Who are the top shutdown cornerbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft? Joe DeLeone and Ryan Roberts break down the Top 10 CB Prospects you need to know! From elite ballhawks to versatile DBs, get the inside scoop on the rising stars expected to dominate the next NFL season. Their featured prospects include: Travis Hunter (Colorado), Will Johnson (Michigan), Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky), Jahdae Barron (Texas), Trey Amos (Ole Miss), Jacob Parrish (Kansas State), Azareye'h Tomas (Florida State), and more!
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00:00There are seven corners worthy of going in the first round in this year's draft.
00:04Find out who we have listed in our top 10.
00:10Ryan, there's plenty of guys that can go on to be highly impactful players in this draft at
00:14cornerback. We've got three tiers as we always do for these position ranking videos for our top 10s.
00:20First being tier three that is quality starters. Tier two is players that we think will go on to
00:25be plus starters and tier one is blue chip prospects that we think have the potential
00:30to become all pros. Kicking things off with tier three at quality starter, Jacob Parrish from Kansas
00:37State, who I love. Dorian Strong from Virginia Tech and Trey Amos from Ole Miss. Can we start really
00:45quickly with Trey Amos? Because I know that we're going to get a lot of disagreements from folks in
00:50the comments. I didn't see it. I saw a guy that can be a quality zone based corner and that is
00:56worthy of going somewhere on day two. Him being ranked 10th does not mean he's not going to get
01:01drafted in the third round or higher. I have a third round grade on him, but why did you have him
01:07outside of your top 10 and why did he land at number 10 for us? I am just going to be collectively
01:13lower than the consensus because some things that I value in the cornerback position, I do not think
01:18that Trey Amos necessarily brings to the table. I value heavily the feel and zone coverage, but also
01:24the combination of change of direction and foot quickness. And I thought that Trey Amos has good
01:29length. He's a bigger body type. He can run, right? Like in a vertical plane, I think that he can stay
01:34attached to most players. So there is absolutely a role for him. This is saying that he will be a good
01:38solid player in the NFL, but for the first round conversation, Joe, I found myself souring on Trey Amos
01:43because I just collectively have seen too much instant separation, stop routes, comebacks where
01:49he just can't stay attached because I just don't think he has the most hip fluidity or just change
01:53of direction skills in this class. And I just, that's one reason that I'm just a little bit
01:58lower than consensus. Good player, not the first round caliber player that people are trying to make
02:02him out to be in my opinion. Right. I think when a guy is specific to a scheme is, is going to drag
02:07down where he sits in a ranking, the guys that can play multiple roles in a different, in different
02:14defensive coverages are going to get prioritized. And that inability to change direction super
02:20quickly impacted my grade for him. I think he picks up speed really well and he attacks downhill and
02:25that's why he's going to go on to be a really good starting zone corner. I loved Dorian Strong's ball
02:31skills. It's tall, longer corner. His film is just filled with him coming up, attacking the football,
02:38knocking out a guy's hands. There's one play against Duke where he had multiple interceptions
02:41in that game where he just ran a route for a Duke receiver and then comes down with it so, so easily.
02:48Dorian Strong is a name that deserves a lot more recognition in this class.
02:52Well, and he didn't get a ton of recognition at Virginia Tech because he played with Mansoor
02:55Delane who transferred to LSU and returned in 2025. But I think he's one of the more intelligent
03:00corners in this class, man. Like he is probably more of a zone-based player himself, but I think
03:05that his instincts are really good. I think his change of direction is good. I think everything
03:10is just on a solid level. He's a little bit of an older prospect comparative to some other players
03:14in this class. But if you want to draft a guy today that can come in and can be a key part of a
03:19rotation and eventually develop into a starter starting outside corner, I think that's Dorian Strong,
03:24man. He's about as clear of an, clean of an evaluation as any corner in this class. As far
03:29as that floor conversation, Jacob Parrish, as I said a second ago, I love watching Jacob Parrish.
03:36He is going to project so well as a slot corner. He's one of these players that you can draft at the
03:42beginning of the third round, plug and play starter, more compact, but ran in the four threes at the
03:46NFL combine is a fantastic tackler and is super physical. He had to face a lot of quality receivers
03:54throughout his time at Kansas state. And he was a player that didn't really allow much
03:58separation. Parrish is somebody who for the draft nerds like us know about him, but I think will
04:05not become a household name, but will be a name that a lot of NFL fans get to know very well,
04:11depending on what TV goes to. And if we separate these, listen to buckets. This is one of the,
04:15maybe the, maybe the best nickel corner in this class that is not named today Baron in this class,
04:21right? Like he's that type of player. He is a little bit of a smaller guy, but he's feisty.
