In addition to Travis Hunter, there are two other corners we think are likely to go in the top 20 — Texas’ Jahdae Barron and Michigan’s Will Johnson.
At 6-2, 194 with 30 1/8-inch arms, Johnson is the bigger of the two. His coaches at Michigan told me played at 205 last year. The defensive MVP of the national title game two seasons ago, Johnson missed the second half of last season with a foot injury. People at Michigan love how football smart he is and how well he prepares. They say he studies and sees the game like a quarterback. He has the Wolverines’ record with three pick sixes in his career.
“I like him a lot,” said DB coach No. 3. “I think he has all the makings of a really good corner. What I see on tape is a guy who you never really see a lot of top-end burst, but I think it’s good enough. He has the technique and game plan. I like his length and his intelligence.”
DB coach No. 1: “He excels as a zone corner. He’s got to improve in press. When you watch him in press, he is connected on the routes, but he needs to improve where he can finish at the point of attack and finish the plays. He allows completions even though he’s in good position. If he improves on that, he can be a premier corner.”
Barron is 5-11, 194 pounds with 29 5/8-inch arms, and faster than Johnson. He ran a 4.39 40 in Indy. (Johnson didn’t test there.) Barron’s jump numbers — a 35-inch vertical and 10-3 broad jump — were solid but not in the upper echelon of DBs. His play took a big jump forward in 2024. He won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back after making five INTs to go with 11 PBUs and 67 tackles.
“I think he’s a very specific fit,” said DB coach No. 1. “I think he’s a premier nickel in the NFL, specifically a zone nickel. If he went to San Francisco, I think he’d be elite-elite. He reminds me of Mike Sainristil but with a higher skill set. Same kind of playmaker, ball skills, zone awareness.
“I think he’s still a bit of a projection at corner. He had like 45 snaps this year at Texas in press coverage, which isn’t a large sample size. But I think he can play anywhere in the secondary, but best at nickel, which is a lot like the Cooper DeJean deal. Cooper was one of the best DBs overall in the class last year, but he slid in the draft because is someone going to invest that much in a nickel?”
