My final positional rankings for the 2025 draft. This years defensive back group has been much debated. Some feel outside of a few players its not a great class. Some have even complained about a few of the guys coming off injuries. To me though the class is pretty strong overall. The depth at safety does kind of fall off after day two, but CB is pretty strong throughout.
Top Five Defensive Backs
- Travis Hunter – CB/WR – Colorado: Could this spot have gone to anyone else? of course not. Hunter is the top defensive back in the class and can and will likely also see snaps at wide receiver in the NFL. He is a freaky athlete with crazy good ball skills and eyes. He can sit back in zone all day and just read the play. His strength and play in press does need a little work, but even still he would likely be CB 1 on most teams rosters. Hunter should be the Defensive Rookie of the Year.
- Will Johnson – CB – Michigan: Will Johnson had a great first two seasons in Ann Arbor, but after some solid play early in the 2024 season he had an injury and missed the rest of the year. Johnson is another one that just has really good ball skills and his eyes for reading plays might even be better than Hunter’s. He will be healthy for the season and like Hunter could be added to almost any roster and be CB 1 right away. His long speed isn’t great, but it was always known to be an issue and he is still a top 10 player in this class. Johnson should give Hunter a run for his money for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
- Malakai Starks – S – Georgia: Starks was the consensus #1 safety coming into the season, while he didn’t have a big season and you could probably even said had a slightly down season. Starks is still safety one. He didn’t have a great combine either, but when you look at how he moved in the drills its like night and day. Starks is so skills and smooth. He could even play some slot if you need him to. He is instinctive, strong, and physical. Starks is pretty much everything you look for in a modern safety.
- Shavon Revel – CB – East Carolina: If it wern’t for Hunter Revel would be the freakiest athlete of all the corners in this class. Despite being 6’2 194 the way he moves is very impressive, he moves like a 5’9 nickel back. While he didn’t run the 40 because of the ACL tear he was expected to run in the low 4.4s. There were two questions about him coming into the 2024 season. How would he do against better competition? and can he improve his ball skills? The first one he couldn’t do much about with the ACL tear, but he did improve his ball production with two interceptions in those three games and he returned both for touchdowns. Revel should still be a high first round pick.
- Azareye’h Thomas – CB – Florida State: Thomas is likely the best press corner in this defensive back class. He has the size for it too at almost 6’2 197 with long arms. Azareye’h is still a work in progress in zone, but he did show some solid flashes of it with Florida State playing a decent amount of cover 3. His long speed is a questions though with estimations from his pro-day being anywhere for 4.55-4.6, the lack of speed does show up on film. With Thomas though he moves really well for a guy that is almost 6’2. Somewhat like Revel he moves like someone that’s four inches shorter than him. His ball skills are kind of lacking, but he makes up for it but not allowing almost anything in coverage.
The Best Of The Rest: Six Thru Ten
6. Trey Amos – CB – Ole Miss: Trey Amos is a good athlete with size, length, speed and ball skills. He also has played in three different defensive systems having started out at Louisiana-Layfayette then Alabama and finally Ole Miss. He can play man and zone pretty well. He is good against the run and is a leader on the field. Amos may not have the upside of some of the other defensive backs in this class, but his floor is very high. You know you will get at least a solid starting corner out of him who will get you some takeaways. That is very valuable in the NFL.
7. Maxwell Hairston – CB – Kentucky: Hairston was a hot name coming into the 2024 season after collecting five interceptions having returned two for touchdowns. He had some stuff to iron out but was being looked as a definite first rounder. Hairston got injured early in the season and missed a big chunk. When he came back you could tell he wasn’t completely himself. He still had an interception and a touchdown in 2024. His flaws as a run defender and inconsistent tackler are still there.
Part of the issue is due to his small frame. He is 5’11 183 and was as low as 179 at the Senior Bowl. He does not have a large frame either, so its unknown how much weight he could actually put on without affecting his athleticism. With all that being said he is freaky fast and moves really well too. His upside is up there with Revel’s.
8. Xavier Watts – S – Notre Dame: Watts falls into the “He’s a Notre Dame defensive back”. Watts has decent size at just under 6’0 204 with average athletic testing (5.79 RAS without any agility testing), but if you watch him he is definitely looks more athletic on film. Watts has great vision and instincts and is able to read the play. He has been an interception machine over the last two seasons with 13 in that time. Watts will likely get drafted later than he should. Watts could clean up on the missed tackles, but that’s about it. He will come in and start for like 10 years and just be a good all around player.
9. Nick Emmanwori – S – South Carolina: Emmanwori is almost the opposite of Watts. He is a huge man at 6’3 220 and is a freak athlete having ran a 4.38 40-yard dash and killing it in the explosion drills. He didn’t do the agility drills and it was for a good reason. If you watch him on film he is not particularly quick and while his hips for his size are good, they would be considered average compared to other safeties. South Carolina kept him close to the line most of the season playing strong safety and even at times like an overhang defender. He can even play in some split field defenses. Emmanwori though is not the type of safety you want to put at free safety and ask him to play the post all game, that’s just not his skill set. He can be an impact player though if you play him in the box, a nickel backer and even as a tight end eraser.
10. Jahadae Barron – NB/S – Texas: Barron is just a good all around, versatile defensive back. He can play slot, safety and even played outside in 2024. His size and length project him to more of a nickel/safety position. He has drawn some similarities to Brian Branch and that comp makes sense. Outside of his 40 time most of his testing was average to just above average. The thing with that 40 time is that he doesn’t play to the 4.39 he ran. He is more in the 4.48-4.5 range on film. Barron though is a special skilled player in his ability to read the field and diagnose things quickly. He had a bit of a breakout this season with five interceptions. He is good enough of a run defender and tackler to stay in the slot.
Honorable Mentions
Benjamin Morrison-CB-Notre Dame, Quincy Riley-CB-Louisville, Kevin Winston-S-Penn State, Darien Porter-CB-Iowa State, Jaylen Reed-S-Penn State and Cobee Bryant-CB-Kansas
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