th

Behind the quarterback, offensive lines, and defensive lines, defensive back is probably the most important position in the sport. Both the CB and S positions have been almost impossible to play with the new rules in the game. However, if you are lucky enough to find a gem, they can change the way your entire defense plays. You can lock down one guy and shift the defense to the other side of the field and trust me, there is no bigger adjustment for an offense than having their top target taken away.

Regarding this year’s CB class, there is a consensus top 3: Greedy Williams of LSU, Byron Murphy of Washington, and DeAndre Baker of Georgia. All three guys should be selected in the 1st round and all three could have an immediate impact on the defense of the teams that select them. LSU has been known as DB University and Washington has produces some really good DBs over the last few years. Georgia is a school that just has a lot of pure athletes. All three should have a good combine show.

Some names at the cornerback to look out for during the combine: Amani Oruwariye of Penn State, Julian Love of Notre Dame, JoeJuan Williams of Vanderbilt, Rock Ya-Sin of Temple, and Lonnie Johnson of Kentucky. Other than Love, who arguably could be the best of the five, the one thing in common with all of the above is their size, as you can see below. If you want a physical CB, this is definitely the year to get one. However, don’t sit too long, most, if not all of these guys could be gone by the 3rd round.

At the safety position, two names seem to pop up more than the rest when you talk about going in the 1st or by middle of the 2nd, Deionte Thompson of Alabama and Nasir Adderley of Delaware. Unlike Alabama, typically you don’t see too many prospects Delaware, but Adderley is ready to impress. He’s a great athlete and shouldn’t have a problem putting up some good numbers. Thompson is, by most accounts, the top S in the draft and is probably the only one that should be guaranteed in the 1st.

Other safeties of note that could go within the 1st three rounds are: Taylor Rapp of Washington, Amani Hooker of Iowa, C Gardner-Johnson of Florida, Juan Thornhill of Virginia, Juquan Johnson of Miami, and Darnell Savage Jr of Maryland. The safety group overall is not as strong as the CB group, but there are some names that can be good if drafted into the right system and if they are coached and developed well. However, you can pretty much say that about most players in the draft. Not a great group.

Two DBs to keep an eye on as late risers that could jump pretty high with a good combine are Justin Layne of Michigan St at cornerback and Johnathan Abram of Mississippi St. Layne is a long defensive back that should run a good time. He is a solid tackler and that’s something that is wanted in the league. Abram is a big defensive back with, at best, average hands. It’s hard to be a hitter in the league now, but size and athletic ability can give you a long career in the NFL.

Below are the Defensive Back measurements from the 2019 NFL Combine.

Player

School

Height

Weight

Hand

Arm

Johnathan Abram

Mississippi St.

5’11 3/8

205

9 5/8

31 3/8

Nasir Adderley

Delaware

5’11 3/4

206

9

31

Ugo Amadi

Oregon

5’9 3/8

199

9 1/2

31 3/4

Blessuan Austin

Rutgers

6 5/8

198

10

32 1/2

Derrick Baity

Kentucky

6’2 1/8

197

8 5/8

31 1/2

Deandre Baker

Georgia

5’11

193

9

32

Corey Ballentine

Washburn

5’11

196

9 1/2

31 5/8

John Battle

LSU

6 1/2

201

9 5/8

31 3/4

Mike Bell

Fresno St.

6’2 3/4

210

9 1/4

32 3/8

Marquise Blair

Utah

6’1 1/4

195

8 1/4

30 3/4

Kris Boyd

Texas

5’11 1/2

201

9

30 3/4

Blace Brown

Troy

6′ 3/8

194

9 3/4

32

Jordan Brown

South Dakota St.

