Assuming that Lattimore, Conley, and Humphrey are gone by the time the 29th pick rolls around, there are two guys that I continually circle back to: Kevin King (Washington) and Chidobe Awuzie (Colorado).
King has a case to be the best overall athlete in this class. He's in the 99th% in
sparq and his individual drill
numbers were off the charts. His height, weight, arm length, and hand size are all in the 72nd% or larger. His forty is in the 72nd%, his vertical in the 88th%, his long shuttle in the 86th%, his short shuttle in the 96th%, and his three cone in the 96th%. He's such a rare athlete that he really doesn't have a good comp historically. I've never seen someone this big, this fast, and this fluid.
When looking through the box scores of cornerbacks, I look for PBU's and INT's to see how often they got their hand on the ball. In 2016 he had 2 picks and 13 PBU's, for a total of 15 which is a great number. The ball
skills show up on tape too.
When I watch him play, he demonstrates the speed and fluidity that you want to see. He has the length to press all day long, though he's overly aggressive. He can get beat off the line due to a lack of patience in his punch. But that's very correctable. And despite being tall, he's capable in the slot. I see absolutely no reason why he couldn't be the best corner in this class in two years when he's had a little more time to grow into his frame and has had NFL coaches clean up his technique at the line of scrimmage.
That then brings me to Chidobe Awuzie. While not being quite as rare an athlete as King, he's up there. 97th% in sparq, above average height and weight, while hitting 72nd% in forty, 96th% in broad, 68th% in 3C, and 54th% in short shuttle. His vertical was the only below average drill (31st%). But I should point out that he improved his vertical at his pro day from 34.5" to 39.5", which is in the 88th%. Sometimes I don't trust vastly improved forties at pro days, but it would be hard to cheat a vertical jump so I think that pro day number is safe.
As far as getting his hands on passes, he had 1 pick and 12 PBU's in 2016. He had 2 picks and 7 PBU's in 2015.
On tape, he's a fluid man corner who stays in phase with receivers. He plays both inside and out. He has the size and physicality to deal with bigger receivers, and the quickness to deal with smaller slots. He's a dangerous blitzer from the slot and a good run defender. He has the total skill set to be a souped up version of Micah Hyde in that CB/S/Nickel role, but also has all the athleticism you want as a pure outside corner. Coaches will need to work on his technique downfield in terms of playing the ball and not the receiver. He gets too handsy and some of it that he got by with in college won't fly in the pros.
Give me either of these guys or one of the rare athletes at OLB (Watt, Bowser, or Willis) and I'll be happy.
