2022 Bootleg Football Draft Rankings - CB

NOTE: These rankings are subject to change at any point up until the 2022 Draft

CB has a lot of talent this year that's divided up in a way that's a little top-heavy, but has a loooong tail of depth
behind it. There are a few top-tier starters that teams looking for an "island" corner will have to grab at early,
but after that (due to the larger numbers of players in this draft because of the effects of the COVID pandemic)
there are a ton of players that will help teams all the way down the board; at outside corner and nickel/slot. The
other thing that stands out (literally) is size: there's tons of it. Usually it's a bit of a struggle, but not in 2022 - the
vast majority of starting outside CB's are over 6' and many of them are 6'2"-6'3".

Brett's CB Ranking EJ's CB Ranking

Group 1 (The studs) Tier 1

1. Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner
- Derek Stingley 2. Derek Stingley
- Sauce Gardner
3. Andrew Booth Jr.
- Andrew Booth Jr.

Group 2 (Likely day one starters) Tier 2

4. Jalen Pitre
- Kyler Gordon 5. Roger McCreary
- Roger McCreary 6. Kyler Gordon
7. Marcus Jones
Group 3 (Potential day one starters)
8. Martin Emerson
- Kaiir Elam
- Damarri Mathis
Outside the top 7
● Trent McDuffie
● Kaiir Elam
● Zyon McCollum
● Jalyn Armour-Davis
● Joshua Williams
● Damarri Mathis

Sleepers:
● Jaylen Watson Washington St.
● Decobie Durant South Carolina St.
● Jermaine Waller Virginia Tech
● Darrell Baker Southern

Derek Stingley: Taking durability concerns out of the
conversation here (which I know is a hard thing to
do), I believe Stingley is the best corner in this class.
His combination patience, fluidity, technical
refinement, and effortlessly long speed is almost a
dead ringer for Darrelle Revis. As long as he is
actually on the field and healthy, I think he is a Pro
Bowl level corner from the moment he takes his first
snap. Nobody else made covering SEC receivers
every week look “easy” like he did - not even great
players like Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain last
year.
Ahmad Gardner: "Sauce" is a complete CB that has
played at an insanely high level (didn't allow a TD in
his last 2 seasons at Cincinnati). Has tremendous
length and confidence. That confidence is born from
knowing he can stop almost anything that the
receiver across from him can throw at him. One of
the few true physical press corners in this draft, he
erased what seemed like roughly 60% of the routes
he faced within the first 2 seconds just using his jam.
If a receiver survived off the line, Gardner never got

