With the 2020 NFL Draft fast approaching, it is time to start finalizing draft boards. Not just for NFL teams, but for the team here at Touchdown Wire. Here is Touchdown Wire’s list of the top 25 defensive prospects in the 2020 draft class.
1. Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State
If there’s one thing NFL teams need more than anything else on defense right now, it’s the prototypical lockdown cornerback who can take an opponent’s No. 1 receiver through any route in any coverage. Of the cornerbacks in this draft class, Okudah is the one who raises no questions regarding his ability to do so. After playing 70% of his snaps in man coverage in 2018, per Sports Info Solutions, Okudah dipped down to 54% man coverage last season, upped his zone percentage and still allowed just 21 catches on 54 targets for 280 yards, three interceptions, one touchdown, and an opponent passer rating of 46.8. There may be more physically talented players in this class, but outside of the top quarterbacks, none are more positionally important.
2. Isaiah Simmons, Defense, Clemson
In his 2019 season, per Pro Football Focus, Simmons played 299 snaps in the box, 262 snaps at slot cornerback, 132 snaps at free safety and 116 snaps at defensive line. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Simmons also played 13 snaps at outside corner, to make his versatility even more impressive. Asked at the scouting combing what his position was, Simmons simply responded, “Defense.” In the modern NFL, a player who can do everything from blitzing, to taking on the run game as a linebacker, to coverage as a slot defender and safety, is of prime value as defenses move to nickel and dime defenses as their base.
3. Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State
Young has often been compared to fellow Ohio State alums Joey and Nick Bosa, and from a traits perspective, those are pretty good matches. In 2019, Young put up 16.5 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits and 31 quarterback hurries. And if you’re concerned about his getting shut out in sacks through his last three college games, a cursory look at the tape will tell you that he still had a massive effect on opposing offenses.
4. Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina
At 6 feet 6 and 302 pounds, Kinlaw fits the physical profile of the ideal multi-gap defensive lineman who can get nasty everywhere from over the center to outside the offensive tackles. In 2019, he raised his sack total from four in 2018 to six in his final college season, adding seven quarterback hits and 28 quarterback hurries. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kinlaw’s potential is that he’s turned himself into a wrecking machine without the benefit of advanced hand technique. Once he reaps the benefits of NFL-level coaching, he projects well as an All-Pro-level disruptor.
5. Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn
Brown’s relatively weak combine performance might debit him in the eyes of those who haven’t studied his tape. Similarly, his total of 12.5 sacks over four seasons at Auburn could push him under other defenders in your mind if you’re just box-score scouting. But when you watch Brown do his thing on the field, the perspective is entirely different. At 6-5 and 326 pounds, Brown had 10 quarterback hits and 20 quarterback hurries in 2019, adding four batted passes and two forced fumbles to his statistical arsenal. Brown is an ideal three-down defender who can stop the run as well as he can blast through double teams.
6. Xavier McKinney, DB, Alabama
Multi-positional defensive backs are all the rage in today’s NFL, and Nick Saban has been grooming them at Alabama for a while. Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Steelers was an early part of paradigm, and McKinney is ready to follow in Fitzpatrick’s footsteps. Last season, per Pro Football Focus, McKinney played 285 snaps in the box, 271 snaps at free safety and 227 snaps in the slot. The 6-1, 200-pound McKinney also played 38 snaps on the defensive line and five snaps at outside corner. Playing all those positions, he allowed an opponent passer rating of 73.6 and came away with three interceptions, as well as 21 total pressures in just 71 pass-rushing snaps. If you can’t get Isaiah Simmons in your 2020 draft because he goes too early, McKinney is more than an acceptable substitute.
7. Patrick Queen, LB, LSU
In 2019, Queen established himself as one of the linchpins of the Tigers’ championship defense after lining up for just 255 total snaps in his first two collegiate seasons. The 6-foot, 229-pound first-year starter proved to be the model of the modern linebacker when he finally got his shot, playing 780 snaps in 2019 and showing the ability to excel everywhere from the box to the slot to the occasional go at outside cornerback. More impressively for Queen’s NFL future is his ability to face up against top running backs and make stops when stops are needed. Not every light linebacker can do that, and once Queen gets the hang of the intricacies of coverage (especially zone coverage), he could be one of the NFL’s best three-down linebackers.
8. Antoine Winfield Jr., S, Minnesota
Winfield missed all but a total of eight games in his 2017 and 2018 seasons due to injuries, but he came back with a full head of steam in 2019, picking off seven passes and giving up just 11 catches on 22 targets and an opponent passer rating of 45.5. A healthy Winfield has all the athleticism and range you’d want in a deep-third safety, but what really makes him the best in this class at that particular designation is his ability to read offenses and coverages on the fly — as he detailed to me in a recent film session, he learned a lot from his father, who played cornerback for the Bills and Vikings from 1999 through 2012.
9. Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama
Sometimes you want a cornerback to do just one thing, and do it better than anybody else in his draft class. In the case of Diggs, the brother of former Vikings and current Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs, that would be the ability to tie receivers up in press coverage. Last season, per Sports Info Solutions, Diggs allowed just 15 catches on 50 targets for 266 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and an opponent passer rating of just 16.3 — which means opposing quarterbacks would have been twice as efficient throwing the ball into the stands on every snap. Any team with a lot of aggressive coverage concepts at the line of scrimmage would do well to consider adding Diggs to their cornerback room.
10. Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU
Speed is an asset at any position, and cornerback is no exception. Gladney is a perfect example. At 5-10 and 191 pounds, he ran a disappointing 4.48 40-yard dash at the scouting combine, but he’s more of a 4.3 guy on the field. Per Pro Football Focus, Gladney has forced tight coverage on 79.5% of his downfield targets over the last two seasons, the sixth-best rate among all NCAA cornerbacks, and nearly 20 percentage points above the FBS average. He’s forced 46 contested catches over that time, and just 10 of those passes turned into receptions. He’s averaged 417 coverage snaps over the last three seasons, and he’s passed every test he’s been given as a boundary cornerback.
11. Grant Delpit, DB, LSU
One of the more versatile defenders in this draft class, Delpit played 385 snaps at free safety, 316 snaps in the slot and 149 snaps in the box last season, per Pro Football Focus. In 2019, he allowed 14 receptions on 22 targets for an opponent passer rating of 71.1. Delpit has the quickness, recovery speed and instincts to excel at safety and in the slot at the NFL level, but he will absolutely have to clean up a tackling style that allows far too many misses and will drive his coaches nuts at the next level.
12. C.J. Henderson, CB, Florida
If you’re looking for a pure cover cornerback in this draft class, Henderson might be your guy — especially if your team plays a lot of man coverage. In 2018, Henderson played man coverage on 60% of his snaps, per Sports Info Solutions, and he allowed just 15 catches on 40 targets for 211 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and an opponent passer rating of 24.1. The Gators had Henderson playing more zone coverage in 2019 — 67% — and it didn’t go as well. Last season, Henderson gave up 20 catches on 39 targets for 394 yards, no interceptions, two touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 93.3. Tackling effort is also a concern, especially against the run, but Henderson is a top-level cover man in the right system.
13. Zack Baun, EDGE/LB, Wisconsin
The linebacker position has become increasingly “positionless” over the last few years, and Baun brings his own interesting versatility into that discussion. Last season, he played 664 snaps as an edge rusher and 76 as an off-ball linebacker. He totaled 12.5 sacks, 12 quarterback hits and 28 quarterback hurries for the Badgers in 2019. Over the last two seasons, per PFF, Baun dropped into coverage 195 times and allowed just 112 yards, while combining for five pass breakups and interceptions. Any team searching for a defender who can excel at two levels of the defense should be looking Baun’s way. The only question is how he’ll be able to hold up against NFL offensive tackles at 238 pounds.
14. A.J. Epenesa, EDGE, Iowa
There are those collegiate edge rushers who make the most of their athleticism to get to the quarterback while displaying very little in the way of pass-rushing moves and technique. Epenesa is not one of those guys. At 6-5 and 275 pounds, he’s able to produce at the edge and inside with a prodigious bull-rush and violent, practiced hands. Epenesa won’t blow anybody away with his burst off the snap, but the production — 22 total sacks over the last two seasons and 104 total pressures in that time — speaks to a consistency that quicker defenders might struggle to match.
15. K’Lavon Chaisson, EDGE, LSU
Danielle Hunter was selected out of LSU by the Vikings in the third round in 2015 despite his first-round athletic talent because Hunter was raw and needed to learn so much about the edge position. Hunter has done that in the NFL — in 2019, he put up 14.5 sacks for the second straight season and ranked second in the NFL among edge defenders with 88 total pressures, behind only Green Bay’s Za’Darius Smith (93). Chaisson projects to be a very similar player at this point in his career — coming out of LSU as an athletic marvel without much of a plan. He amassed 6.5 sacks, seven quarterback hits and 21 quarterback hurries last season with little more than the speed to beat offensive tackles around the edge. Like Hunter, Chaisson has Pro Bowl potential, but he needs to add a lot of tools.
16. Justin Madubuike, DT, Texas A&M
Were Madubuike able to take his strength and athleticism from game to game in a more consistent fashion, he’d be an undeniable first-round pick mentioned right up there with Javon Kinlaw and Derrick Brown. The hot-and-cold nature of his game will require next-level coaching, but it’ll be worth it. Because when you turn on the right tape with Madubuike, you see a violent, disruptive tackle able to give stunning performances. In 2019, he put up 11.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits and 26 quarterback hurries. The scary thing is, he could double those numbers in the NFL if he’s able to maximize his athletic potential.
