Need a cornerback? The 2024 draft is the place to look, with four CBs expected to go off the board in the first round.
And it might just be a lightly recruited kid from Toledo to go off the board first to kick off an impressive class.
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MORE POSITION BREAKDOWNS: quarterback | running back | wide receiver | tight end | safety | offensive tackle | defensive tackle
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"It’s close with the top two guys," Mike Detillier said on WWL. "I mean, it’s razor close."
So who are those players, and in what order? Scroll below for Detillier's WR rankings, his takes on several and a draft projection for each of the top 13.
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1. Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo
- Mike's take: "A lightly recruited guy coming out of high school, been a three-year starter for Toledo. Last year he turned down a ton of NIL money. They had at least five schools in the SEC offer him, come play in the SEC, he stayed at Toledo, said hey, ride or die with them, and that’s what he did. You see the athleticism, his ability, his recovery speed, his ability even if he gets beat, to catch up and make a play on the football. He’s got great timing skills with the ball in flight.”
- Draft projection: top 15 pick
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2. Terrion Arnold, Alabama
- Mike's take: "He’s so technically sound. His backpedal, his quickness into and out of transition, his ability to plant and drive hard to the football. He’s an outstanding open-field tackler, and Nick Saban trusted him. He was making a lot of the calls back in the secondary. Nick trusted that Arnold would get everybody right back there, and Nick is a guy that — I’ll be interested to watch Alabama this year. Nick won so many games in the 4th quarter, outcoach you, outscheme you, outplay you in the final minutes of the game and Terrion Arnold, just a fantastic football player and loves the sport. I mean, he is a gym rat and you’ve got to kick him out from either working out or watching film. That guy is one outstanding cover corner. Now, he might not test through the roof like some others, but he can play football.
- Draft projection: top 20 pick
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3. Nate Wiggins, Clemson
- Mike's take: “Outstanding footspeed. He watches the movements on the receiver very well and kind of times the route out very well. Sometimes he runs the route better than the receiver does and he makes a play on the football. He does guess a little bit, but I don’t mind that because most of the time he guesses right. He’s a phenomenal athlete, very quick in transition and he gets his hands on a lot of footballs, and a lot of times on the deeper patterns, man, you see him come late and he’ll knock that pass down and he’ll make that interceptions."
- Draft projection: early 20s pick
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4. Cooper Dejean, Iowa
- Mike's take: "He's played corner, he’s played in the nickel, he’s played some free safety, but his first love is to play corner. A long, lean corner, he’s got great eye vision. He catches the football quickly in flight and he can run step for step with receivers. He’s got a lot of speed, deep speed downfield and he uses the sidelines better than any of the other three. He uses it almost, you know, like a border. Hey, if you get near the sidelines, hey, I’m gonna kind of nudge you if you try to make that catch. He does a great job with it. Again, we didn’t get to see him late or in any of the workouts because of the … fibula, but he looks as though he’s [ready].”
- Draft projection: late first round pick
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5. Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama
- Mike's take: “He gets fooled a little bit on routes. He gets turned around. He’s a big-time guesser. I mean, you know, he’s trying to guess that route and sometimes he guesses right, but he’s a really good athlete. Again, the technical part of the game and he’s been coached by one of the best. I mean, Nick Saban, you talk about coaching defensive backs, you couldn’t ask for better. I think his footwork is the part that he needs some work and I even heard Nick talk about that’s something that he’s got to constantly be cognizant of, watch your footwork and be a little bit more smoother in transition downfield to make the play. He also comes up quickly in run support and people put a lot of emphasis on that today. Come on, you’ve got to play the run … you’ve got to be able to make a play, and that’s one thing that Arnold and Kool-Aid, they both play the run very well.”
- Draft projection: early 2nd round pick
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6. Mike Sainristil, Michigan
- Draft projection: mid-second round pick
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7. Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Missouri
- Mike's take: “He had a major knee injury two years ago and man, he’s come back from that. … You would never know, and he is a big corner, and what I liked about him, that plant foot and then he makes a strong move toward the football. Anything thrown in front of him, he’s really good at and he’s also got the speed on the back end to make up for it when a receiver kind of beats him on the deeper pattern. He’s right there and he can make a play on it. I like Ennis Rakestraw ... because that guy can flat out play and I like a big corner to match up against all these king-sized receivers that you see in the NFL."
- Draft projection: mid-second round pick
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8. T.J. Tampa, Iowa State
- Mike's take: "You talk about a king-sized corner ... he’s over 6-2, got a huge wingspan. His backpedal isn’t as smooth as I'd like, but he sort of watched the belly of the receiver and doesn’t get fooled a lot on a double move and I think that’s a nice trait to have. But he is a big, tall corner, and in an, I guess, zone coverage defense, he would fit in really, really well. He tracks the ball in flight really well, too. He’s a former high school quarterback, so he gets it.”
- Draft projection: mid second round pick
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9. Kamari Lassiter, Georgia
- Draft projection: late 2nd round to early 3rd round pick
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10. Andru Phillips, Kentucky
- Draft projection: 3rd round pick
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11. Max Melton, Rutgers
- Draft projection: 3rd round pick
This article is the seventh in a draft preview series with WWL analyst Mike Detillier, check back for breakdowns of other positions leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft.