NFL Betting: Top 5 Cornerback Prospects In 2022 NFL Draft

The NFL draft is about to explode into action on Thursday, so let’s see which prospects at the various positions stand out above the others. Cornerback is an increasingly essential position in the NFL – not that it wasn’t 30 years ago, but the urgency of the need for lockdown corners is even more acute in modern times, given the proliferation of quality quarterbacks around the league. Having a guy who can account for his half of the field immediately takes pressure off the rest of the defense at all three levels. Let’s see which prospects are the best of the lot:

1 – Sauce Gardner, Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Bearcats became the first Group of Five school to make the College Football Playoff last season, and they depended on their defense most of the way. The Bearcats’ offense was good in some of the team’s games, but the defense was the north star, the constantly excellent side of the ball which stabilized the Cincinnati roster on days when the offense wasn’t sharp. Gardner is exactly what a cornerback needs to be: airtight. Even when Cincinnati lost the College Football Playoff semifinal game to Alabama, it wasn’t because of the defense. Cincinnati stood up to Alabama and its elite wide receivers, containing the Tide and frankly playing well enough to win. Alabama beat UC because the Tide completely dominated the Bearcats’ offense. Let us be clear about Gardner: He played a high-level game against Bama’s skill-position talent. NFL evaluators have looked at film and can see how good Gardner is. There is no question that he is the safest choice among cornerbacks in this draft class.

2 – Derek Stingley, LSU

The nuance involving cornerback prospects is as follows: Gardner is the safest choice, the player most likely to be a strong pro who regularly gets the job done and reduces stress for an NFL coaching staff. The cornerback with the highest ceiling is Stingley, who was a superstar for LSU on its 2019 national championship team as a freshman but then ran into injury problems, which NFL teams always get worried about. If Stingley is fully recovered from those injury problems, and if he is able to play his very best in the pros, he probably has a higher ceiling than Gardner. Stingley has the higher ceiling, Gardner the higher floor. Stingley was such a dominant player in 2019 that his subsequent seasons seemed almost disappointing by comparison, but that doesn’t mean he is regressing as a player. It means that injuries slowed him down, and that his capabilities are still enormous.

3 – Andrew Booth, Clemson

The Clemson star is, like Gardner, very competent in everything he does. Clemson obviously struggled a lot last year, but it had nothing to do with Booth. It should be pointed out that the ACC struggled as a conference last season, which might affect how Booth is evaluated, even though it’s not his fault at all.

4 – Trent McDuffie, Washington

The instincts and ball-reading skills of McDuffie are first-rate. However, similar to Booth, he didn’t face a supreme gauntlet in his conference last year. The 2021 Pac-12 was a weak league, meaning that McDuffie was not tested to the fullest extent of his capacities. He has more room for growth, but is still a very good draft prospect.

5 – Roger McCreary, Auburn

The Auburn Tigers did not have a great season, but McCreary was tested by the best receivers Alabama and Georgia had. Bama and Georgia met in the national championship game, so McCreary got a first-rate education and a glimpse of what life will be like in the pros. That real-world experience is valuable for him and should be a plus on his profile heading into the draft.