2019 Cornerback Prospects

Earlier this week I went through the top receiving prospects in this year’s draft. Now it’s time to take a look at the players who are going to have to cover them. It isn’t a particularly strong year for cornerbacks (it isn’t a particularly strong year outside the defensive line in general), but there are a few options with the upside to become real stars down the line.

Greedy Williams, LSU

It’s rare to find a cornerback with Williams’s physical tools, and it’s even rarer to find one who puts those tools to use as effectively playing the ball as he does. When the ball is in the air, he treats it as if he is just another receiver, using his explosive speed and long arms to break up and intercept passes. He had eight interceptions in two years of college football, and he isn’t going to slow down at all in the NFL.

Williams impressed in the only drill he did at the Combine, putting up 4.37 in the forty to back up the speed he shows on tape. He has experience in a number of different schemes, but he is at his best playing tight to the line of scrimmage. He doesn’t get particularly physical with receivers, but he does a good job mirroring them off the snap, and once he opens his hips he is able to run with anyone put across from him. On deep routes he consistently gets his head around to find the football, and he squeezes against the sideline to give even smaller windows for completion over his long arms.

Williams isn’t a perfect prospect by any means. His change of direction is lacking, and that isn’t going to improve much in the NFL. He can be beaten badly by quick stop routes, as he is unable to slam on the brakes as well as the receivers he faces. He can be beaten across his face by slant routes and other quick passes, but this could potentially be fixed by technique. These small qualms aside, he is easily the best cornerback prospect in this class, and well worth a top ten selection.

Byron Murphy, Washington

A disappointing Combine performance knocks Murphy down in my eyes, likely to the second half of the first round. Less than six feet tall, he ran a miserable 4.55 forty yard dash, and didn’t do much better in any of the other drills he participated in. He will struggle against the elite athletes he is going to face in the NFL, and he may be best in a role that shields him from too much responsibility against bigger or faster targets. Which is too bad, because in terms of pure coverage—matching a receiver step-for-step and break-for-break—he is the most impressive cornerback in this class.

Murphy spent a lot of time drifting around in a deep zone at Washington, but when he was asked to man up against an opposing receiver he was usually up to the challenge. He isn’t particularly physical, and he can get in trouble when he tries to engage opposing receivers this way. He’s much better dropping off from the line where he can watch and mirror every step they take, always perfectly balanced as he either breaks downhill to make a play on the ball or rides downfield in the receiver’s hip pocket.

Murphy’s game is polished in a lot of ways, and he’d be an excellent selection for a team looking to shore up their secondary immediately. He understands how to play around opposing receivers to knock down the ball, and his ability to play without being overly physical will ease his transition to the NFL. He might top out as a good number two cornerback, but it won’t take him long to reach that level, and he should be fine as long as he doesn’t spend too much time matched up against the true freaks of the league.

Trayvon Mullen, Clemson

Like Williams, Mullen is at his best when he starts lined up directly across the line of scrimmage from the opposing wide receiver. Unlike Williams, Mullen wins with his physicality rather than his speed. He doesn’t stack up receivers to prevent them from getting down the field, but he has a strong initial punch that disrupts their release and ruins the timing of their routes. From there he is smoothly able to transition to turn and run with receivers, with both now starting from equal footing.

Things can get a little dicey when they don’t work out exactly as I describe. If he’s asked to play off the line rather than up tight against it, Mullen has a habit of sitting flat footed and trying to catch the opposing receiver on his route. He is way too physical down the field, and this will present problems as he translates to the stricter rules of the NFL. His ball skills aren’t great, and despite good height and long arms he will likely lose more than his share of contested catches.

With some work I could see Mullen developing into an above average NFL starter. He has decent change of direction, able to come downhill aggressively to handle underneath routes. He needs to get better at recovering when his initial check fails, and at keeping his balance alongside receivers as they run together down the field. Most of this comes down to footwork and repetition, and with good coaches he can clean up some of the holes in his game. The talent is there as a late first round pick, but it will probably take a couple years for it to truly show up.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Florida

 

Most sources have Gardner-Johnson listed as a safety, and that may ultimately be where he ends up in the NFL. But in my mind playing safety is just a good fallback option in case he doesn’t work out at his most valuable position, which is the position he played in college. At Florida Gardner-Johnson was a dynamic playmaker as a slot cornerback, and I think he should have an opportunity to develop there in the NFL as well.

If he does stick at cornerback, Gardner-Johnson will instantly be one of the most physical cornerbacks in the league. He is an excellent tackler in space, and he is a nightmare as a blitzer coming out of the slot. Properly used he can probably put up four or five sacks each year based solely on the timing and ferocity of his blitzes. He could probably be a little better at playing through blockers rather than trying to run around them, but even as he is now he will be a force against the run and the quick passing game.

