2020 NFL Draft Big Board: Ranking the top ten cornerbacks

Projected Round: 1st

Game Reviewed: Ohio State vs Washington (Rose Bowl), 2019

Arguably the most popular of all the cornerbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft is Ohio State’s Jeffrey Okudah. Coming out of Texas, this former five-star recruit was given offers from 34 different colleges, including Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida State. Okudah did not disappoint with the Buckeyes, as he has been the definition of a shutdown cornerback for the team.

Although officially listed as 6-foot-1 200 pounds, Okudah has the speed to run with receivers significantly lighter than he is. In 2019, Okudah had 3 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and 7 passes deflected (ESPN). His presence in the secondary is noticeable, as quarterbacks almost rarely look in his general direction.

Okudah has played 39 games in the last three seasons and shows no sign of slowing down. His experience and consistency will make him an enticing option for most teams entering the 2020 NFL draft.

His film review shows a player who can play in a variety of different defensive schemes. Okudah can play in both zone and man coverage and switch from one to the other with ease. Okudah plays with a lot of physicality and will use his big upper body to bully receivers at the catch point. Okudah shows great decision-making when playing in coverage, knowing when to jump routes and when to fall back.

During the Rose Bowl, Okudah made several diving pass deflections, displaying his physical ability to deflect the ball and make sacrifice plays for the defense. He has a tendency to attack the receiver’s arms when a pass is thrown his way, which will yield many dropped passes from opposing team’s wide receivers.

At the line of scrimmage, he pushes back hard in press coverage and can knock most receivers off their prescribed route at the snap. That physicality at the line will him in the NFL, but he has shown to be unnecessarily rough down the field at times. Which at the college level is far more permissible than it is in the NFL.

Okudah has the ideal size for the cornerback position in the NFL. He is physical, fast, and knows when to make a play on the pass in high leverage situations. NFL teams will be chomping at the bit to see Okudah at the combine and he will make it on most teams draft board in the 2020 NFL draft.

However, while watching his film I saw a very serious flaw in his play when covering slants. Receivers are consistently able to get separation from Okudah when the receiver runs a 3-step slant. Opposing teams offenses seem to be aware of this, as I saw Washington receivers run several slants against Okudah during my film review. Most of the time the quarterback was not able to take advantage of this, but the level of separation I saw was disturbing.

I saw this trend while watching other games where Okudah consistently let receivers break inside for too long without responding. I think this is a set-up for Okudah, as I saw plays where Okudah allowed a receiver to break inside, only to jump the route for a nice looking pass deflection. Okudah may be setting up receivers for big-time turnovers. But in the NFL drives are won by a yard or two of separation for receivers, and allowing that much separation is going to cost him.

Luckily for Okudah, this seems more like a technical problem than anything else. The technique can be coached, but speed and instincts cannot be trained. Okudah has speed and instincts, and considering the substantial amount of experience he has playing for one of the country’s best programs, I believe Okudah will be off the board early in the 2020 NFL draft.