04:26He'll compete in the run game. He'll stay glued to receivers and he has explosiveness obviously from
04:30those testing numbers. So if you want a guy that I think is a day one potential starting nickel and
04:35a guy that can develop into a really good one on the NFL level long-term, I think that Jacob Parrish
04:40is a very, very good and underrated player still by some in this class. Let's move to tier two,
04:46talking plus starters. Savion Ravel from ECU is at number three. Number four, Azariah Thomas from
04:53Florida State. Number five, Jaday Barron from Texas. Number six, Benjamin Morrison from Notre Dame and
05:00number seven, Maxwell Hairston from Kentucky. We've got a lot of names here. I'll let you pick who do
05:06you want to go with bringing up first in this massive grouping? Well, some people are probably going to ask
05:12themselves, why is Jaday Barron at number five? I think that that's an interesting conversation in
05:16this, in this grouping of players because I don't think it's a knock on him. I like, I don't think
05:21it always gets frustrating when we do these rankings that you, you have a guy lower than the general
05:25consensus and it just means that we hate him. No, it's, we just really like Thomas. We have a very
05:30similar grade between him and Thomas and he just got a slight bump on him, but continue what you were
05:35saying on Barron. I was just going to say, is that because people have the predictive nature in their
05:39mind? So they're going to see his name and be like, Hey, isn't Jaday Barron outside of Travis
05:43Hunter, like in the conversation, be cornerback too. And the answer is yes. I think that some
05:46people will value Jaday Barron to that level. Here's the thing though, with Barron, I still
05:51believe you'd love to hear if you believe this as well, that this is a nickel corner on the NFL level
05:57that can also play outside in a specific scheme. Like that's what I think he is. I, there is a world
06:02that maybe he becomes a Devin Witherspoon, but I also do think that there's a world where he is
06:07exclusively on the nickel and he's not a guy that can kind of rotate between back and forth and
06:11play inside and out. Like, I just don't necessarily see that. I know he ran well at the combine,
06:15but I didn't see necessarily that long speed on film. And he's just a little bit of a smaller
06:19player ultimately. Right. So I think that this kid is a potential pro bowl player. I'll put this
06:24out there. Pro bowl player in the nickel. If he's playing exclusively outside though, I think he's
06:30a solid starter. I think he's probably averaged to solid like where, however you want to coin
06:34and phrase that ranking of him. But I do think that he is better inside. And if you're a player,
06:39that's going to play inside and then out occasionally, I think that's where you best
06:42get the best of both worlds for a Jaday Barron and most optimal outcome for him.
06:48Personally, I think that he could play as Brian branch. I think that he can play that role really
06:54well. I would play him in the slot safety type of thing, a nickel safety. That's just so fantastic
06:59and reliable in coverage. I think his athleticism, his play style, his instincts allow for you to
07:06get creative with him. I almost would argue maybe just slotting him at outside corner might be too
07:11simple of an approach for him. I would love to see a defensive coordinator use him in as many
07:16different paths as possible to see what ways you can maximize his impact. I want to talk about
07:22Azariah Thomas from Florida State. He is the best tape of any of these man coverage corners. Now his
07:3140 time wasn't great at his pro day. He ran in the four sixes, but he has such great upper body strength
07:38that he utilizes to completely redirect receivers and push them off of their paths. His ability to
07:45constantly stay within striking distance, despite not having that great recovery speed is incredibly
07:50notable. And I think that that translates very easily to the next level. Here is what testing
07:57numbers do, Joe. I think everyone who watched AZ Thomas at Florida State this past year knew that
08:03he didn't have great long speed, right? Like that is his deficiency as a player. He has really good
08:07change of direction. He's very physical. He's long. He has all those attributes, but you knew that
08:12watching him that he didn't run fast or he didn't have great long speed. So when he didn't run fast at
08:17his pro day, why is everyone dropping him in rankings? You already knew that he wasn't fast.
08:24It just verifies what you saw. At the end of the day, he is a little bit of a scheme specific player.
08:31He needs to play press man. He needs to get hands on you at the line of scrimmage. If you do that,
08:36we're talking about a plus starter in the NFL. We're talking about a high caliber type of football
08:40player. You just need to be able to utilize him in the right system. If you ask him to play off man
08:46or some variations of zone too much, then you're not going to get the best version of AZ Thomas.
08:50But if you ask him to play press man, be physical, we're talking about a very, very good football
08:55player on the next level and a starter very early on in his career. Last guy in this group that I
09:00want to highlight, Ravel from ECU is probably going to go a lot later than most of the names,
09:06even in this entire top 10, because of the fact that he's an older prospect and he's got the injury
09:11history. I would still take him in the top 15 for how tall, long and easy moving he is.