The issue with Gardner-Johnson is coverage. He isn’t a spectacular athlete, and he can be beaten on quick breaking routes of the sort he’ll have to face regularly in the slot. He can win with physicality, but that is also difficult in the middle of the field. He makes up for some of these shortcomings with good ball skills that allow him to make big plays, but it will be a rough transition trying to keep up with NFL receivers.

So how valuable is a cornerback who still needs to learn how to cover? That’s a good question, and it’s one the team that drafts Gardner-Johnson will have to answer. But the truth is, he doesn’t need to be a lockdown coverage man to be an impact player on a defense. The potential to fill a unique role is intriguing, and the backup option as a more traditional safety is enough that I would take a flyer on him at the end of the first round.

DeAndre Baker, Gerogia

There isn’t a lot of upside to be found with Baker. He isn’t particularly big, or particularly athletic. He plays aggressive against underneath routes, but he doesn’t have the burst or the ball skills to consistently produce interceptions and pass breakups. He doesn’t get physical against opposing wide receivers, and he loses more often than he wins at the catch point. In short, there is no reason at all to even consider taking him in the first round.

That doesn’t mean he’s a bad player. He does a lot of little things well that will transition to the NFL. He’s a smart player who does a good job reading the play as it develops ahead of him, not flipping his hips open until the last possible moment to avoid giving away easy throws underneath. He communicates well in zone coverage and usually gets deep enough to prevent anyone from getting behind him. He is very good at squeezing receivers against the sideline on vertical routes, making up somewhat for his questionable speed by cutting receivers off so they can’t simply run past him.

Baker will top out as a functional number two cornerback in the NFL. It won’t happen right away, as he will need time to get up to speed reading the more complex route runners at the professional level. I have no doubt he will pick this up eventually though, and he’s the sort of player who could have a long and unremarkable NFL career. There’s just no reason to expect it to be anything more than that.

Rock Ya-Sin, Temple

I really want Ya-Sin to be good, and not just because Rock Ya-Sin will instantly become a Hall of Fame caliber NFL name. He has a fun style that I wish I saw from more cornerbacks, aggressive against both the run and the pass. He sticks his nose into congested areas, he jumps underneath routes for interceptions, and he carries himself with an attitude that’s just infectious and fun.

And I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that he becomes a high caliber NFL cornerback. If you put together all his best moments, he is right up there with the top cornerbacks in this class. He can make great breaks on the ball. He can disrupt receivers with physicality as they run down the field. He can play with excellent balance that allows him to be aggressive and still recover to shut down a throwing lane.

But the most important word in each of those sentences was “can”. There is a lot that Ya-Sin can do, but he is maddeningly inconsistent on just about every play. Sometimes he makes great plays on the ball, other times he fails to get his head around and gets too physical with the opposing receiver. Sometimes he makes great breaks on the ball, other times he sits back on his heels and allows easy catches in front of him. He seems to consistently run into trouble whenever he flips his hips, which makes sense seeing his Combine performance, where he was in the bottom 15 percent of cornerbacks in both agility drills. He’s at his best when he stays square with the opposing receiver, but he doesn’t have the long speed to play this way against most NFL deep threats.

The trickiest part of scouting is always trying to differentiate what a player is from what he will become. I prefer to look for traits and hope that a player can develop in the NFL, betting on upside. And if that was the only concern, Ya-Sin’s upside is probably second or third among this cornerback class. But while a player can iron out a few inconsistencies in the NFL, it’s hard for me to believe that Ya-Sin can erase every single issue he has. More likely than not he’ll take care of a few while the others remain in his game, leaving a capable, fun, and maddening player for whoever ends up drafting him.

Julian Love, Notre Dame

The story on Love is more about the things he can’t do. He doesn’t have the long speed to turn and run with receivers down the sideline, and he doesn’t do a very good job getting his head around to play the ball when he’s running down the sideline. Physicality is not a part of his game at all, and when he does try to press an opposing wide receiver he has a habit of getting overextended and off balance, leaving him in poor position to recover down the field.

I don’t see these limitations going away at the next level. He is who he is, and who he is will not be useful in a number of NFL schemes. But that isn’t to say he’s not without his strengths. He covers ground well when he makes a decision and breaks downhill. He can be outmuscled some at the point of the catch, but he does a good job playing around receivers to knock the ball out of the air.

I think Love will fit best into a scheme that runs more zone coverage. Help over the top will help keep him from getting burned, and the opportunity to sit back, diagnose the play, and break downhill will free him to play to his strengths. His performance in the agility tests at the Combine is a little intriguing, and I think if he can work on his technique to shore up some of his balance issues he might be more flexible scheme-wise than I’m giving him credit for. He’s worth a second round pick for sure, for someone whose system fits his talents.