With the 2020 NFL Draft fast approaching, it is time to start finalizing draft boards. Not just for NFL teams, but for the team here at Touchdown Wire. Here is Touchdown Wire’s list of the top 25 defensive prospects in the 2020 draft class.
1. Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State
If there’s one thing NFL teams need more than anything else on defense right now, it’s the prototypical lockdown cornerback who can take an opponent’s No. 1 receiver through any route in any coverage. Of the cornerbacks in this draft class, Okudah is the one who raises no questions regarding his ability to do so. After playing 70% of his snaps in man coverage in 2018, per Sports Info Solutions, Okudah dipped down to 54% man coverage last season, upped his zone percentage and still allowed just 21 catches on 54 targets for 280 yards, three interceptions, one touchdown, and an opponent passer rating of 46.8. There may be more physically talented players in this class, but outside of the top quarterbacks, none are more positionally important.
2. Isaiah Simmons, Defense, Clemson
In his 2019 season, per Pro Football Focus, Simmons played 299 snaps in the box, 262 snaps at slot cornerback, 132 snaps at free safety and 116 snaps at defensive line. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Simmons also played 13 snaps at outside corner, to make his versatility even more impressive. Asked at the scouting combing what his position was, Simmons simply responded, “Defense.” In the modern NFL, a player who can do everything from blitzing, to taking on the run game as a linebacker, to coverage as a slot defender and safety, is of prime value as defenses move to nickel and dime defenses as their base.
3. Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State
Young has often been compared to fellow Ohio State alums Joey and Nick Bosa, and from a traits perspective, those are pretty good matches. In 2019, Young put up 16.5 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits and 31 quarterback hurries. And if you’re concerned about his getting shut out in sacks through his last three college games, a cursory look at the tape will tell you that he still had a massive effect on opposing offenses.
Chase Young this week on the three-sack drought: "Being the best defensive end isn't about sacks, it's about being the most disruptive player on the field. You can do that without having a sack… I had a lot of quarterback hits, a lot of pressures."
Yup. pic.twitter.com/aeDTsoTcgE
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) February 29, 2020
4. Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina
At 6 feet 6 and 302 pounds, Kinlaw fits the physical profile of the ideal multi-gap defensive lineman who can get nasty everywhere from over the center to outside the offensive tackles. In 2019, he raised his sack total from four in 2018 to six in his final college season, adding seven quarterback hits and 28 quarterback hurries. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kinlaw’s potential is that he’s turned himself into a wrecking machine without the benefit of advanced hand technique. Once he reaps the benefits of NFL-level coaching, he projects well as an All-Pro-level disruptor.
5. Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn
Brown’s relatively weak combine performance might debit him in the eyes of those who haven’t studied his tape. Similarly, his total of 12.5 sacks over four seasons at Auburn could push him under other defenders in your mind if you’re just box-score scouting. But when you watch Brown do his thing on the field, the perspective is entirely different. At 6-5 and 326 pounds, Brown had 10 quarterback hits and 20 quarterback hurries in 2019, adding four batted passes and two forced fumbles to his statistical arsenal. Brown is an ideal three-down defender who can stop the run as well as he can blast through double teams.
6. Xavier McKinney, DB, Alabama
Multi-positional defensive backs are all the rage in today’s NFL, and Nick Saban has been grooming them at Alabama for a while. Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Steelers was an early part of paradigm, and McKinney is ready to follow in Fitzpatrick’s footsteps. Last season, per Pro Football Focus, McKinney played 285 snaps in the box, 271 snaps at free safety and 227 snaps in the slot. The 6-1, 200-pound McKinney also played 38 snaps on the defensive line and five snaps at outside corner. Playing all those positions, he allowed an opponent passer rating of 73.6 and came away with three interceptions, as well as 21 total pressures in just 71 pass-rushing snaps. If you can’t get Isaiah Simmons in your 2020 draft because he goes too early, McKinney is more than an acceptable substitute.
7. Patrick Queen, LB, LSU
In 2019, Queen established himself as one of the linchpins of the Tigers’ championship defense after lining up for just 255 total snaps in his first two collegiate seasons. The 6-foot, 229-pound first-year starter proved to be the model of the modern linebacker when he finally got his shot, playing 780 snaps in 2019 and showing the ability to excel everywhere from the box to the slot to the occasional go at outside cornerback. More impressively for Queen’s NFL future is his ability to face up against top running backs and make stops when stops are needed. Not every light linebacker can do that, and once Queen gets the hang of the intricacies of coverage (especially zone coverage), he could be one of the NFL’s best three-down linebackers.
8. Antoine Winfield Jr., S, Minnesota
Winfield missed all but a total of eight games in his 2017 and 2018 seasons due to injuries, but he came back with a full head of steam in 2019, picking off seven passes and giving up just 11 catches on 22 targets and an opponent passer rating of 45.5. A healthy Winfield has all the athleticism and range you’d want in a deep-third safety, but what really makes him the best in this class at that particular designation is his ability to read offenses and coverages on the fly — as he detailed to me in a recent film session, he learned a lot from his father, who played cornerback for the Bills and Vikings from 1999 through 2012.