Which Cornerbacks Might Be Off Packers’ NFL Draft Board?

During the Gutekunst-Thompson Era, the Packers drafted 16 cornerbacks. That history hints at their historical preferences, which could eliminate several early-round options.

Bill Huber | Apr 13, 2022

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Eric Stokes, the Green Bay Packers don’t need a starting cornerback. But they do need to improve their depth.

The Packers don’t draft short guys at any position, and that certainly includes cornerback. Call it the ghosts of Ron Wolf and Mike Sherman, who swung and missed on undersized Terrell Buckley in 1992 and Ahmad Carroll in 2004.

In the 17 drafts conducted by Ted Thompson and Brian Gutekunst, 16 cornerbacks were selected. Jaire Alexander was a real outlier at 5-foot-10 1/4 – a half-inch shorter than any other corner and at least an inch shorter than 10 corners – but still over that 5-foot-10 “Mendoza Line,” as Gutekunst put it before the 2021 draft.

Blazing speed hasn’t been a necessity. While 11 were faster than historic Combine average of 4.50 seconds, Shemar Jean-Charles (4.52 in 2021), Demetri Goodson (4.52 in 2014), Micah Hyde (4.56 in 2013), Josh Jackson (4.56 in 2018) and Quinten Rollins (4.57 in 2015) were slower.

The 20-yard shuttle seems to be a big deal at most positions but not at corner. The historic Combine average is 4.17. Six were faster and 10 were slower. Casey Hayward (3.90 in 2012), Kevin King (3.89 in 2017) and Alexander (3.98 in 2018) got under 4.00 seconds; 2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes (4.36), former Gonzaga basketball player Goodson (4.34 in 2014) and Jean-Charles (4.33) were at the other end of the spectrum.

How about the three-cone drill? From 2011 through 2020, nine of the 10 corners selected beat the historic Combine average of 6.94 seconds by at least 0.08 seconds. That seemed noteworthy. King (6.56), Davon House (6.65 in 2011), Alexander (6.71), Hayward (6.76) and Hyde (6.78) crushed the average. Stokes produced a 6.96 in 2021, so right about the average, but Jean-Charles clocked in at 7.15.

The vertical jumps have ranged from 31 inches to 41 inches. Randall’s 8 5/8-inch hands are about a half-inch smaller than the average. Arm length has ranged from 30 1/4 inches to Stokes’ 32 3/4 inches.

Putting all the athletic numbers into the kettle, here are their Relative Athletic Scores in chronological order: Michael Hawkins (2005), 7.35; Will Blackmon (2006), 9.72; Pat Lee (2008), 8.05; Brandon Underwood (2009), 7.81; Davon House (2011), 7.37; Casey Hayward (2012), 7.14; Micah Hyde (2013), 4.73; Demetri Goodson (2014), 5.28; Damarious Randall (2015), 8.82; Quinten Rollins (2016), 4.71; Kevin King (2017), 9.94; Jaire Alexander (2018), 9.54; Josh Jackson (2018), 9.27; Ka’dar Hollman (2019), 9.22; Eric Stokes (2021), 9.37; Shemar-Jean Charles (2021), 4.27.

Over the last five drafts, the Packers selected six corners. Five had a RAS of at least 9.20 and Jean-Charles scored below-average.

The bizarro pick of the bunch was Rollins, who was slower than the average in the 40 (4.57), shuttle (4.28) and three-cone drill (7.10) while having only average height (5-11 1/8) and explosiveness (36.5 vertical). Not coincidentally, his career lasted just three seasons.

So, who could be out?

Going with 5-foot-10 (no rounding allowed) as the cutoff, you can bet your bottom dollar that Houston’s Marcus Jones (5-foot-8), a Day 2 prospect because of his coverage skill and brilliance as a returner, isn’t on the board. The only other “short” cornerbacks who are likely to be drafted are South Carolina State’s Cobie Durant (5-9 5/8) and East Carolina’s Ja’Quan McMillian (5-9 3/4).

Potentially out due to arm length are Washington's Trent McDuffie (29 3/4), Auburn’s Roger McCreary (28 7/8), Jones (28 7/8) and his Houston sidekick, Damarion Williams (29 5/8), and McMillian (29). McDuffie is a first-round prospect, and McCreary could join Jones in the second round.

Clemson’s Coby Bryant (7.31 in the three-cone), Fayetteville State’s Joshua Williams (4.47 in the shuttle) and Pitt’s Damarri Mathis (8 1/4 hands) are other Day 2 options who might be off the board.

Only Georgia’s Derion Kendrick (4.78) would be out based on 40 time.

Baylor’s Kalon Barnes is the fastest man in the draft with his 4.23 in the 40, but he produced terrible times in the shuttle (4.58) and three-cone drill (7.44).

Alabama’s Jalyn Armour-Davis ran a 4.39 in the 40 but is on the fringe with the shuttle (4.37) and three-cone (7.26).

LSU’s Cordale Flott (8 inches) has incredibly small hands.

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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