Top 5 cornerbacks in college football
As the 2020 college football season winds down, 2021 NFL Draft talk will heat up. Here are the top five cornerbacks in college football, a group of future NFL Draft prospects.
Just missed the cut: Asante Samuel Jr. (Florida State), Jack Jones (Arizona State) & Shakur Brown (Michigan State)
1. Patrick Surtain (Alabama)
Surtain was already an SEC All-Freshman selection by league coaches and he become Bama’s top corner in years, despite having Trevon Diggs and others around him.
What stands out about him off the snaps is how patient he is and if anything he forces receivers to give away what they are doing with fake jams, to force them to get into their release early and from that point on he just reads the hips of the receiver.
At 6’1”, slightly 200 pounds, he is physical when carrying receivers downfield and he excels at taking away space towards the sideline. The Crimson Tide coaches ask him to play a ton of man, travelling into the slot for certain matchups, and to be honest, his tape is almost boring to watch, because opposing teams just don’t throw his ways. He has several reps, where he perfectly stays in phase and at best teams can try a 50-50 ball.
Against Ole Miss earlier this season, he gave up one slant for 10 yards the entire game and they threw at him like two more times. Like all Alabama corners, Surtain wants to get involved as a tackler. I would say the two things that he’s not great at is getting into face-guarding down the field too much at times and receivers can beat him to the inside if they get him to buy the initial outside stem, since he doesn’t have elite short-area quickness.
Also check out: Complete 2018 NFL Draft Results
2. Eric Stokes (Georgia)
As great as Surtain has been this season, Stokes has been tested more and that’s why you kind of see more of his brilliance.
Coming into 2020, fellow CB Tyson Campbell got most of the attention, but Stokes has outplayed him all year. He has all the tools and physical style of play to give receivers problems off the line and he does a great job of squeezing his man into the boundary. Just running with guys and staying attached to them, while being able to track the ball or work to the back-shoulder, is textbook. He can change up with his approach in different types of press, including press-bail technique in three-deep zone coverage.
Stokes shows no fair of getting beat over the top and he has excellent short-area quicks to contest quick hitches and slants. I’d like to see him come off blocks earlier and knock the hands away, but his ball-production has really increased, including making his first three career interceptions this season.