{"id":4706,"date":"2023-04-20T10:16:03","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T14:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/?p=4706"},"modified":"2023-04-20T10:18:19","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T14:18:19","slug":"nfl-draft-2023-strong-corner-group-tops-talented-defensive-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/nfl-draft-2023-strong-corner-group-tops-talented-defensive-class\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Draft 2023 – Strong Corner Group Tops Talented Defensive Class"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strong C<\/em><\/strong>ornerback Group Tops Talented Defensive Class\"\"
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cornerbacks<\/em><\/strong> – Grade: A <\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frank Coyle\/ Head scout<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

This year’s cornerback class is a high-quality group which is very deep, though not as top heavy as last year. There are a few blue chips expected to go in the mid-1st round with many other highly regarded corners expected to go through the top 50-100 overall selections. Underclassmen dominate our top ten prospects, though the senior group is a very solid with nice development. Devon Witherspoon is our #1 prospect with Christian Gonzalez and Joey Porter expected to earn mid first round selections. Witherspoon could be selected in the top 10 overall picks with a rookie starting grade. Gonzalez has the skill set to start early and is NFL ready after an awesome final performance. Porter is another in a long line of PSU corners to enter the NFL. He is a physical cover man with the NFL makeup to excel on the outside. Deonte Banks has prototypical shutdown skills for the pro game. He is rising fast and could earn a late 1st round selection. Teammate Jakorian Bennett is a rising cover man with well-developed talent to press for early starting time. Cam Smith and Kelee Ringo are possible late first round or early 2nd round picks. Both are SEC battle tested and figure to press for starting jobs in camp. Darius Rush and Emmanuel Forbes are another pair of talented big SEC corners. Rush is coming off an impressive career finish. Forbes is the best ball hawk in this class and has the length DCs like in outside defenders. Tyrique Stevenson and DJ Turner are well developed athletes who are NFL ready. Turner is coming off an impressive final performance plus an amazing NFL Combine sprint. They could go on the mid-2nd day. This is a deep group that will supply many NFL starters well into the 3rd day of the process. There could be at least 12 prospects selected in the top 100 choices. There will probably be 15+ prospects selected in the top 150 picks with the expected run-on corners from the mid-1st round through the early 3rd day. This class has very good depth and will provide a number of middle round steals. This position has annually provided the most overall selections and could duplicate that again. This group could supply as many as 35 total prospects and another 40 high priority FA. 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 sub packages. \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>NFL Teams in need<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Patriots \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a05. Rams<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Colts<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em> \u00a0\u00a0 6. Commanders <\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. 49ers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a07. Ravens \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. Steelers\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a08. Vikings \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    NFL Premier Player
    \nJalen Ramsey<\/em><\/h4>\n

    Blue Chip – Devon Witherspoon
    \nBlue Chip – Christian Gonzalez
    \nRed Chip – Joey Porter
    \nRising \u2013 Deonte Banks
    \nFalling – Jaylon Jones
    \nUnderrated – Darius Rush
    \nOverrated – JuJu Brents
    \nSleeper – Darrell Luter
    \nBoom\/Bust – Jakorian Bennett
    \nBiggest Upside – Deonte Banks
    \nHidden Gem – Garrett Williams
    \nLong Term Gem – Darius Rush<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Positional Traits<\/em><\/strong>
    \nBest Athlete – Christian Gonzalez
    \nBest Man Cover – Emmanuel Forbes
    \nBest Zone Cover – Darrell Luter
    \nBest Run support – Joey Porter
    \nBest Tackler – Joey Porter
    \nBest Nickel – Devon Witherspoon
    \nHands – Emmanuel Forbes
    \nBest Intangibles – Joey Porter
    \nBall Instincts – Devon Witherspoon
    \nMost Versatile – Riley Moss
    \nOver drafted – Tyrique Stevenson
    \nMajor College Sleeper \u2013 Jarrick Bernard-Converse<\/p>\n

    Top Cornerbacks<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    1 Devon Witherspoon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Illinois
    \n2 Christian Gonzalez\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oregon
    \n3 Joey Porter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Penn State
    \n4 Deonte Banks \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maryland
    \n5 Cam Smith\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 South Carolina
    \n6 Kelee Ringo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Georgia
    \n7 Darius Rush\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 South Carolina
    \n8 Tyrique Stevenson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Miami
    \n9 Emmanuel Forbes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mississippi State
    \n10 DJ Turner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michigan
    \n11 JuJu Brents\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kansas State
    \n12 Jakorian Bennett\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maryland
    \n13 Riley Moss\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Iowa
    \n14 Kyu Blu Kelly\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stanford
    \n15 Clark Phillips\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Utah
    \n16 Garrett Williams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Syracuse
    \n17 Darrell Luter \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 South Alabama
    \n18 Jaylon Jones\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Texas A&M
    \n19 Rejzohn Wright\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oregon State
    \n20 Terrell Smith\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Minnesota<\/p>\n

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

    Strong Cornerback Group Tops Talented Defensive Class Cornerbacks – Grade: A \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frank Coyle\/ Head scout Positional Overview: This year’s cornerback class is a high-quality group which is very deep, though not as [read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[3,9,22,43,11],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-4706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-ahead-of-the-curve","category-in-the-huddle","category-nfl-draft-prospects","category-nfl-headlines","category-nfl-news","tag-draft-insider-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4706","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=4706"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4708,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4706\/revisions\/4708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draftinsiders.com\/DraftInsiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}