It’s just the beginning of NFL Draft season, but with that comes overall player rankings. Team needs and draft order aside, who are the best players?
An NFL Draft expert crafted his own rankings of the top 50 players in the 2025 NFL Draft — with a shockingly high ranking for several defensive backs.
NFL Draft Analyst Surprises With His Ranking of Top Cornerback and Safety Prospects
NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah released his most recent top 50 NFL Draft prospect rankings. There were some shocking evaluations, including how highly he ranked some DBs.
Texas Longhorns cornerback Jahdae Barron came in at the ninth spot on Jeremiah’s list. Barron had a strong fifth-year senior season with the Longhorns, showing a coveted ability to play in different spots defensively.
“Barron is a talented Swiss Army Knife,” Jeremiah claimed. “He aligned outside, in the slot, and in the box as a dime linebacker for the Longhorns.”
His big-play ability was on full display as well, picking off five passes to go along with 11 passes defended. Barron didn’t give up a single touchdown in coverage in 2024 and surrendered less than eight yards per reception.
Barron excels in zone coverage, seeing the quarterback’s eyes and jumping on passes. However, at only 5’11, his height can be a disadvantage—something Michigan Wolverines cornerback Will Johnson, at 6’2″, does not have to deal with.
Johnson was largely viewed as a consensus top-10 pick heading into the 2024 season before missing much of the season with a foot injury. Still, many scouts and analysts have him ranked higher than Barron.
It should also be noted that Jeremiah placed Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter at the wide receiver position in his rankings, citing his ability to further impact the game offensively at the next level. Hunter very well may have slotted higher than Barron — but still an eye-opening ranking from a prominent draft analyst.
Staying on the back end of the defense, Jeremiah is also higher on South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori than most.
He slotted the Gamecocks defensive back in the No. 21 spot, 12 spots ahead of where Georgia Bulldogs safety Malaki Starks was ranked at No. 33.
There is no questioning Emmanwori’s physical traits; at 6’3, 227 pounds, he’s as imposing of a figure at safety as there is. He showed his length and play-making ability in 2024, intercepting four passes and turning two of them into touchdowns.
Jeremiah predicts he’ll be a difference-maker “provided the team that drafts him deploys him close to the action.”
Starks is a more traditional safety at 6’1″ and 205 pounds, with the speed and ability to flip his hips and cover vertical routes from the slot position. He’s been a highly-touted player for most of his Bulldogs career — making it that much more intriguing that Jeremiah has Emannwori slotted above him.
MORE READING: 2025 NFL Draft Ultimate Top 300 Big Board
It will be interesting to see which players move in Jeremiah’s next edition of rankings as the NFL Combine and on-campus pro days take place and how these players will ultimately stack up come draft time.
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