The cornerbacks completed their on-field athletic testing and measurements at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday. Here are the top performers based on overall Relative Athletic Score (RAS), which will certainly pique the Green Bay Packers’ interest.
Are Brian Gutekunst and the Packers’ scouts using the RAS scale as part of their evaluation process? It’s probably safe to say they are not. But throughout Gutekunst’s tenure as the head decision-maker, there is a strong connection between his draft selections and their RAS performance, giving us on the outside looking in some insights into who the Packers might be interested in.
In short, 74 percent of Gutekunst’s RAS-eligible selections have posted a score of at least 8.0. Then of those players, just shy of 50 percent have scored 9.0 or more. To learn more about RAS and its connection to the Packers, click here.
At the cornerback position specifically, Gutekunst has made six draft picks with five of them registering at least 9.2 on the RAS scale. The one outlier was Gutekunst’s Day 3 selection of Shemar Jean-Charles, who was with the Packers for only two seasons, playing just 38 total defensive snaps.
As one would expect, cornerback is a position where athleticism is at a premium, and that’s reflected in Gutekunst’s selections.
Below, you will find all of the cornerbacks who registered a RAS of at least 8.0 at this year’s Combine, but pay particular attention to those who score over 9.0.
Jarran Jones, Florida State: 9.86
Decamerion Richardson, Mississippi State: 9.81
Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo: 9.75
Elijah Jones, Boston College: 9.74
Kyhree Jackson, Oregon: 9.70
Max Melton, Rutgers: 9.68
Nehemiah Pritchett, Auburn: 9.41
Andru Phillips, Kentucky: 9.30
Cam Hart, Notre Dame: 9.12
Deantre Prince, Ole Miss: 8.96
Renardo Green, Florida State: 8.86
Terrion Arnold, Alabama: 8.81
Nate Wiggins, Clemson: 8.76
Daequan Hardy, Penn State: 8.62
Mike Sainristil, Michigan: 8.48
Of note, Missouri’s Ennis Rakestraw, a popular selection for the Packers’ at pick No. 25 in many mock drafts, scored 4.79, with a 4.54-second 40-yard dash time. Iowa’s Cooper DeJean – another popular pick for the Packers in mock drafts – did not participate in the athletic testing events as he is still recovering from a late-season injury. He will go through the drills at his Pro-Day.
If the Packers go into the 2024 regular season with Jaire Alexander, Carrington Valentine, and Eric Stokes as their top three cornerbacks, they’ll be in good shape. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t unknowns around this position group or gaps to fill on the depth chart this offseason.
For one, the only other cornerbacks on the roster are Zyon Gilbert and Anthony Johnson. But on top of that, Stokes has essentially lost a season and half to injuries.
A torn meniscus and Lisfranc injuries ended his 2022 season in Week 9, while recovery from those injuries and hamstring issues limited his 2023 season to just two games where he saw defensive snaps. How he performs when fully back on the field is a question that I’m not sure anyone has the answer to right now.
The Packers also need to find a starting slot cornerback. With about two-thirds of the defensive snaps in today’s NFL coming lined up in nickel, this position is essentially one of the starters. Unless Hafley plans to line Alexander up inside more often – which there is no indication of – this role is up for grabs with Alexander, Stokes, and Valentine all being boundary cornerbacks.
“It really helps your defense to be multiple and flexible so teams can’t get a bead on what you’re doing,” Gutekunst said, via Packers.com. “So, in a perfect world, quite frankly, between the two safeties and the nickel, those three guys almost need to be interchangeable completely.”
This is a position group that needs to make more plays on the ball in 2024 after the defense recorded just seven interceptions – the second-fewest in football – along with no cornerback ranking in the top half of the league in forced incompletions. Hafley’s scheme that relies more on man coverage and press coverage, along with a vision-based approach on the back end should help put the Packers’ defensive backs in more consistent positions to make those plays.
“You’ve got to have changeups,” said Hafley, “and you have to have calls that complement one another. Our zone coverages are built off vision and break that allows our guys to play fast, so they’re not looking at people and looking around for people.
