Javon Kinlaw, DI, San Francisco 49ers
After trading DeForest Buckner to the Colts for an extra first-round pick, the 49ers used that pick to take South Carolina’s Kinlaw, perhaps the most formidable interior pass-rushing talent in the 2020 draft class. Kinlaw had just 10 sacks in his last two seasons, but he also played too many snaps at nose tackle for his ability to beat guards and tackles one-on-one to be utilized as much as it should have been. Put him on a San Francisco line already stacked with talent, and watch Kinlaw become an even more impressive force.
Derrick Brown, DT, Carolina Panthers
Last season, the Panthers allowed a league-high 5.2 yards per carry, a league-high 128 first downs against the run, and a league-high 31 rushing touchdowns. Bad trends, all. That’s why Carolina took Auburn’s Derrick Brown with the seventh overall pick. In his three collegiate seasons, Brown totaled 75 run stops, and he allowed a 33% Positive Play Rate when opposing teams ran right at him in 2019. Brown can also rush the passer from multiple gaps, but he was brought into the Panthers’ defense to cure one obvious ailment. (Note: This is also why the Panthers became the first team in the common draft era to take defensive players with every pick).
C.J. Henderson, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars
It’s unknown how the Jaguars are going to compete over the next few years given the amount of talent that’s headed out the door recently, but the franchise did avail itself of a franchise cornerback in Henderson with the ninth overall pick. He’s far better in man than zone coverage, and that showed in a negative sense when Florida went to more zone in 2019 and Henderson’s efficiency fell off, but if you need a sticky defender to stay with receivers through every route, he’s your guy.
Jeff Okudah, CB, Detroit Lions
Occasionally, there’s a mixture of scheme and player in the draft that works so perfectly, it’s impossible to mess up. So, as much as Lions head coach Matt Patricia has made some questionable decisions about defensive backfield talent in recent years (we hope the Seahawks sent him a floral arrangement for the Quandre Diggs trade), the addition of Okudah to Detroit’s secondary is a slam-dunk. He’s the best and most aggressive man coverage cornerback in this class, and only the Patriots played more man coverage than did the Lions in 2019.
Isaiah Simmons, Defense, Arizona Cardinals
When asked at the scouting combine what position he plays, Clemson’s Simmons simply replied, “Defense.” Accurate, in that he lined up 116 times on the defensive line, 132 times at free safety, 262 times in the slot, and 299 times in the box last season — and he was a plus defender at every position. The Cardinals are now charged with allowing the eighth-overall pick to use that versatility at the NFL level. If that happens, Simmons could run away with the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
Chase Young, EDGE, Washington Redskins
Young should be the odds-on favorite to replace Bosa as DROY just as he became Ohio State’s primary edge terror after Bosa left the Buckeyes for the NFL. Not that Young wasn’t getting things done when Bosa was there — Young had an astonishing 75 total pressures in 470 pass-rushing snaps in 2018, and he followed that up with 56 pressures in 320 pass-rushing snaps in 2019. Had Young not been suspended two games in yet another of the NCAA’s draconian decisions, he would have separated himself still further from the pack.
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