09:19He is the just prototype that you draw up. If I asked an NFL scout to explain to me,
09:27if you could pick the perfect corner prospect, what would it be? He has the ability to develop
09:33into an all pro. I just wonder if the NFL is going to maybe have a little bit of a fear
09:37because of him being older and also him coming off of the ACL injury this past year.
09:43Here's the thing outside of Travis Hunter, he's probably the most gifted athlete of anybody on
09:48this list. I mean, he is well over six foot one. He's got long arms. He has legit four,
09:54three, something speed. Like the kid can run for days. And Joe, the biggest thing is that like
09:58me saying that prototype in your mind, you're probably saying, Ooh, maybe he doesn't have great
10:01hit fluidity. Maybe he doesn't have great change direction. Yes, he does. Like he does. He is
10:05incredible ability to get out of his pedal, turn and run. The hip flexibility is just an
10:12hip fluidity is fantastic, right? So if the injury checks out, I think he's a great player.
10:18Like I agree with you. If he was fully healthy, I would drive from top 15. I think there's a chance
10:23he goes back into the first round or sometime early on day two. But if he's healthy, I think a team is
10:28going to potentially get one of the biggest steals in this class with Ravel. Moving on to tier one,
10:32blue chip prospects, guys that we think will become all pros in short time. And I don't think
10:38there's any shock here. Will Johnson of Michigan at number two and number one is Travis Hunter of
10:43Colorado. Let's start with Will Johnson. Will Johnson has the best instincts for a cornerback
10:49prospect that I have evaluated. He is one of these players that is so quick trigger before the ball is
10:54even released from some quarterbacks hands. He is reacting on what's going to happen. And that leads
11:00to him either batting balls down or turning balls over and housing it for pick sixes. He has the
11:06ability with his frame, despite not having crazy testing in his short area agility numbers at his
11:13pro day, he has the ability to become one of the best corners in the NFL. And I pretty feel pretty
11:19confident about that projection. Same conversation as AC Thomas. Long speed is just average for NFL
11:25standards. But if anybody saw his short shuttle number, which was not good at his pro day or his,
11:29his, his, his de facto pro day, right? His individual workout, workout you, if you think
11:35that that is indicative of what you see on film, I think that you have watched the wrong film or you
11:40don't really know what you're looking at to be as nice as I can about it. This kid has elite change
11:44of direction for a player, his size, despite being a little bit high cut. He is very instinctual. As you
11:49said, he's got really good ball skills. I think we're overthinking this one a little bit, Joe. He
11:54is one of the most overthought players in his class. He should be a, he should be a top 10 pick,
11:58but I think he's going to be a slammed on top 15. When all is said and done Miami at now at number
12:0313, Miami dolphins, now that they're potentially trading away. Jalen Ramsey is a very easy fit.
12:07Potentially. I think we have really, we just need to just appreciate Will Johnson for what he is and
12:11what he is, is an elite level talents at the cornerback position. Yeah. When this kid was healthy,
12:16he was so impactful on a game to game basis. So was Travis Hunter. Travis Hunter is the most
12:22natural athlete that I have had the opportunity to evaluate. I have never seen a player that has
12:29just done everything at a high level, despite having every reason to not do it so consistently
12:36because he's playing both sides of the football. He never gets tired. He also doesn't allow the
12:41inability to fully prepare in the overload of knowledge of having to play two positions,
12:47impact him. He is so easy moving. He redirects, he opens his hips with such ease and he uses his
12:55length and ball skills to come down with the football in any opportunity that he has. I love
13:00watching Travis Hunter. He is a superstar in the making on and off the field. And I can't wait to
13:05see what he does in the league. And the craziest part about him, we might not see him play a 10,
13:09a corner on the NFL level, which is a hilarious thing to think about. It's so funny, but I think
13:15that this kid is, is champ, champ Bailey. Like that's who I think he is as a corner. He's probably
13:20not as physical as champ, just like in the run game. But if we're talking about elites and I'm
13:25talking rare level, rare level ball skills, we're talking rare level Intel football intelligence,
13:32understanding for zone discipline. And we're talking about rare ability to change direction. All of those
13:38things together makes him a big time NFL corner. If that's the decision that he ultimately makes,
13:43he might end up playing wide receiver. So this might be a moot points and, and maybe play more
13:46wide receiver than corner. But if he decides to play corner, I think he's a rare run and he is one of
13:51the more talented ones that I can ever, I think he would be the most just physically gifted player
13:55corner that I've ever evaluated. Folks, let us know in the comments below. Do you agree or disagree
14:00with our rankings? Hit that like button and subscribe. We'll talk to you later.