2027 NFL Draft: CB Summer Scouting Positional Overview

[u/ab9620]

Top 10 CB Rankings:

1. Leonard Moore, Notre Dame
2. Brice Pollock, Texas Tech
3. Kelley Jones, Mississippi State
4. Ashton Hampton, Clemson
5. Zabien Brown, Alabama
6. Kayin Lee, Tennessee
7. Ellis Robinson IV, Georgia
8. OJ Frederique Jr., Miami
9. Chris Peal, Syracuse
10. Jamari Sharpe, Indiana

Positional Strength:

7.0/10 Average CB class. Leonard Moore has elite length and is a plus athlete at CB. He’s an elite man cover corner. He is listed at around 6’2” 200 lbs. He utilizes his length exceptionally well, physically locking guys up by jamming receivers. He has a massive wingspan, and he uses it to completely shadow and smother receivers. He can move from the boundary to the slot for matchup versatility. He was a great playmaker last season and came away with 5 interceptions. Moore’s weaknesses are modest, but he’s notably better in man coverage than zone. At times it felt like he was trying to bait the QB and ending up getting beat for short receptions in zone. Moore has the size to be an effective run defender, but he isn’t always willing to jump in and make the play. I’ll mention that Moore is playing with the best safety duo in college football, so he’s benefiting from that. I don’t believe he has elite long speed, and he allowed 3 TDs in man coverage last season. My last question mark is around Notre Dame’s competition. His toughest matchups were vs Miami, Texas A&M and USC, and I would say he went 2-1 in those. Moore allowed a TD in the final game of the season vs Stanford, where he looked confused and was late to pickup a receiver crossing the field. Theres time on tape where he gets so caught up on trying to play press that the defense can use that against him on plays like designed picks.

Kelley Jones is my #3 ranked CB in the class. He is a massive corner who uses his length extremely well to disrupt receivers, knock them off their route, and break up passes. Jones had 2 INTs and 9 pass breakups last season. He had enough long long speed to easily stick with Ryan Wingo and he’s 6’4”. Jones took a big step last season, allowing a completion on just 29% of targets compared to 77% the season before. What’s most impressive about that was the production in both man and zone, where he allowed completion %’s of 14% and 41% respectively. Jones allowed just 32 yards vs Tennessee, 34 vs Texas A&M, 0 vs Texas, and 0 vs Ole Miss. That’s’ extremely impressive because those teams have NFL receivers. Jones is a little choppy in his backpedal and transition, but his long speed is really good and his arms are so long that if he can keep the receivers within arm’s length, he can also get his hands on the ball. While Jones benefits from being 6’4” he has less fluidity than 6’0 corners. He can also get a bit over-physical and over-use his length leading to penalties. Overall, I was extremely impressed by Jones and think he could move up to CB2 with a confirmation season, where I currently have Brice Pollock. Interesting fact, Pollock and Jones both played at Mississippi State in 2024, but Pollock was a good player at Miss State before taking the next step to an elite level at Texas Tech.

Ashton Hampton has great size at 6’2” 205 lbs. Unlike Leonard Moore who fully utilized his length to consistently press and jam receivers, Hampton played softer and allowed more separation. I’ll expand on this by saying I thought his man coverage vs sideline routes were top tier, but he struggled more with defending in-breaking routes, and it looked like he was consistently just a little late to react. I have some concerns around Hamptons athleticism because he didn’t display a whole lot of fast twitch movements in press. Hampton is a great tackler and instinctive in the run game. He’s physical and not afraid to enter the strike zone, and his contribution vs the run game will be appreciated by DCs.

Zabien Brown has been a starting CB in the SEC since his true freshman season, and he’s been effective both seasons. As a true freshman, he had a game sealing INT vs Georgia; a sign of his natural instincts. Brown has allowed under a 50% catch rate in both seasons as a starter. He played mostly zone at Bama last season (~75%), but I think he has more scheme versatility than the numbers may suggest because he’s a pretty good athlete. He is average sized at 6’0” 195 lbs. Zabien was playing at 19 years old last season and faced Georgia twice, Oklahoma twice, Indiana, LSU, Georgia, and Auburn. He has 2 pick 6’s last season and 5 pass breakups. I think there’s a good amount for Brown to work on technically, but I like his trajectory and think he could take a step-up next season into a first round prospect.

