Deandre Baker, the winner of the 2018 Jim Thorpe Award, will be attending this year’s NFL Draft in Nashville along with a number of highly ranked prospects.
The cornerback from Miami, Florida was a three-star coming out of high school but improved tremendously while in Athens, not giving up a single touchdown in the last two seasons of his collegiate career.
Despite the incredible stat lines, Baker seemed to have flown a little bit under the radar in mock drafts and offseason build up but that is starting to change.
The Jim Thorpe Award winner had a visit with the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday and is generating a lot of buzz with the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, and Washington Redskins too.
We will continue to keep an eye on Baker’s stock ahead of next week’s draft but expect that he will be a first-round pick. Though his measurables are not eye-catching, the numbers and game film speak for themselves when comparing him to bigger cornerbacks like LSU’s Greedy Williams and Temple’s Rock Ya-Sin who are six feet or above.