17. Yetur Gross-Matos, EDGE, Penn State
NFL teams looking for a versatile pass rusher who can move inside and disrupt as he can outside might want to consider Gross-Matos in the second half of the first round, or certainly in the second round. Last season, he lined up 98 times inside the tackles and 462 times outside. He racked up a career-high nine sacks, five quarterback hits and 22 quarterback hurries. Gross-Matos will have a bit of technique work to do at the next level, but he also has the potential to bring a lot of power as a strong-side edge defender and movable chess piece.
18. Kenneth Murray Jr., LB, Oklahoma
Murray is an intriguing player in that he brings equivalent elements of the old-school inside linebacker with his ability to play the run at 6 feet 2 and 241 pounds, and the ability to break off and cover screens and short passes as a curl/flat defender. He can also wreck pass protection with explosive gap blitzes. Last season, Murray lined up 663 times in the box, 120 times on the defensive line and 39 times in the slot.
19. Jaylon Johnson, CB, Utah
Few cornerbacks in this class are as battle-tested as Johnson, who has amassed a total of 1,256 coverage snaps over the last three seasons. He’s played a relatively equal amount of man and zone coverage, and he’s never allowed more than two touchdowns in a season, or an opponent passer rating higher than 57.6. He also has enough experience in the slot to make him an immediately valuable and versatile addition to any NFL team. Johnson’s name gets a bit lost in a loaded cornerback class, and because he doesn’t play at a bigger-name school, but his refinement and talent are undeniable.
20. Ross Blacklock, DT, TCU
At 6-3 and 290 pounds, Blacklock has the body type that creative defensive coordinators will love to move all over the line. His tape shows explosiveness that could have him excelling at big end, but where he really loves to eat is at the three-tech position, where he can pin his ears back and head after the quarterback. In 2019, he put up nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 20 run stops, three quarterback hits and 24 quarterback hurries. That he did this all with no real pass-rush moves to speak of says a lot about his potential when he gets the nuances together.
21. A.J. Terrell, CB, Clemson
Terrell will be bothered by recency bias as few other 2020 draft prospects will, as the last memory of his on-field performance came in the national championship against LSU, when he allowed five catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns. However, people should not sleep on the rest of Terrell’s 2019 — take out that disaster against Joe Burrow and his targets, and Terrell allowed just 18 catches for 249 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the rest of the season. He’s an aggressive outside cornerback who wins in press coverage, and while he can be exploited when he’s playing off his receiver, there’s a lot to work with here.
22. Terrell Lewis, EDGE, Alabama
Before Lewis headed to Mobile, Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy made a point of singling out Lewis’ talent, saying that the Alabama alum “has really, really heavy hands. When he gets into you, he gets into you. He’s so explosive out of his stance, he can beat you with speed.” The only real question with Lewis is his durability — he missed 10 games in 2017 with an arm injury and was out the entire 2018 campaign with a torn right ACL. But he came back strong in 2019 with six sacks, seven quarterback hits and 35 quarterback hurries. As Nagy said, Lewis has the speed to beat tackles off the edge, the power to move inside and disrupt, and the quickness to exploit open gaps on twists and stunts. He has top-three potential at the edge position if health isn’t an issue.
23. Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU
Fulton sat out the entire 2017 season after it was discovered that he had tampered with a drug test, but he returned well in 2018 and 2019, allowing a total of 48 receptions on 111 targets for 675 yards. The five touchdowns he allowed to just two interceptions in that time is a bit of a concern, but Fulton has held up well against some of the best receivers in the last two draft classes. A natural press cornerback who needs work with the off-coverage aspects of his game, Fulton could develop into a No. 1 NFL cornerback over time.
24. Ashtyn Davis, S, Cal
Davis didn’t receive a single collegiate offer to play football, decided to run track at Cal and made the football team with an opportunity that presented itself when he traded emails with the school’s football athletic director. From there, he used his track speed and agility to become an excellent deep-third defender, as well as the slot, the box, and occasionally the defensive line. At 6-1 and 202 pounds, Davis thinks like a safety and hits like a linebacker, and any NFL defensive coordinator who likes to move his defensive backs around should be looking hard at Davis’ tape.
25. Jordan Elliott, DT, Missouri
Elliott has just 5.5 sacks in his college career, but his 16.5 tackles for loss and 47 hits and hurries over the last two seasons show a player with a severe upside as an interior defender. At 6-4 and 302 pounds, Elliott brings it everywhere from head over the center to either side of the offensive tackle with an interesting blend of forward momentum, quickness to blast through blockers, and a relatively advanced sense of pass-rushing moves.
Honorable mention:
Jeremy Chinn, S, South Illinois
Curtis Weaver, EDGE, Boise State
Julian Okwara, EDGE, Notre Dame
Marlon Davidson, EDGE, Auburn
Kyle Dugger, S, Lenoir-Rhyne