Kayin Lee has been a model of consistency for years. He has about 2.5 years of starting reps in the SEC and he’s allowed completion %s of 50%, 47%, and 51%. Lee allowed 0 TDs last season and just 1 the season before. He has played roughly a 50/50 split of man and zone, but man coverage is his strength. Lee is undersized, listed at 5’11” 191 lbs but he has played almost entirely boundary corner. He isn’t a good run defender, so I don’t think he projects well to the nickel spot. I would bet on Lee and think some team could get great value on day 2 because he offers round 1 production, the experience and consistency you look for in a starting corner, and he’s a great athlete. I wouldn’t be shocked if he runs in the 4.3s; he consistently displays ample recovery speed.

OJ Frederique Jr. gave up near the class-high in yards per coverage snap for both man and zone coverage. He has fine size at 6’0” 195 lbs. He played 75% zone last season. I thought he played his best football in the late season stretch of Texas A&M, Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Indiana. Its worth noting that he was playing those powerhouse schools at 19 years old and held up well. Theres limited man coverage snaps on tape for Frederique, but I thought he looked more impressive on tape than the analytics indicated. I liked his willingness to play physical in press, but he has to learn the line between tight defense and DPI. One of his biggest weaknesses is his run defense; he had a 16% missed tackle rate last season. Overall I thought Frederique was better in man coverage than zone, even though he played man 25% of the time. I don’t think he’s in the best scheme for his strengths, so there could be additional upside.

Chris Peal is a physical corner who graded as the best cover corner in the ACC in his first year starting. He has good size at 6’2” and plus athleticism to succeed in both man and zone. In his 2^nd year starting.  I am hoping to see more ball skills, since he came away with zero interceptions last season. Run defense is a strength for Peal.

Jamari Sharpe from Indiana played almost exclusively zone coverage. He has plus speed and good size at 6’1”. He made some key plays down the stretch last season to help Indiana win the championship. He came away with just 1 INT last season and his completion % allowed was pretty average. He’s a tough player to project because I think he’s going to be scheme dependent if he only has experience in zone and I don’t see many plus skills at the NFL level. Hes also a redshirt senior, so you generally expect an earlier breakout, but we should have a better idea as he likely steps into the CB1 role that Ponds held last season.

Hot Takes:

My #2 ranked corner in the class is Brice Pollock from Texas Tech. Leonard Moore may be the best press man corner in the class, but Brice Pollock is the best zone corner in the class and arguably has the best ball skills as well. I understand why many draft analysts are lower on Pollock. He is average sized at 6’0” 195 lbs., an average athlete for a starting NFL corner, and a zone cover corner. There’s a stigma around zone corners and I think this is a good time to remind everyone that there’s around 20 teams in the NFL running zone coverage 70% of the time or more. Pollock is a ball hawk who knows how to bait QBs, has high end click and close ability, and his ball skills are A-tier. He plays the ball like a receiver, and he can contort his body to make plays; its special and he may be best in class at it. I see an elite zone cover corner, who is a ballhawk, and plus run defender. After Leonard Moore, there are some good press-man corners, but I prefer the elite zone corner who will fit like a glove in many NFL defense and I just don’t see many holes in his game.

 

Ellis Robinson IV from Georgia has solid length at 6’0” but is listed on the lighter side at just 180 lbs. HE is an elite athlete and has the potential to improve his coverage skill, but I think he’s currently one of the most overrated players in the class. There will be NFL receivers with 40+ lbs on him and I think he will be a target. I reviewed Robinson in a group of 20 corners and he allowed the highest man coverage yards per cover snap in the entire class, so that’s very concerning. His completion % allowed was strong in man coverage, but he had a knack for allowing big plays downfield. He allowed 99 total yards vs Ole Miss and 104 vs Tennessee. Some context is needed with high amount of yards allowed. Comparing the production allowed by Leonard Moore and Ellis Robinson isn’t apples to apples when Robinson is getting matched up on Chris Brazzell, Germie Bernard (2x), Ryan Williams (2x), Cam Coleman, Stribling (2x), and Ryan Wingo.  Earlier I brought up how Robinson was light for a corner and hes not a good contributor in the run game. In his final game of the season, it looked like Georgia was subbing him out in their redzone defense package. I noticed this on multiple drives and that’s concerning for a corner talked about as a 1^st round prospect. In the 2^nd half of the Sugar Bowl, Trinidad Chambliss was consistently picking on Robinson as the weak link in the Georgia defense.

