2 UGA CORNERS PROJECTED TO GO IN 2ND ROUND

Editor’s note: The 11th story in our position-by-position NFL draft series looks at the top cornerbacks.

The good news is there are numerous cornerbacks worthy of being selected in the first two rounds of the NFL draft, which begins April 29 and ends May 1.

The bad news is that after that particular group of corners are snatched up, a significant drop-off takes place when evaluating the next tier. Point is, if a team needs a corner, it may not be able to afford to wait past the second round.

That’s at least according to NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who believes this year’s cornerback depth is top heavy in the first two rounds. While Alabama’s Patrick Surtain and South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn are locked into first-round slots, it’s possible that Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley, Northwestern’s Greg Newsome and Florida State’s Asante Samuel also hear their names among the first 32 picks. From there, Jeremiah believes plenty of talented prospects will be there for the taking in the second round.

“I think you look at Kelvin Joseph from Kentucky, who’s really, really fluid, athletic,” Jeremiah said. “He’s got great ball skills. He’s one of those guys that got torched by (Florida tight end Kyle) Pitts, but I’m not going to hold that against him. You’ve got Aaron Robinson from Central Florida, who primarily played inside there, but who’s real tough, physical, aggressive.”

Jeremiah also thinks that Georgia cornerbacks Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell will be good pickups early on the second day.

“If you’re looking for big corners, I think both the Georgia corners are going to go in the second round,” Jeremiah said. “When you look at Tyson Campbell as well as Stokes from Georgia, both those guys are big and fast. Eric Stokes, everybody saw the training; he was running like the 4.2s (in the 40-yard dash). (Stokes) was a state (track) champ in Georgia in high school, (Campbell) was a state champ in Florida. Those are big-time size, speed corners that I think you’ll see come on the board there in the second round.”

Stokes, at 6 feet 1 and 185 pounds, picked off four passes and returned two for touchdowns during the 2020 season. Campbell, a former fivestar recruit who played high school football with Surtain in Plantation, Florida, picked off one pass and recorded five pass deflections last season.

Other cornerbacks such as Syracuse’s Ifeatu Melifonwu and Washington’s Elijah Molden also are worthy of second-round consideration.

From there, however, the outlook begins to get bleak.

“That’s a really good group of corners in Round 2,” Jeremiah said. “And then after that, it really starts to drop off on my list. For those teams looking for corners, they’re going to all go, so you’d better get on that ride early in the first or second round.”

Last season, nine cornerbacks went in the first two rounds. The Falcons were among the teams to take a cornerback in the first round, A.J. Terrell with the 16th pick.

The Falcons don’t have an immediate need but could draft with an eye to the future. After the 2021 season, Fabian Moreau and Isaiah Oliver are expected to be free agents.