2020 NFL Draft: Philadelphia Eagles final 7-round 2020 NFL mock draft

At 6-foot-2, Nebraska cornerback Lamar Jackson is actually taller than Jeffrey Okudah or Kristian Fulton. And while not nearly as talented as the two top-projected cornerbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft, Jackson is not nearly as far off as would be expected either.

Besides sharing a name with the Baltimore Ravens starting quarterback, Jackson has NFL traits written all over his game footage. His height allows him to manhandle receivers in the contact zone.

He does have a tendency to abuse that size downfield to disrupt passes, something that will be tougher to do in the NFL, given how much attention goes into pass-interference reviews. But if Jackson can clean that part up about his game, he could be an interesting late-round addition to the Eagles roster.

Because of his lack of deep speed, playing as an outside cornerback in man coverage is probably out of the question for Jackson. But in a zone coverage system playing press, where he isn’t required to be the sole defender and instead covers an area, Jackson would be a good fit.

On third down, the defensive coordinator of the Eagles loves to run “red rover” zone cover defense, bringing defensive backs to the first down line in a prevent formation. A large, 6-foot-2 Jackson would be useful in a situation like that.

While the starting cornerback position was addressed in the offseason with the signing of Darius Slay and Nickell Robey-Coleman, backup players are still needed on a unit that less than a year ago had more injured players on the roster than healthy.

This late in the 2020 NFL Draft, finding starting cornerbacks is basically out of the question. But finding developmental/backup/situational cornerbacks is easy enough to do. Jackson has the skill and the experience to play in the NFL. For a unit that has underwhelmed since Super Bowl 52, having other solid backups beats signing players like Orlando Scandrick off the couch every time a starter goes down.