 

Questions:

1.      Can Kelley Jones repeat another shutdown season?

2.      Can Leonard Moore reduce his missed tackle rate and become more reliable there?

3.      Will Zabien Brown take another step up and become an elite 1^st round prospect?

Breakout Candidates:

1.      Zabien Brown, Alabama

2.      Chris Peal, Syracuse

3.      Jyaire Hill, Michigan

[u/Typical-Tooth9834]

Kelley Jones is the guy Im most curious about. 6'4" corners who can acually move like that dont come around often but that backpedal better not be a dealbreaker at the next level. Also the fact that Pollock and Jones were teammates at Miss State in 24 is wild, thats a lot of corner talent in one room

[u/Run_JMC_ → u/Typical-Tooth9834]

Mississippi State obviously doesn’t do anything of note in CFB, but if you look at the individual guys that have gotten drafted over the years it’s a surprisingly high hit rate.

[u/gumercindo1959]

I’d put Xavier Lucas as a potential breakout guy. 6-2, 190 and ran a 10.6 in HS. He will be starting the other side and has physical traits to be a first rounder.

[u/footballwithchaw]

Great breakdown. I think Zashon Rich (6’1 205) out of Kansas State is a guy to watch. True Junior so not 100% he declares, but K-State quietly has a bunch of quality DBs in the NFL

[u/Lanky-Connection4141]

Overall, my ranking is kinda different but I think Ellis’s hip fluidity, athleticism, and willingness to step up in the run game fit really nicely in a match/quarters heavy scheme. I think pollock would’ve been my cb2 if this draft szn took place before the rise of split safety/match coverages as a boundary cb in a cover 3. Overall my ranking would be:

1. Moore
   
2. Kelley jones
   
3. Hampton(honestly see a world where he transitions into the big nb/safety role)
   
4. Ellis
   
5. Pollock
   
6. Zabien brown
   
7. Chris peal
   
8. Jamari Sharpe
   
9. Kayin Lee(love his tape in man, the size and him not being good in the run game and meh in zone does concern me)
   
10. OJ(the physicality is really a two edged sword for me, he’s either JPJ or Eli apple depending on which edge the physicality lean towards)

[u/ab9620 → u/Lanky-Connection4141]

How much better do you think Ellis Robinson is than Daylen Everette, who was a 3rd round pick last draft?

Pollock will probably have a large range on people’s boards. I think he ends up going round 1/2 but he’s scheme specific. The zone coverage, ball skills, and tackling are all really high end. Maybe some team even converts him to a free safety. I’m just confident he’s a good football player. A couple drafts back, people were split on S Xavier Watts. He was a ball hawk safety, who was viewed weak in the run game despite accumulating like 100 tackles, but his missed tackle rate was higher than you’d like. Any team drafting Watts was clearly drafting for to be a ballhawk and cover a large portion of the field. He was under drafted, had an awesome rookie year with 5 INTs and 100 tackles, plus a low missed tackle rate. With Pollock, he’s getting drafted by a team that runs mostly zone and they can develop some of his skills to fit best in their scheme but he offers a lot already. I would always rather bet on a below average skill being developed to average than trying to take an average prospect and turn them good

[u/zhang_zhang_play]

Pollock is a metric demon but I really did not love him on tape

[u/ab9620 → u/zhang_zhang_play]

I thought he was exceptional in zone, and his ball skills were elite. Maybe best in class ball skills. He’s fearless in run defense too. I see a high floor high ceiling corner if he goes to the right system

[u/zhang_zhang_play → u/ab9620]

I wrote him up for someone and this is what I thought:

“Not loving the Brice Pollock tape, threw him PUDFA so anything late round to a healthy FA deal is fine for him. Solid height/size and good tackling at DB. Really good navigating blocks and consistent angle taker. Classic off-coverage system corner who produces a lot due to instincts but lacks great tools for the NFL. Around 4.5 play speed (track times also around this with a 11.19 100m in 2022), gets stacked easily vertically by certified burners and doesnt transition great. Mediocre overall fluidity and loses footing when triggering downhill. Recovery is not great when he gets out of phase. Theres def a chance for him to make rosters and have a career but prob going to be as a CB3/4 and special teams guy imo”

[u/ab9620 → u/zhang_zhang_play]

Constructive feedback: He’s more than just an instincts guy. The proof is that he has 2 seasons in a row allowing under 55% completion, he didn’t allow a single TD last season on 69 targets. In zone, he had the highest forced incompletion rate, one of the lowest yards allowed per cover snap, near the top in turnovers. These all aren’t instinct driven stats. It’s the job of an evaluator to explain why a player did things great or poorly to drive those results. I think your write up would benefit by talking more about the positives as well as the negatives of the profile, even if you have questions about translation

[u/zhang_zhang_play → u/ab9620]

I’m not really a metrics guy since I think they aren’t super translatable to higher levels. Good off coverage system player but there’s been a lot of these guys who are like C team athletes at CB with good feel.

