{"id":1450,"date":"2018-04-09T04:05:57","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T04:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/?p=1450"},"modified":"2018-04-09T12:25:01","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T12:25:01","slug":"nfl-draft-2018-denzel-ward-and-jaire-alexander-head-strong-class-of-corners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/nfl-draft-2018-denzel-ward-and-jaire-alexander-head-strong-class-of-corners\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Draft 2018 \u2013 Denzel Ward and Jaire Alexander Head Strong Class of Cornerbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

NFL Draft 2018 –
\nUnderclassmen Head Strong Cornerback Class\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cornerbacks<\/em><\/strong> – Grade: B+ <\/em><\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Frank Coyle – Head Scout<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 Positional Overview<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 CB Jaire Alexander – Louisville<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year’s cornerback class is another excellent group of cover men which is both exceptionally deep and top heavy. There are a few blue chips expected to go at the top of the 1st round, with many through the top 50 overall selections. Six juniors head are prospect rankings with Denzel Ward and Jaire Alexander at the top of the class. They will probably be selected in the top 10-25 overall picks. Ward is also the best athlete at the position and has the skill set and versatility to start immediately. He is another in a long line of Buckeye corners to enter the NFL recently with most highly successful early in their careers. Alexander is a well-developed cover man with an early starting grade. He will probably be selected in the top 15-20 choices. Mike Hughes, Carlton Davis and Josh Jackson could all go in the top round or early 2nd round. Isaiah Oliver, Anthony Averett and Donte Jackson are highly regarded corers and probable mid-2nd day picks off strong 2017 performances. Averett comes off an excellent final season which probably earns him a top 50-60 selection. This is a deep group that will supply many NFL starters well into the 3rd day of the process. There could be at least 10-12 prospects selected in the top 100 choices. There will probably be 15-18 prospects selected in the top 150 picks. There should be a run on corners from the mid-1st round through the early 3rd day. This is an exceptionally strong group of underclassmen which improved the quality of this class. This class has exceptional depth and will provide a number of middle round steals like Duke Dawson, M.J. Stewart and Isaac Yiadom. This position has annually provided the most overall selections and should once again. This class could supply as many as 35 total prospects and another 40+ high priority FA. Small college defenders, Davontae Harris is highly regarded from the lower level and carries a potential starting grade. This deep crop of corners will supply a huge group of big corners with some versatility to also slide to safety in the nickel and dime\u00a0 \u00a0packages.<\/p>\n

NFL Teams in need<\/em><\/strong>:
\n1 Patriots\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a05 . Giants
\n2. Dolphins\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 6. Redskins
\n3. Cowboys\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a07. Bears
\n4 Seahawks\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 8. Chiefs<\/p>\n

NFL Premier Player<\/strong><\/em>
\nPatrick Peterson<\/em><\/strong>
\nBlue Chip \u2013 Denzel Ward
\nBlue Chip \u2013 Jaire Alexander
\nRed Chip – Mike Hughes
\nRising – \u00a0Donte Jackson
\nFalling – Tarvarus McFadden
\nUnderrated \u2013 Anthony Averett
\nOverrated \u2013 Isaac Yiadom
\nSleeper – Davontae Harris
\nBoom\/Bust \u2013 Holton Hill
\nBiggest Upside \u2013 Isaiah Oliver
\nHidden Gem \u2013 Tony Brown
\nOver drafted \u2013 Kevin Toliver<\/p>\n

Positional Traits<\/em><\/strong>
\nBest Athlete – Denzel Ward
\nBest Man Cover \u2013 Denzel Ward
\nBest Zone Cover \u2013 Mike Hughes
\nBest Run support \u2013 Carlton Davis
\nBest Tackler – Anthony Averett
\nHands – Joshua Jackson
\nBest Intangibles – Anthony Averett
\nBall Instincts – Mike Hughes<\/p>\n

\u00a0Top Cornerbacks<\/em><\/h4>\n

1 * Denzel Ward \u2013 Ohio St
\n2 * Jaire Alexander \u2013 Louisville
\n3 * Mike Hughes \u2013 Central Florida
\n4 * Carlton Davis \u2013 Auburn
\n5 * Joshua Jackson \u2013 Iowa
\n6 * Isaiah Oliver \u2013 Colorado
\n7 Anthony Averett \u2013 Alabama
\n8 * Donte Jackson \u2013 LSU
\n9 * Kevin Toliver \u2013 LSU
\n10 Duke Dawson \u2013 Florida
\n11 * Tarvarus McFadden \u2013 Florida St
\n12 Tony Brown \u2013 Alabama
\n13 M.J. Stewart \u2013 North Carolina
\n14 Davontae Harris \u2013 Illinois St
\n15 Isaac Yiadom \u2013 Boston College<\/p>\n

\"image_print\"Printer Friendly<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NFL Draft 2018 – Underclassmen Head Strong Cornerback Class\u00a0 Cornerbacks – Grade: B+ \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Frank Coyle – Head Scout \u00a0 Positional Overview: This year’s cornerback class is another excellent group of cover [read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,43,11],"tags":[32],"class_list":{"0":"post-1450","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-nfl-draft-prospects","7":"category-nfl-headlines","8":"category-nfl-news","9":"tag-draft-insider-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1450"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1459,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450\/revisions\/1459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}