Sauce Gardner: Gardner is a very easy prospect to
like. He’s long, he’s physical, his hands and feet are
refined, and he’s extremely confident and
comfortable in press coverage; plus, he doesn’t fall
for quarterbacks trying to look him off in zone, either.
Stingley is a better physical talent, but in terms of
durability, production, and stability, I could absolutely
see a scenario where Sauce is the first CB off the
board. Quite frankly, he just doesn’t have any glaring
negatives to him at all. Solid player through and
through.
Andrew Booth Jr.: Booth is my darkhorse pick for
New England at 21st overall if they do indeed want to and has seen the field very little (total of 12 games
go with a defensive asset rather than offense. As a
super explosive press and press-bail corner, he
would fit exactly what any man-heavy defense like
the Patriots would want in their new CB1. He can
mirror releases off the line with ease since he’s so
patient and confident in his speed, and once he’s in
phase his raw length and vertical explosiveness is
extremely hard to throw against. Once he’s got you - their minds. Talent-wise he's in my top tier with
you’re done. His feet and hips aren’t as fluid as
Stingley so he likely will go lower because I don’t
trust him yet in off coverage, but he should still be an skills. I want him to: from a technical standpoint he is
excellent value somewhere in the middle of the first
round.
Kyler Gordon: Gordon is a super intriguing corner
prospect that I think has a shot of going somewhere
late in the first round if a team feels a run at corner
coming and they want to get ahead of it. Gordon isn’t
quite as long or as fast as some others, but his hips,
feet, and short area acceleration are all top notch
and he plays with the competitiveness and
toughness that coaches want in their boundary
corners. I would love to see him go somewhere like
Green Bay and learn from Jaire Alexander, who
plays a very similar style as a smaller, but still feisty
and fluid outside corner.
Roger McCreary: I love Roger McCreary and I don’t
care who knows it. Sure, he’s not big, he’s not long,
and he is an average at best athlete…but find me
another corner in this class other than Stingley and
Sauce is who just this downright STICKY. Receivers
just can’t get away from him! Every step is perfect,
every jab and punch is pinpoint accurate, and he
doesn’t get fooled by all the dirty tricks that receivers
like to pull at the top of a route. He is almost always
in phase despite his physical limitations, and at the
end of the day I think the tape speaks for itself. He
won’t go in the first round, but I would be shocked if
he fell out of round two. His tape is just too polished
out of their hip pocket. If the Qb still decided to throw
it (they often didn't) a PBU was about the best result
they could hope for. Often it was an INT. If Suce
continues to develop and hone his craft his ceiling is
somewhere near prime Darrelle Revis - and that is
the top QB in the draft.
Derek Stingley Jr.: Stingley recorded one of the
most impressive seasons by a college CB ever when
he was a freshman at LSU. He was the best CB in
the country that year and basically unbeatable. Since
that fabled beginning he 's been hobbled by injury
over the past 2 seasons). He's looking fully healed
from the foot surgery he had and that has GM's
excited. If they can get the 2019 version of Stingley
back on the field he can be a lockdown CB for the
foreseeable future - he's that good. But the
availability question has to be weighing heavily on
Sauce, but I put him second as he has to be on the
field to show off those insanely smooth coverage
the best coverage player in this draft.
Andrew Booth Jr.: Athletic, acrobatic, physical, and
aggressive - Booth Jr. projects to be a strong starting
CB in the NFL. Never one to back down from a
challenge he has a highlight tape full of mind-blowing
plays vs. great receivers, but occasionally ("rarely" is
probably more fair) that gambling aggression and
confidence in his ability gets him to overcommit and
a receiver will have a highlight against him. Despite
those occasional lapses, the good far outweighs the
bad, and I'd expect Booth Jr. to go off the board early
and to be a successful NFL starter as a rookie.
Jalen Pitre: Many analysts have Pitre listed as a
safety. While he did play all over Baylor's secondary,
the overwhelming number of his snaps were taken
lined up in the slot - which in my mind makes him a
CB... and a damn good one. Here is Pitre's alignment
breakdown:
● Box — 425
● Slot — 1,273
● Deep — 16
Pitre is an explovie player near the line of
scrimmage. Equally fearsome against runs, short
for him to slip any further than that, in my opinion.
Kaiir Elam: Elam is a classic Florida corner that has
size, long speed, and fluid hips…but needs a ton of
technical refinement before he can start, and who
needs to be taught how to tackle. I love him as a
project player for a good DB coach because he does
have a ton of talent, and his instinct for playing the
ball at the catch point is top notch, but he REALLY
struggles with mirroring releases and sliding into
phase against top tier route runners, and his tackling
ability is virtually non-existent right now. He might
start in 2023, but for 2022 at least he should be a
backup.
Damarri Mathis: This is probably the highest ranking mix it up at the catch point - McCreary is a PBU
you’ll see for Damarri Mathis anywhere, but I really
believe in him as a top tier nickel corner. He does
have a bit more size than many other nickels so I
think he can stand up physically to some big slots
like Michael Pittman, Kyle Pitts, etc…and with that
size also comes his awesome ability as a run
defender/tackler in space. So many defenses these
days rely on their nickel DBs to be involved in run
defense and as pass rushers, so having that ability is That means he's a starter - Nickel is the defense
imperative - it’s more like a third safety than a third NFL teams play most in the modern NFL; so teams
corner, to be honest. Mathis I think brings that kind of
toughness and aggression that’s needed, while also
being a top shelf athlete with great size. He’ll be a
day two pick, I bet.
passes, or completely easing anybody who comes
near the slot: Pitre can affect the game on nearly
every play. He plays with an electric first step that
has him by blockers and in ballcarrier's faces
before they can react. I love the way he plays and
think his new team will love both the skills and
leadership he brings to their defense.
Roger McCreary: McCreary is THE player in this
draft that doesn't look like he should be able to
perform his role, but absolutely does. McCreary is
sooo sticky; he's always in his assigned target's hip
pocket. Fast, physical, and completely unafraid to
machine. With tons of reps against a who's who of
SEC receivers over the last couple of years,
McCrearys is a seasoned CB who has seen a wide
variety of moves and learned to counter most of
them very effectively. His size means he's almost
certainly a slot CB in the NFL. The good news?
drafting him can rest easy that they'll get their
"money's" worth out of using a high draft choice on
him.
Kyler Gordon: This might be the first CB that
ruffles people's feathers with his inclusion in the
top 7... but I don't care. I am fully sold on Gordon's
ability to be a starting NFL CB at a very high level
very quickly. His tape at Washington was full of
highlight plays that showed off his unreal balance
and ability to move and twist in ways that many
football players simply can't. Those abilities stem
from his participation in competitive dancing and
Kung-Fu as a youngster. That fluidity, and a
ridiculously quick click-and-close ability means that
he makes a lot of plays on the ball at the catch point.
What he's still working on is fully diagnosing and
anticipating the full route tree from receivers. Once
he gets that dialed in? He could be one of the best
corners from this class.
Marcus Jones: Jones is an absolute dog at CB -
tenacious and tough. He's undersized but Houston
played him outside and he never backed down. He
won way more than he lost. He'll need that
toughness when he moves inside in the NFL and it
will serve him well as he contributes vs. the run in his
nickel role (a necessity in most NFL schemes).
Incredibly quick and shifty, Jones also brings huge
value to your special teams units as he was one of
the most decorated and successful returners in all of
CFB: 4th best punt return average in CFB and 2 PR
TD's, also had 2 KR TD's.

Martin Emerson: One of the more underrated CB's

in this draft, I just couldn't leave him off my list. He
has excellent size (6'2"/201) and very good tape
resume' vs. all of the top receivers in the SEC.
Crafty with his sets, hand usage, and varying both -
he'll give receivers fits in multiple matchup's
throughout a season. Not blazing fast, but he uses
his tall/long frame to his advantage down the field
and is rarely out of the play because of it. I love his
game and think we will outplay his draft spot
quickly.