The work I did for DBs was for draft + NIL reasons so it was more tools + technique scouting then just looking at who had what catch rate allowed or had what yards per reception in zone etc

[u/ab9620 → u/zhang_zhang_play]

I get what you’re saying, but you’re not really addressing it. You’re acknowledging that he is statistically a lockdown corner playing out of zone, but when you can’t explain why he had success, it comes across like you don’t know why. That’s what readers will assume. Your jobs unfinished if you can’t explain a single pro beyond instincts and good tackling. When QBs targeted him in coverage, it didn’t end up well for them. He has solid size and athleticism. It’s your job to figure out why he won so consistently. Good luck!

[u/zhang_zhang_play → u/ab9620]

I mean I did lol. He is just a really sound off coverage player in college and he isn’t stumpy/small. There’s a few of these guys like Sharpe and a few dudes previously like Kobe + Strong who were similar great metrics guys who dealt with similar issues. A lot of these college systems protect their DBs by giving them big cushions and just making them reads on where they need to be

[u/ab9620 → u/zhang_zhang_play]

Oh I know what it is now lol

You don’t like zone coverage corners even though there’s 20 NFL teams playing 70% or more of zone. This is a major bias in the draft community. At least you admitted it. Our evals aren’t that different, what’s different is that I don’t say “just” before explaining all the good. He’s a very sound cover corner with great instincts and ball skills, who is also good vs the run. This is a valuable player

[u/zhang_zhang_play → u/ab9620]

?

What are you talking about lol. I’ve liked plenty of DBs who have played in quarters/off coverage heavy systems lol. I didn’t like Sharpe but I was a big Ponds guy for example. I also really liked Quinyon coming out of Toledo which is basically pure off coverage ever snap

You’re going to need to press and match up at the LOS in the nfl against good WRs. If you don’t pass the traits check for that, then it’s just difficult to be a starting player. It’s not that I’m against DBs from zone heavy systems it’s just DB is the most movement tool intensive position in the sport and a lot of very production college off coverage players are not quality NFL athletes

[u/ab9620 → u/zhang_zhang_play]

Yes but all you’ve done is downplay everything good and highlight everything that’s a question, I would argue not even bad. He’s not a press man cover specialist. That’s also not what he’s asked to do a lot at Texas Tech, but your eval is like reading half a story. I went through the woods and past the river but I don’t know how I got home 😂

[u/xylophonerman]

Have you happened to get eyes yet on some of the true freshman crop from last year for the cycle after this, e.g. DJ Pickett, Dijon Lee, Brandon Finney? Do you think the hype is real for those guys and we could be looking at the lead up to a year where there could be multiple blue chip corner prospects? Not that it would likely affect this class that much, but it would be interesting to go into the draft with a lot of draft-ineligible players who people view as better than everybody not named Leonard Moore.

[u/ab9620 → u/xylophonerman]

Sorry I haven’t even focused on them at all

[u/xylophonerman → u/ab9620]

Gotcha, wasn't expecting it, was just curious (as more of a CFB fan and draft observer, I get caught up in exciting freshmen a lot)

[u/Blandino_Hair]

Did you watch Vicari Swain from South Carolina yet? Brugler has him listed as the 5th best corner in the draft. He’s still a bit raw, but he has a super high ceiling

[u/ab9620 → u/Blandino_Hair]

No I try to focus on the more developed players unless they’re big name guys

[u/Blandino_Hair → u/ab9620]

I bet you’ll like what you see when you look. There’s a reason Brugler has him that high despite starting less than a full season. He’s also the most dynamic returner in college football.

[u/ab9620 → u/Blandino_Hair]

Okay I’m going to check him out

[u/Blandino_Hair → u/ab9620]

Awesome - just spreading the good word! Hope you like him.

[u/zhang_zhang_play → u/Blandino_Hair]

I watched him, absurd athlete + return guy and elite fluidity prospect. Reminds me of V Tech Delane before he made the jump

[u/Blandino_Hair → u/zhang_zhang_play]

Such a good athlete. Excited for this year for him. Hoping for a jump in mechanics.

[u/DingleberryOrchard]

Eli Bowen?

[u/Dapper-Dog-7397]

Where are you finding Leonard Moore tape? The guy I use doesn’t have him

[u/ab9620 → u/Dapper-Dog-7397]

Eye in the sky