Corners aren’t likely to go quite as early in 2023 as last spring when Houston selected Derek Stingley with the 3rd pick, while the Jets nabbed Sauce Gardner one pick later. That said, CB still looks like it will be one of the strengths of the upcoming draft. Eli Ricks of Alabama and Georgia’s Kelee Ringo both have legit top ten potential. Same for Cam Smith of South Carolina, who doesn’t have quite the national rep of the other two, but he’s also an outstanding prospect. All three are 6-1 or taller and have the kind of length that the NFL covets in a top cover corner these days. They also have the requisite quickness, foot speed and ball skills.
At the same time, Joey Porter of Penn State and Utah’s Clark Phillips have later first round potential, while there is a strong contingent of second-day corner candidates including Stanford’s Kyu Blue Kelly, Emmanuel Forbes of Mississippi State, Garrett Williams of Syracuse, TCU’s Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson and Kris Abrams-Draine of Missouri, Cam Hart of Notre Dame, Tyrique Stevenson of Miami and Tony Grimes and Storm Duck of North Carolina. In fact, there’s a lot of depth at the position that should continue well into the second-day including a number of interesting FCS prospects including Anthony Adams of Portland State, Montana’s Justin Ford, Delaware’s Kedrick Whitehead and Montrae Braswell of Missouri State.
There’s also some intriguing talent at the position for future drafts. Denzel Burke of Ohio State, Texas A&M’s Tyreek Chappell, Duce Chestnut of Syracuse and Minnesota’s Justin Walley are arguably the top true sophomore corners in the country after posting solid freshman campaigns. The young corner that has everyone talking in college football, though, is incoming freshman Travis Hunter, the #1 recruit in the country who shocked the college football world by decommitting from Florida State and signing on with FCS Jackson State. Of course, the fact that Deion Sanders is the JSU head coach had a little something to do with his decision as he became the first 5-star recruit to ever sign with an FCS program. Meanwhile, other top incoming freshman corners include Domani Jackson of Southern Cal, Will Johnson of Michigan and Cincinnati’s JQ Hardaway.
Top 25 CBs for 2023
April 26, 2023 2:58 PM
| # | Player | HT/WT | 40X | College | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Gonzalez | 6-1.5, 197 | 4.38c | Oregon | ||
| Devon Witherspoon | 5-11.5, 181 | 4.55 | Illinois | ||
| Joey Porter | 6-2.5, 193 | 4.46c | Penn State | ||
| Deonte Banks | 6-0, 197 | 4.35c | Maryland | ||
| Emmanuel Forbes | 6-0,5, 166 | 4.35c | Mississippi State | ||
| Kelee Ringo | 6-1.5, 207 | 4.36c | Georgia | ||
| Cam Smith | 6-0.5, 180 | 4.43c | South Carolina | ||
| DJ Turner | 5-11, 178 | 4.26c | Michigan | ||
| Darius Rush | 6-2, 198 | 4.36c | South Carolina | ||
| JuJu Brents | 6-2.5, 198 | 4.53c | Kansas State | ||
| Jakorian Bennett | 5-10.5, 188 | 4.30c | Maryland | ||
| Terrell Smith | 6-0.5, 204 | 4.41c | Minnesota | ||
| Cory Trice | 6-3.5, 206 | 4.47 | Purdue | ||
| Clark Phillips | 5-9, 184 | 4.51c | Utah | ||
| Eli Ricks | 6-2. 188 | 4.50 | Alabama | ||
| Riley Moss | 6-0.5, 193 | 4.45c | Iowa | ||
| Tyrique Stevenson | 6-0, 198 | 4.45c | Miami | ||
| Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson | 5-8, 178 | 4.41c | TCU | ||
| Kyu Blu Kelly | 6-0, 191 | 4.52c | Stanford | ||
| Rejzohn Wright | 6-2, 193 | 4.45 | Oregon State | ||
| Garrett Williams | 5-11, 192 | 4.50 | Syracuse | X | |
| Jaylon Jones | 6-2, 200 | 4.57c | Texas A&M | ||
| Carrington Valentine | 6-0, 193 | 4.55 | Kentucky | ||
| Kei'Trel Clark | 5-10, 181 | 4.42c | Louisville | ||
| Jarrick Bernard-Converse | 6-0, 205 | 4.45p | LSU | ||
| Alex Austin | 6-1, 195 | 4.55c | Oregon State | ||
| Mekhi Blackmon | 5-11, 178 | 4.47c | Southern California | ||
| Darrell Luter | 5-11.5, 189 | 4.46c | South Alabama | ||
| Mekhi Garner | 6-2, 212 | 4.55c | LSU | ||
| Cameron Brown | 6-0, 199 | 4.55p | Ohio State | ||
| Myles Brooks | 6-1, 201 | 4.50 | Louisiana Tech | ||
| Dontae Manning | 5-10, 190 | 4.40 | Oregon | ||
| Arquon Bush | 5-11.5, 187 | 4.54c | Cincinnati | ||
| Lance Boykin | 6-2, 200 | 4.55 | Coastal Carolina | ||
| Isaiah Bolden | 6-1, 205 | 4.55 | Jackson State | ||
| Cameron Mitchell | 5-10.5, 191 | 4.47c | Northwestern | ||
| Noah Daniels | 6-0, 195 | 4.45 | TCU | ||
| Sevyn Banks | 6-1, 205 | 4.55 | LSU | ||
| Art Green | 5-1, 200 | 4.60 | Houston | ||
| DJ Graham | 6-0, 195 | 4.50 | Oklahoma | ||
| Avery Young | 6-0, 195 | 4.45 | Rutgers | FS | |
| Kahlef Hailassie | 6-1, 200 | 4.50 | Western Kentucky | ||
| Steven Jones | 5-9, 190 | 4.47p | Appalachian State | ||
| Corey Mayfield | 5-11, 190 | 4.50 | Texas-San Antonio | ||
| Demorie Tate | 6-0, 195 | 4.45 | Florida State | ||
| Justin Ford | 6-2, 190 | 4.55 | Montana | ||
| Starling Thomas | 5-10, 195 | 4.50 | UAB | ||
| Quavian White | 5-10, 185 | 4.55 | Georgia State | ||
| Sheridan Jones | 6-0, 190 | 4.55 | Clemson | ||
| Anthony Adams | 6-0, 185 | 4.50 | Portland State | ||
| Rey Estes | 5-10, 175 | 4.50 | Grambling | ||
| Macon Clark | 6-0, 190 | 4.50 | Tulane |
* e indicates estimated time; c indicates combine; p indicates pro day time
** X indicates player has an injury or illness issue; XX indicates serious injury or illness that could impact draft status; XXX indicates injury or illness that could be career threatening; O indicates off-field issue
