He has risen a lot during the pre-draft process largely on the strength of what he’s done off the field. He was reportedly among the most impressive players at the Senior Bowl practices, and then he wowed at the Combine, running a 4.33 forty to go along with above average height and weight. On paper he has the look of an elite cornerback, and that upside is definitely hard to ignore.

And it’s not that Mitchell’s tape is bad. It just doesn’t show very much. He played against largely weak competition, and the scheme didn’t really ask him to challenge himself. He mostly floated around ten yards off the line of scrimmage and waited to react to what he saw in front of him. At times this meant he could bait opposing quarterbacks into throws he could come down and knock away, but at others it meant giving up easy completions.

Projecting Mitchell into the NFL is essentially betting on a bunch of individual traits coming together in a way we simply haven’t seen yet. He is clearly fast, both with long speed and with quick downhill closing burst. He has good ball skills both on plays in front of him and over the top. On the rare occasion he was asked to change direction to match a receiver, he looked pretty good doing it. All these pieces together would make him an elite cornerback. But without seeing it consistently demonstrated, it’s hard to justify selecting him before the middle of the first round.

 

Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama

Arnold is a good player who probably won’t ever be a great player. His size and athleticism are merely average for the cornerback position, and these limitations can make him vulnerable to the bigger and faster wide receivers he will face in the NFL. He does enough stuff well that he’ll still be reliable as a starter, but I’d be reluctant to spend a draft pick in the top half of the first round on someone with his limitations.

As long as he’s playing downhill with the receiver ahead of him Arnold can be very good, able to change direction on a dime and make excellent plays on the ball going around the receiver rather than through him. He does have a tendency to grab receivers once they’re past him, which drew frequent flags in college and will only be more heavily punished in the NFL.

Arnold is quicker than he is fast, and he is a fluid athlete matching receivers on their breaks. In college his reactivity allowed him to walk up to the line and sit in a receiver’s hip pocket from the moment the ball is snapped, erasing most windows before they could even come open. This will be harder in the NFL. Most NFL receivers can punish him over the top if he does this, and he doesn’t have the recovery ability to keep up after even one mistake. He’ll likely need to play more passive as a result, opening up opportunities underneath.

If you give him safety help over the top, he can be a quality cornerback on the outside. I think he might be better suited to a role in the slot though, a position he played infrequently in college and would need some time to adjust to. His quickness and balance would be more useful against the sort of routes he’s likely to face on the inside, and his vulnerability over the top less likely to be punished. And he is very good in run support, closing ground quickly and usually making strong tackles in space.

 

Cooper DeJean, CB/S, Iowa

DeJean is built more like a safety than a cornerback, with a thick frame and slightly short arms, which I think is part of the reason why some people think he should change positions. As an athlete he has what it takes to play on the outside, even if he might be a little limited. He tested well with a 4.43 forty, and while he occasionally can be beaten over the top, it isn’t a severe enough problem to force him to change positions in the NFL.

The bigger concern would probably be his agility. He can be a bit stiff turning his hips or moving laterally, though there are also plays where he does this very well, so it may be a matter of just cleaning up some technique to become more consistent in the NFL. Physicality could help with this, and he showed moments of good press coverage, not utilized much at the college level. I think with time he can round into an above average cornerback on the outside, worthy of a top twenty pick.

I’m more mixed on the prospect of a position change. He has the physicality to play closer to the ball as a slot cornerback, and in a zone scheme he could be useful covering ground underneath, but I think his lack of quickness could cause more problems against slot receivers with the ability to break in either direction. And he isn’t as aggressive or reliable a tackler as I would want for someone on the inside. I think he can grow into this position as well, but I think the best bet is to keep him as an outside cornerback and hope he can patch over the weaknesses in his game out there.