NFL Draft – CB Rankings
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39.) Osahon Irabor, Arizona St (5’11, 190): Four year starter with good athleticism, run support and ball skills. Irabor doesn’t have the deep speed to turn and run with NFL receivers, but he did run a sub 4.5 40 at his pro day, so he may have more speed than scouts give him credit for. Irabor is a fiery player on the field, but also smart and rarely out of position. He’s also a vicious blitzer and should be able to contribute at the next level as a sub package corner. Irabor is at his best when facing the QB, so a zone scheme might be the best fit for his skills. Draft projection:7th round – UFA
40.) Marcus Williams, North Dakota St (5’11, 185): Dominated against weak DII competition. Williams has good cover skills, but might not have the speed (4.57) or agility to stick with NFL receivers. His best chance to stick in the league is probably in a zone scheme or at safety. Williams has good ball skills, is a solid hitter vs the run, and is always around the ball, so he seems to have the right skill-set for a switch to safety. He has over 1000 career return yards as well so he can help on special teams as well. Draft projection:7th round – UFA
41.) Jordan Love, Towson (5’11. 189): Started out at Georgia as a 4-star recruit, so he has more athleticism than most players in the Colonial conference. Love has good enough size and put up solid enough numbers at his pro day (4.48 40-time, 36″ vertical) for a team to give him a shot with a day 3 pick or as a priority UFA. Love has good feet, long arms, and pretty good ball skills but it’s hard to extrapolate game film from the Colonial conference and Love didn’t get any pre-draft all-star game invites so we haven’t seen him compete against even mid-level competition. Draft projection:7th round – UFA
42.) Dexter McDougle, Maryland (5’10, 196): Missed most of his senior year with a shoulder injury, but got back on scouts radars with a heck of a pro day. McDougle was timed as low as 4.43 in the 40, had a 37″ vertical, an excellent 10’2 broad jump, and looks like a strong well-built defensive back. He’s smooth in coverage and shows a fluid flip when he has to turn and run with receivers, but really didn’t start playing well until 2013 and there is only 3 games worth of tape to prove it. He also is a non-factor against the run and somewhat of an injury risk. Draft projection:7th round – UFA
43.) B.J. Lowery, Iowa (5’11, 193): Too stiff and not agile enough for extended man coverage, but he can excel in either a press or zone scheme. Lowery has great ball skills, made a few extraordinary plays last year, and is solid in run support. With his size he could be a solid safety, but might have a chance as a corner in the right scheme. Draft projection:7th round – UFA
44.) Lavelle Westbrooks, Georgia Southern (5’11, 186): Aggressive corner with good strength who got burned repeatedly at the Senior Bowl and then ran the 2nd slowest 40 in the defensive back group (4.63) at the combine. Westbrooks has a chance but he’s going to need a lot of coaching on his technique. Draft projection: 5th-6th round
45.) Kendall James, Maine (5’10, 180): Very fast with good change of direction and short-area quickness allowing James to excel in man coverage. Despite his above average coverage ability, he’s short and has shorter than average arm length and small hands which limit his ability to make plays on the ball. James isn’t going to be an outside cover guy in the pros, but could earn a role as a slot corner. Draft projection: UFA
46.) Charles Sawyer, Mississippi (5’10, 175): He’s a small corner but ran well at the pro day (4.56) and his 36″ vertical lets him play a little taller than he’s listed. Sawyer has good instincts, solid ball skills and is aggressive stopping the run. His primary flaws are that he might not be quick enough to play the slot and he’s not tall or strong enough to play outside. He also had a DUI in September of 2013 so there might be some off-field red flags as well. Sawyer has a shot late on day 3, but is most likely a priority UFA. Draft projection: UFA
47.) Jabari Price, North Carolina (5’10, 200): Has the speed and athleticism to play in the NFL, but might not have the corner skills and technique neccessary to hack it in the league. Price only had 2 INTs despite starting 30 games and hasn’t shown the instincts or techniques necessary to play corner in the NFL. He does have the physical traits though, so some team with an ambitious DB coach could take a chance on him. Price is a willing tackler against the run though isn’t good at it or a big hitter. Draft projection: UFA
48.) Demitri Goodson, Baylor (5’11, 194): Former starting point guard on Gonzaga’s basketball team who made the switch to football late in his college career so only has two years experience at corner. Goodson has good size and NFL athleticism, but was injured often in college. He’s understandably raw with only two years at the position so needs a lot of technique work and will be a 25-year-old rookie, so teams may not want to wait on a guy who will be nearing 30 by the time he is ready to contribute. Draft projection: UFA
Marqueston Huff (WY), Nick Addison (B-C) and Jemea Thomas (GT) are ranked as free safeties.
Twitter: @MikeFlannery_