6′ 3/8

201

9 5/8

30 1/2

Sean Bunting

Central Michigan

6′ 3/8

195

9 5/8

31 3/4

Hamp Cheevers

Boston College

5’9 3/8

169

8 5/8

30 1/2

Jonathan Crawford

Indiana

6’1

205

9 1/4

31 1/2

Xavier Crawford

Central Michigan

5’10 7/8

187

9

29 1/8

Davante Davis

Texas

6’2 1/8

202

9 3/4

31 3/8

Jamel Dean

Auburn

6’1

206

9 1/8

31 3/4

Lukas Denis

Boston College

5’11 1/4

190

9 1/2

31 1/4

D’Cota Dixon

Wisconsin

5’9 5/8

204

9 1/8

29 1/4

Mike Edwards

Kentucky

5’10 1/2

205

9 3/8

30 7/8

Rashad Fenton

South Carolina

5’11

193

8 3/4

30 3/8

Mark Fields

Clemson

5’9 7/8

192

9 1/8

30 1/2

Malik Gant

Marshall

5’11 5/8

209

8 7/8

30 1/2

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson

Florida

5’10 7/8

210

9 1/4

30 7/8

Saquan Hampton

Rutgers

6’1 1/4

206

8 5/8

31 5/8

Will Harris

Boston College

6’1

207

9

31 1/4

Montre Hartage

Northwestern

5’11 3/8

190

9

31 3/4

Alijah Holder

Stanford

6 3/4

191

9 1/2

32 1/2

Amani Hooker

Iowa

5’11 3/8

210

9 1/8

30 1/8

Mike Jackson

Miami

6 5/8

210

9 3/4

32 1/2

Isaiah Johnson

Houston

6’2 1/8

208

8 3/4

33

Jaquan Johnson

Miami

5’10 1/8

191

8 3/4

29 5/8

Lonnie Johnson

Kentucky

6’1 7/8

213

9 1/8

32 5/8

Justin Layne

Michigan St.

6’1 3/4

192

9 1/4

33

Iman Lewis-Marshall

USC

6 5/8

207

9 1/2

30 3/8

David Long

Michigan

5’10 5/8

196

9 5/8

30 7/8

Julian Love

Notre Dame

5’10 3/4

195

9

31 3/4

Mark McLaurin

Mississippi St.

6’1 1/2

212

9 5/8

31 5/8

Jordan Miller

Washington

6 5/8

186

9 5/8

32 7/8

Trayvon Mullen

Clemson

6’1 1/2

199

9 1/8

31

Byron Murphy

Washington

6’1 7/8

185

9 1/4

31 1/2

Amani Oruwariye

Penn St.

6’1 5/8

205

9

31 3/8

Jamal Peters

Mississippi St.

6’1 3/4

218

9 3/4

32 3/8

Ryan Pulley

Arkansas

5’10 5/8

209

9 1/4

32 3/4

Taylor Rapp

Washington

5’11 3/4

208

9

30 3/4

Sheldrick Redwine

Miami

6

196

9 3/8

31 3/4

Darnell Savage

Maryland

5’10 3/4

198

9 1/8

31

Kendall Sheffield

Ohio St.

5’11 3/8

193

9 1/4

31 1/2

Saivion Smith

Alabama

6 7/8

199

9 1/2

33 1/4

Marvell Tell

USC

6’2

198

9 3/4

33 1/8

Derrek Thomas

Baylor

6’2 7/8

189

10

33 /34

Deionte Thompson

Alabama

6’1

195

9 7/8

32 1/8

Juan Thornhill

Virginia

6 1/4

205

8 3/4

31 1/8

Ken Webster

Mississippi

5’10 7/8

203

8 7/8

32

Darius West

Kentucky

5’10 7/8

208

9 1/8

31 3/8

Greedy Williams

LSU

6’1 7/8

185

9 1/4

31 1/2

Joejuan Williams

Vanderbilt

6’3 5/8

211

9 3/4

32 1/2

Khari Willis

Michigan St.

5’10 7/8

213

9 1/2

31

Donovan Wilson

Texas A&M

6

199

9 3/4

33 3/8

Andrew Wingard

Wyoming

6 1/8

209

8 5/8

30 1/2

Zedrick Woods

Mississippi

5’11

205

9 1/8

31 5/8

Evan Worthington

Colorado

6’1 7/8

212

9 1/2

32 3/4

Rock Ya-Sin

Temple

5’11 3/4

192

9 7/8

32

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