Five for the 2019 Draft: CBs - Early, middle and late prospects that fit Patriots; surprise pick coming?

As we count down to the 2019 NFL draft, we’ll take the measure of the Patriots by position at this stage on the calendar, and offer up five prospects at each spot — two if they’re inclined to invest in the early going, and three more if they’re interested in waiting until later in the draft. We’ve looked at running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, edge defenders, and quarterbacks. Now, it’s cornerbacks. (Just a heads up -- when you click play on the highlights, you might want to have your sound down or headphones at the ready.)


THE SKINNY

We’ve gone back and forth when it comes to perceived positions of need this spring, and on the surface, cornerback doesn’t appear to be a priority for the Patriots. Stephon Gilmore is coming off an All-Pro year, J.C. Jackson was the most important defensive rookie on the roster, and veteran Jason McCourty and youngsters Duke Dawson and Keion Crossen make this position an area of strength for New England. But with the understanding the Patriots are almost always looking forward (that ability to keep eyes down the road is one of the things that separates them from everyone else), taking a cornerback with one of their choices in the top 101 would be the sort of draft weekend curveball we’ve come to expect from New England. The other thing to keep in mind? In my experience, cornerbacks are like pitchers — you can never have too many of them, especially in the modern NFL. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few corners who might appeal to Bill Belichick come draft weekend.

POSSIBLE EARLY TARGETS

Julian Love, Notre Dame



Patriots scheme fit: Boundary corner, slot.

Smart, steady cornerback who distinguished himself as a collegian with consistent, high-end play. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder has a nice combination of short-area quickness (6.72 3-cone) and straight-line speed (4.54 40), as well as good ball skills (five interceptions and 39 passes defensed in two-plus seasons with the Irish. He doesn’t have elite speed, and will likely need over the top help against burners and is probably more finesse than physical, but watching his college film, it’s hard not to see Love as a player with potential to be a Day One starter in the NFL. On the surface, this pick wouldn’t necessarily mesh with the Patriots’ immediate needs, but it’s my opinion Love could end up as one of the better corners to come out of this draft.



JoeJuan Williams, Vanderbilt
Patriots scheme fit: Boundary corner

Lots of New England buzz around this long corner, a 6-foot-4, 211-pounder who showed himself to be a physical presence in his three years as a collegian with the Commodores. He’s a little on the raw side — you could see the Patriots’ taking him and having him in a limited role for a year until he refines his game a bit — but there’s still plenty of reason to see why New England might like him. Last year as a junior, he was voted second-team All-SEC by league coaches after recording 61 tackles, two for loss, four interceptions and 14 pass breakups in 13 starts. From a Patriots’ perspective, he doesn’t necessarily fit the profile — since 2000, Bill Belichick has never drafted a corner taller than 6 feet, and has had just one corner (Brandon Browner) on his roster at 6-foot-4. Williams has the same sort of feistiness in his game, right down to the occasional ill-timed penalty. One more thing? He’s a pretty good quote. The guy loves candy, but is trying to cut sugar from his diet and add things like cauliflower. How’s it going, JoeJuan? “Cauliflower is the worst. I hate it. It’s so bad,” Williams said. “But I have to be attuned to what my body needs. You can’t put regular gas in a Lamborghini.” OK then.



POSSIBLE LATER TARGETS (Day 2 or beyond)

Kendall Sheffield, Ohio State
Patriots scheme fit: Boundary corner, special teamer

We’ve written a bit about Sheffield before as a possible buy-low draft prospect, and not much has changed our opinion on him since then. A Day 2 possibility, Sheffield is an explosive athlete with a terrific pedigree who suffered a torn pec at the combine, which should depress his draft stock slightly, and is still an unfinished product when it comes to technique. But the 5-foot-11, 193-pounder has an electric 3-cone (6.79), and the sort of “You Can’t Teach That” speed that is going to land him a job somewhere — perhaps as a special teamer, at least in the early days of his NFL career. (He won back-to-back 110-meter hurdles championships in high school and broke an Ohio State record with 6.6 60-yard dash February 2018.) We’ll see if that’s enough to intrigue the Patriots.



David Long, Michigan
Patriots scheme fit: Boundary/slot corner

Write this down, underline it three times, and staple it to the top of his professional resume: 6.45 seconds. That was Long’s 3-cone time at the combine, an absurd finish, even by New England’s standards. (It was the fourth-best time in the drill over the last 15 years.) The Patriots crave that sort of short-area quickness, and this 5-foot-11, 196-pounder has it to spare. The possible negatives? He’s slightly undersized and doesn’t have the length of many high-end corners in this draft. He has the rapid change-of-direction skills needed to survive in the slot, but the transition could be a little dicey for him. But even in a year where the Patriots aren’t going to be necessarily looking for a corner, Long has the sort of skill set that might be enough to capture their attention.



Isaiah Johnson, Houston
Patriots scheme fit: cornerback, safety, special teams

Johnson is a chatty corner who takes a page from Richard Sherman’s book when it comes to trash talk. The 6-foot-2, 208-pounder has very good straight-line speed (4.4 40), above-average short-area quickness (6.81 3-cone) and some positional versatility (he switched from receiver to corner as a collegian). His relatively late move from one side of the ball to the other means he’s still got some evolving to do. His size could also mean an eventual switch to safety. But in the end, all of that could eventually work in his favor — a defensive back taken in the late rounds this year by the Patriots probably isn’t going to play much anyway, so the chance to grow could be a positive for Johnson.