As we transition to the 2025 NFL Draft cycle, who are the preliminary top-10 cornerback prospects in the upcoming class?
The 2024 CB class was strong and had quality depth, but there’s reason to believe the 2025 cornerbacks could be even better.
Way-Too-Early Top 10 CB Prospects in 2025 NFL Draft
The 2024 NFL Draft had 15 players who could be classified as cornerbacks go within the top 100 picks.
Quinyon Mitchell, Terrion Arnold, and Nate Wiggins all broke into Round 1, while quality prospects like Kool-Aid McKinstry, Max Melton, and Cooper DeJean dotted Day 2.
The 2024 class was strong — both with its top-end talent and depth — but the 2025 class could be gearing up to be truly special. Already, a couple of potential blue-chip prospects stand out at the top, and there are droves of talent beyond that range.
10) Terrance Brooks, Illinois
At 6’0″, 205 pounds, Terrance Brooks is a former highly touted recruit and an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer with the Texas Longhorns in 2023. Now, he’s transferred to Illinois, where he’ll aim to strengthen his NFL stock even more.
At his size, Brooks brings an impressive blend of sink, speed, and physicality. He has actionable ball skills — as evidenced by his three interceptions and six pass deflections in 2023. Playing in the loaded Big Ten as a lead cornerback will be his next test.
9) Daylen Everette, Georgia
Over the past few cycles, Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs have proven their mettle when it comes to producing NFL-caliber defensive backs. Kelee Ringo went to the Eagles in 2023, and in 2024, Tykee Smith and Kamari Lassiter both went on Day 2.
In the 2025 NFL Draft cycle, Daylen Everette could be the next man up. At 6’1″, 190 pounds, Everette has the length and lean mass that teams crave, and he’s a visibly fluid and free-flowing athlete in side-saddle.
Another year could sharpen his man coverage skills.
8) Ephesians Prysock, Washington
The Arizona Wildcats quietly had an alien CB combination in 2023. You’ll see Tacario Davis later on this list, and on the other side of the field, Ephesians Prysock was an imposing figure at 6’4″, 190 pounds.
Now, Prysock has transferred to Washington, where he could thrive.
Prysock has uncanny movement skills and is surprisingly low-cut at his size, with the fluidity and snappy direction changes to mirror wide receivers three inches shorter.
Efficiency on matching and overall technique can be an issue at times, but all the talent is there with Prysock.
7) Tacario Davis, Arizona
Prysock has Tacario Davis beat in some categories as a prospect, but there’s no disputing Davis’ sheer range as a playmaker on the boundary. When he’s in side-saddle, with his speed and length at 6’4″, Davis can erase receivers like the sun during a total eclipse.
In 2023, Davis led his team with 15 pass deflections, routinely dissuading quarterbacks from testing him again. He has the raw talent and playmaking ability to challenge for early-round capital.
6) Denzel Burke, Ohio State
Denzel Burke needed to rebound after a down year in 2022, and that’s exactly what he did in 2023, racking up nine pass breakups, three tackles for loss, and his first pick since 2021.
Had Burke declared in 2024, he could’ve gone Round 1 — and that upside remains in 2025.
At around 6’1″, 193 pounds, Burke has great size and length, and his profile is made even more distinct by his blistering explosiveness heading downhill, his growing coverage variability, his WR-esque ball skills, and unhinged urgency as a support player.
5) Jordan Hancock, Ohio State
It took some time for Jordan Hancock to break into the defensive rotation and find a role with the Buckeyes. But now that he has, he’s arguably the glue of the secondary.
Hancock emerged as an indispensable talent in 2023, finding a niche as a weekly offensive headache in the slot. He could’ve declared and commanded early-round capital, but he returned to school to seek out additional team success.
At 6’1″, 195 pounds, Hancock has the requisite size, length, explosiveness, fluidity, and physicality. He flashed playmaking ability with those tools, racking up two interceptions, five pass breakups, and a pick-six in 2023.
Beyond his ball skills in coverage, Hancock is also a dynamic blitz threat.
4) Shavon Revel, East Carolina
Every cycle, there’s a lower-conference prospect who catches eyes in the summer and goes on to be an early-round pick. In the 2024 cycle, it was Toledo’s Mitchell. In 2025, it could be ECU’s Shavon Revel.
Standing around 6’2″, 188 pounds, Revel produced at an impressive clip in 2023, racking up 54 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, a sack, an interception, and 13 pass breakups.
At his size, with his length, Revel flashes uncommon sink and redirection freedom on route breaks, and he’s an explosive, rangy, and urgent competitor in all phases of the game.
3) Travis Hunter, Colorado
The Colorado football program hasn’t been immune to controversy in the offseason, but there’s nothing controversial about Travis Hunter‘s stock as a likely first-round prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft.
In a class full of playmakers, Hunter stands alone as a potentially generational turnover threat with his combined fluidity, explosiveness, and ball-tracking instincts.
At 6’1″, 185 pounds, he may need to tune up to NFL play strength and physicality. But as a natural WR, Hunter has a rare instinct for tracking and playing the ball, and he excels at using his positioning to bait quarterbacks before capitalizing on ill-fated passes.
2) Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame
Will Johnson would be the runaway CB1 to start the 2025 NFL Draft cycle if it weren’t for Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison.
Morrison erupted in 2022 with six interceptions, and in 2023, he logged a career-high 10 pass breakups while locking down his side of the field.
While Johnson thrives in zone, Morrison is the man-coverage savant of the 2025 NFL Draft class. At 6’0″, 185 pounds, he’s a charged-up short-area mover with rare corrective athleticism and burst out of transitions, and he eagerly crowds receivers at the catch point.
1) Will Johnson, Michigan
The 2025 NFL Draft cornerback class looks very strong off of initial viewings, but there’s one prospect who stands above, both with his production and profile. That CB prospect is Will Johnson, an All-American with seven interceptions and seven PBUs since 2022.
At 6’2″, 202 pounds, Johnson is best known for taking the fight right to Marvin Harrison Jr. in the 2023 season finale — but he was a lockdown cornerback all year for the Wolverines. And in 2024, he could grow to become one of the highest-rated CB prospects since 2021.
At his size, Johnson has elite athleticism and movement freedom. He compounds that athleticism and closing speed with quick reaction ability, high-level zone IQ, efficient pedal and plant technique, and aggressive ball skills. He’s the real deal.
Honorable Mentions
- Azareye’h Thomas, Florida State
- Mansoor Delane, Virginia Tech
- Jabbar Muhammad, Oregon
- Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky
- Quincy Riley, Louisville
- Davison Igbinosun, Ohio State
- Ricardo Hallman, Wisconsin
- Cobee Bryant, Kansas
- Zy Alexander, LSU
- Jason Marshall Jr., Florida
Other 2025 NFL Draft Position Rankings
Check out our other way-too-early position rankings for the 2025 NFL Draft:
- Top 10 QBs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 RBs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 WRs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 TEs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 IOL in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 OTs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 DTs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 EDGEs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 LBs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 Safeties in the 2025 NFL Draft