Cornerbacks and safeties went through workouts at the NFL combine on Monday, the final day of drills for the top prospects for the 2019 NFL draft.
ESPN NFL draft experts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay recap how the best of the defensive backs fared, and Scouts Inc. analyst Steve Muench breaks down the under-the-radar prospects who are rising up draft boards.
How the best prospects fared | Biggest risers
Recaps: Day 1 (RB/OL) | Day 2 (QB/WR/TE) | Day 3 (DL/LB)
What was the biggest takeaway from workouts?
McShay: This defensive back class just isn't very strong. There were a few good numbers on Monday, but overall, this is the least impressive group of all the positions. I didn't have a top-25 defensive back heading into the weekend, and nothing in these workouts motivated me to make any positive amends to that.
Kiper: I agree with Todd here, and that makes the next part of evaluations so important. Those are the pro days for the guys who missed key parts of Monday's workouts, such as Greedy Williams, Taylor Rapp, Deionte Thompson and Nasir Adderley. There's still a ton we don't know about a lot of the defensive backs, and pro days are going to be extremely critical to develop complete evals.
Muench: We don't have Byron Murphy's three-cone or shuttle times -- we expect him to test well in those areas, based on his tape -- and the test results we have for the Huskies' corner are best described as average. He's also on the smaller side, and his length (30 1/8-inch arms) is a red flag. That said, he's still a borderline first-round pick on tape, and he had an outstanding on-field workout, so don't expect him to fall far. He's instinctive, plays with good balance and is a playmaker with excellent ball skills.
How the top cornerbacks fared
Kiper breaks down CB workouts from Day 4:
Greedy Williams, LSU
Kiper's position rank: No. 1
The good? Williams ran a 4.37 40 at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds. That's a fantastic time for a big corner, and it was tied for second at the position. The bad? Calf cramps forced him to miss the other athletic testing drills. That means the LSU pro day on March 22 becomes a must-watch event. I had Williams at No. 10 in my Mock Draft 2.0.
Deandre Baker, Georgia
Kiper's position rank: No. 2
Baker showed Monday that he isn't an elite athlete. He had an average 40 (4.52) and below average broad jump (9-foot-8) at 5-foot-11, 193 pounds. But he was strong in the on-field workouts, and he can flip his hips with the best defensive backs in this class. Like Williams, I want to see Baker run better at the Georgia pro day on March 20.
More CB notes from Kiper:
Michigan's David Long had the best 20-yard shuttle time (3.97) among the corners, and he showed off a 39.5-inch vertical. He could jump into the list of the top-10 corners in the class.
With seven interceptions the past two seasons, Washington's Byron Murphy is the best ball hawk in this class. I don't think his 4.55 40 will cause him to drop far, though he has a smaller frame than I would have liked to see. He's a top-40 prospect on tape.
Michigan's State's Justin Layne, a converted wide receiver, has a big wingspan and 6-foot-2 frame. His 4.50 40 is a great time for him. Could he go in the second round?
Jamel Dean ran a blazing 4.30 40, but he isn't as fluid as some of the other top corners. We knew the Auburn corner was a freakish talent heading into the season. He's still a midround pick.
Joejuan Williams has to run better at the Vanderbilt pro day. He has to. He ran a 4.64 40 at 6-foot-4, 211 pounds.
How the top safeties fared
McShay breaks down S workouts from Day 4:
Taylor Rapp, Washington
Scouts Inc. position rank: No. 1
Rapp didn't run the 40, but he posted the second-fastest short shuttle for defensive backs, at 3.99 seconds, along with a 6.82-second three-cone drill. His 35-inch vertical and 9-foot-7 broad jump were nearly right on the five-year averages for safeties. But with those times, the 6-foot, 208-pounder certainly helped his cause as a top-40 pick and possibly the first safety off the board in April.
Johnathan Abram, Mississippi State
Scouts Inc. position rank: No. 2
He posted a really good 40 time of 4.45, but the 9-foot-8 broad jump isn't ideal. Even so, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound safety is a viscous hitter with explosive burst and power for his size. Abram is a top-40 prospect if medically clean and if you are comfortable with his character. I'm really interested to see what comes of his medical report after he failed his Senior Bowl physical back in January.
More S notes from McShay:
Zedrick Woods has a lot of folks -- myself included -- sprinting to do more tape on him with the same urgency that the Ole Miss safety ran with on Monday. His blazing 4.29 40-yard dash was one of the biggest surprises of the combine. The 5-foot-11, 205-pounder does have some tightness in his hips, though. A 7-second three-cone was just below the safety average, though he did run a good 4.17-second short shuttle.
Boston College's Will Harris ran an awesome 4.41 in the 40 at 6-foot-1, 207 pounds. He has some tightness, but that speed will definitely increase his value on both defense and special teams. I like his instincts and toughness as a strong safety.
No testing for the No. 3 and 4 safeties on my board in Nasir Adderley and Deionte Thompson, respectively. Adderley, a 6-foot, 206-pound safety from Delaware, was out with an ankle injury, while Alabama's 6-foot-1, 195-pound Thompson is recovering from a torn ligament in his wrist. They both hope to be ready for their pro days. (Alabama's pro day is March 19, while Delaware's is March 22.)
Top risers
Muench runs through the under-the-radar prospects who opened scouts' eyes on Day 4 of workouts and should move up draft boards:
Juan Thornhill, S, Virginia
Scouts Inc. position rank: 18
At 6-foot and 205 pounds, Thornhill's 44-inch vertical was tops at the combine regardless of position, and he tied Missouri wide receiver Emmanuel Hall for the top broad jump (11-9). Oh, and he tied for the ninth-fastest 40 (4.42) out of all the defensive backs. Thornhill has small hands (8 3/4 inches) and slightly below-average length, but he's a ball hawk who picked off six passes in 2018.
Isaiah Johnson, CB, Houston
Scouts Inc. position rank: No. 21
Johnson ran a 4.40 40-yard dash at 6-foot-2 and 208 pounds (33-inch arms). That's an outstanding combination of length and speed for a corner. He had the fourth-quickest short shuttle (4.06), and his 11-foot-1 broad jump tied for fifth among the defensive backs. Johnson is a former receiver who played corner the past two years and is still developing, but he has shown teams that he has awesome upside with his performance in Indianapolis.
Justin Layne, CB, Michigan State
Scouts Inc. position rank: No. 12
Layne has outstanding length (33-inch arms), and though he didn't have one of the fastest 40 times, his 4.50 is a slightly above average time for a corner. He tied for the seventh-quickest short shuttle (4.09) for the defensive backs, which is a very good time for a 6-foot-2, 192-pound corner. Layne also had one of the best on-field showings and caught the ball well, which is important considering that the junior finished his college career with three picks.