After passing on cornerbacks in the first round Thursday night, the Ravens could wait a while to take their next shot. They don’t have a second-round pick to spend on their roster’s biggest hole, and their third-round pick isn’t until No. 86 overall.
Ravens officials aren’t worried. Not yet, anyway. This is a deep cornerback class, and they could always move up.
“There are players at every level of the draft for us, and there are still plenty of targets available for us,” Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz said late Thursday night. “So we’ll be watching them in the second round and as they come off, and if there is someone there in the third that matches us, we’ll be there.”
Here are six prospects who could be in the mix, all of whom either met with the Ravens during the predraft process or play nearby (Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. surprisingly dropped out of the first round, but is expected to go early tonight.) They’re ordered by their rank in Pro Football Network’s industry consensus big board.
South Carolina’s Cam Smith
Big board: No. 35
Measurables: 6-1, 180 pounds, 4.43-second 40-yard dash
Key stat: After a standout 2021, when he ranked second in the Southeastern Conference in passes defended (14) and allowed a 36.5 passer rating in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus, Smith struggled to build on his production. His passes-defended total dropped to six. He allowed more touchdowns (three) than he had interceptions (one). And he allowed a passer rating of 71.3.
NFL.com profile: “Long outside cornerback with instinctive eyes and the ball skills to consistently close on throws when in position. Smith lacks fluidity and acceleration to consistently press and run with speedy downfield targets. Also, he gives ground in his lateral transitions. However, he’s highly anticipatory with the vision and route recognition to shine from coverages allowing him to play with his eyes and feet forward. While his timing/length can be formidable weapons on contested catches, he often fails to move his feet quickly enough in transitions and ends up grabbing receivers, leading to penalties. Smith appears to be better suited for zone coverages and off-man but if he can trust his technique, he might become more scheme-diverse and develop into a CB2.”
Georgia’s Kelee Ringo
Big board: No. 38
Measurables: 6-2, 207 pounds, 4.36-second 40-yard dash
Key stat: Ringo’s physical ability was evident last season, his second as a Georgia starter, but so was his lack of refinement. According to Sports Info Solutions, a Georgia defender allowed at least 40 yards in coverage in a single game nine times in 2022. Ringo was responsible for four of them. In the SEC championship game against LSU, he gave up six completions on 13 targets for 104 yards and a touchdown. He also dropped an interception and had two passes defended.
NFL.com profile: “Boundary corner with an impressive blend of size and athleticism. Ringo is uniquely suited to travel the field and match talents against some of the bigger targets in the league. He can press and does a nice job of controlling plays in front of him from off coverages. However, he is very average at anticipating breaks and transitioning with them to squeeze the top of the route. His physicality in coverage and in run support are big assets in his favor, but there is still work to be done in consistency of coverage. Ringo’s traits will be highly coveted and he has a chance to become a very good NFL cornerback if his route recognition continues to develop.”
Kansas State’s Julius Brents
Big board: No. 55
Measurables: 6-3, 198 pounds, 4.53-second 40-yard dash
Key stat: Brents is one of the most athletic cornerback prospects to ever enter the draft, posting a Relative Athletic Score of 9.99 out of 10. Among corner prospects, he ranks in the 99th percentile in wingspan and broad jump, 98th percentile in arm length, 96th percentile in height and vertical jump and 93rd percentile in three-cone drill.
NFL.com profile: “Brents is a classic zone cover corner with an outstanding blend of size, length and leaping ability. He has the disruptive traits to reroute the release and the dog in him to handle his business in run support. He can play some press-man on a vertical plane but lacks the top-end speed and pattern matching to play in that scheme full-time. Brents needs to maintain eye discipline from zone but has the ball skills to win a battle for the pass when he’s in position. While he’s likely to be targeted in the draft as a zone-based corner, he has the instincts and demeanor to make a move to safety if needed.”
Miami’s Tyrique Stevenson
Big board: No. 72
Measurables: 6-0, 198 pounds, 4.45-second 40-yard dash
Key stat: Stevenson allowed just 1.1 catches per game last season, tied for the fourth-best mark among 42 cornerback prospects in this year’s class, according to SIS. But he allowed 8.3 yards after the catch per completion (41st) and 24.7 yards overall per game (24th).
NFL.com profile: “Big cornerback with the size and play strength to help match up with bigger receivers in the league. Stevenson is patient but physical in press-man and has good recovery speed when he falls behind. He struggles as a pattern matcher in off-man and had issues with busts in zone, so he might be scheme-dependent. Stevenson is talented when attacking the catch point and has the ball skills to make plays on 50/50 throws. He needs to become more consistent in run support but has the physical attributes to become a starter in a press-man scheme.”
Purdue’s Cory Trice
Big board: No. 112
Measurables: 6-3, 206 pounds, 4.47-second 40-yard dash
Key stat: Despite his big frame and ability to reroute receivers at the line of scrimmage, he lined up in press coverage on just 14% of his coverage snaps, according to SIS, a rate that ranked No. 35 among 41 cornerback prospects.
NFL.com profile: “While he has legitimate strong safety size, Trice’s game is better suited for the cornerback position. He is physical in coverage but lacks the same temperament in run support. His size and strength help impede the early stages of a route and smother possession throws underneath. He’s a decent athlete but lacks ideal fluidity and speed to recover when beaten, so press and zone coverages are where he should live. While there are limitations, there is also room for technical growth to make him a better pro. He won’t be for everyone, but teams valuing size over speed will covet him as a middle-round pick with upside.
Maryland’s Jakorian Bennett
Big board: No. 119
Measurables: 5-11, 188 pounds, 4.3-second 40-yard dash
Key stat: Bennett ran the second-fastest 40 at the NFL scouting combine, behind only Michigan cornerback D.J. Turner II (4.26 seconds). He also excelled in the broad jump (95th percentile among cornerbacks) and vertical jump (91st percentile).
NFL.com profile: “High-cut cornerback who is more of a catch-challenger than an instinctive ballhawk. The high passes defensed total is an example of how aggressive Bennett is at the catch point, and he’s clearly effective at tilting the 50/50 ball in his favor. However, his coverage tends to lack the needed anticipation and discipline to stay connected to NFL route runners. He has good size, but his coverage strength is a mix and match of man and zone with both featuring inconsistencies that will likely follow him into an NFL camp.”
