If you think that life as an NFL cornerback is easy, I present the cases of two top 10 picks from the 2020 draft who have been traded from their original teams for very little in return.
Last September, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who selected Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson with the ninth pick in that draft, traded Henderson to the Carolina Panthers for tight end Dan Arnold and a third-round draft pick.
And on Tuesday, the Detroit Lions traded 2020 third-overall pick Jeff Okudah to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2023 fifth-round pick.
Detroit unloads the remaining $5,182,072 in guaranteed money that Okudah is owed this season.
Atlanta adds a player who was the No. 3 overall pick three years ago.
Okudah gets a fresh start on a newly stacked #Falcons defense, with free agency looming next March. https://t.co/IH3kSxXv1N
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 11, 2023
This is not what you expect when you’re taken that highly in the draft, and you’re expected to be the next great player at the position. At 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, Okudah was supposed to take the crown as the new prototype of the big, aggressive pass defender who could put every receiver on lock.
Obviously, it didn’t work that way. Injuries have been a big part of the problem — Okudah played in just nine games with six starts in his rookie season, and he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the Lions’ 2021 season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, and that ended his second season right there.
So, coming into his third NFL season, Okudah was basically starting from scratch, which general manager Brad Holmes said in reflection during his 2022 season-ending press conference.
“Yeah, Jeff – first of all, I told you guys after camp that I give him so much credit because we challenged him, and he answered the challenge, but I also told you guys, look, it’s basically his rookie season. And he’s kind of getting this extensive action for the time, and he showed some good things, but when I say basically like a rookie season, he’s going to have lumps. And he showed some good, he had some times that were not so good, but he’s a really young player. I think he’s still developing, and we’ll just kind of – I know like fifth-year option and all that stuff like you said is coming up. We’ll address that at the appropriate time, but I’m proud of what Jeff did, and I know he’ll hold himself accountable for his play of the good things, and the things that he needs to work on.”
Now that he’ll be working on those things in Atlanta, and the Lions were clearly eager to clear the books, what can the Falcons expect from Jeff Okudah? Are there enough things that scream, “Third overall pick” on his tape to make this a steal for a Falcons defense in need of help just about everywhere?
Last season, per Pro Football Focus, Okudah allowed 40 catches on 65 targets for 621 yards, 218 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, one interception, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 97.0. How will Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen and secondary coach Steve Jackson make the most of Okudah’s potential?
Let’s go to the tape.
Staying in phase.
The good news for the Falcons is that Okudah isn’t necessarily a man-dominant or zone-dominant cornerback — last season, he had good moments in multiple coverages, so let’s start with that.
When he stays in phase with his receiver, and matches his moves through the route, he can be very tough to deal with. In 2022, he had some great reps against some of the NFL’s best receivers.
In Week 2 against the Washington Commanders, Okudah had Terry McLaurin on lock in Cover-1 to the boundary, and there was no way McLaurin was getting the ball.
And in Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings, he pressed Justin Jefferson off the line of scrimmage, and matched Jefferson aggressively through the route, working the comeback to prevent the catch.
And this deflection of a short crossing route against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4 is where Okudah’s size shows up as a positive. Not a lot of cornerbacks are prepared to deal with D.K. Metcalf physically like his, but Okudah is when he’s on his game.
Getting out of phase.
However, the boom-and-bust nature of Okudah’s play showed up too often in his one full NFL season, and it’s in these plays where you understand what Holmes was saying about 2022 basically being his rookie season.
In Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers, D.J. Moore (now with the Chicago Bears in the trade that gave Carolina the first overall pick in the 2023 draft) gave Okudah fits. Okudah has a tendency to commit hard to a route once he thinks he knows what’s coming, and Moore just nuked him for a 47-yard catch out of Cover-0.
Okudah also needs to develop his spatial awareness — too many times last season, he’d get caught out of sorts with any kind of short-area movement, leading to unnecessary busts on plays he should have had down. Allowing a 50-yard catch to New York Jets receiver Jeff Smith on a helium ball thrown by Zach Wilson shouldn’t happen, and wouldn’t happen were Okudah staying with the route as opposed to whatever this was. Too often, there are wasted steps and inefficient movement to what Okudah does.
Justin Jefferson got Okudah back in Week 14, by shaking and baking him all over the route with quick movement. Jefferson is probably the NFL’s best receiver, so things like this are never easy, but Okudah loses on these types of developmental routes too often.
How the Falcons can make the most of Okudah's talents.
While Okudah isn’t a “man” or “zone” cornerback per se, his new team would do well to align him in press coverage as often as possible — when he’s playing in off coverage, there are too many things to think about for him at this point in his career.
Fortunately for Okudah, his new bookend in the Falcons’ secondary — the perennially underrated A.J. Terrell — has the chops and experience to teach him a few things about playing off and recovering quickly from any weird movement. Terrell’s deflection against the aforementioned Terry McLaurin in Week 12 is but one example.
Like Okudah, Terrell was taken in the first round of the 2020 draft — 16th overall out of Clemson in his case. Unlike Okudah, Terrell has for the most part made that high pick a wise one. Perhaps these two highly-regarded cornerbacks coming out of college — one who has lived up to the hype, and one who’s still figuring it out — can scale new heights together.
