I’ve long had a feeling that we’re living through an era of NFL football without many top-end cornerbacks. I wanted to see if this was actually true, so I took a look at last year’s ‘NFL top-100’ as voted on by the players.

I appreciate it’s not a great list and often there’s a lot of arguing about who isn’t included. It feels like in this instance though it served a purpose.

Only six cornerbacks were listed in the top-100. For comparison, 10 running backs and 16 receivers were named.

Every single one of the six cornerbacks was a former first round pick and three were taken in the top-10. The average draft position of the six was #13 overall.

Not included among the six, you might be surprised to know, was Devon Witherspoon. He was PFF’s top graded cornerback for the 2025 season. He was also a top-10 pick, selected 5th overall.

Another high-profile cornerback, Sauce Garnder, also wasn’t listed in the top-100. The former #4 overall pick was traded to the Colts for two first round picks in-season.

If you add these two players to the six on the list, the average draft position drops to between 10th and 11th overall.

The point I suppose I’m making here is it’s very difficult to find obvious star cornerbacks unless you’re picking very early in the draft. There aren’t many Richard Sherman’s out there at the moment. Plus, as the passing game in the NFL has adapted, along with the rules, it’s arguably harder for cornerbacks to impact games in the same way. Is it becoming a ‘damage limitation’ rather than a ‘playmaking’ position? And is that impacting whether it deserves ‘premium’ position status?

Incidentally, in five of the last six seasons, the interceptions leader in the NFL was a safety not a corner.

As such, the Seahawks might find it challenging to find a great cornerback in this class without that high pick. So are they better off just looking for good scheme fits — whether that’s at #32, #64 or #96?

Mike Macdonald used zone coverage 77.5% of the time in 2025 as the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. Here’s a list of the highest graded zone cornerbacks in college football last season based on grading percentile:

Devon Marshall — 99%
D’Angelo Ponds — 98.1%
Jermod McCoy — 95.2%
Hezekiah Masses — 93.1%
Chris Johnson — 90.8%
Chandler Rivers — 90.1%
Avieon Terrell — 83.5%
Jadon Canady — 82.7%

And here are players with weaker grading percentiles:

Mansoor Delane — 61%
Malik Muhammad — 59.6%
Brandon Cisse — 53.2%
Keith Abney — 48.2%
Colton Hood — 47.1%

Now let’s look at passer rating when targeted in zone (the lower the number the better):

Julian Neal — 55.1
D’Angelo Ponds — 55.4
Devon Marshall — 56.0
Hezekiah Masses — 57.6
Devin Moore — 61.2
Keith Abney — 61.3
Mansoor Delane — 65.7
Chris Johnson — 66.3
Chandler Rivers — 67.2
Jadon Canady — 71.8
Avieon Terrell — 81.3
Brandon Cisse — 81.8
Malik Muhammad — 82.7
Colton Hood — 83.9
Jermod McCoy — 94.2

Finally, here’s coverage yards conceded per snap in zone:

Jadon Canady — 0.677
Avieon Terrell — 0.670
D’Angelo Ponds — 0.710
Julian Neal — 0.736
Malik Muhammad — 0.779
Chandler Rivers — 0.830
Devon Marshall — 0.647
Hezekiah Masses — 0.853
Mansoor Delane — 0.872
Keith Abney — 0.905
Brandon Cisse — 1.101
Jermod McCoy — 1.238
Chris Johnson — 1.269

Granted — this data along with a 2025 NFL top-100 list is not enough to base a full opinion on what the Seahawks should or shouldn’t do at cornerback in this draft. I think it does present an angle though.

For example, I don’t think there’s a massive gap between Chris Johnson, Colton Hood, Hezekiah Masses and Chandler Rivers. The first two players are largely expected to go in the top-45. The second two are not.

If you can acquire a player at #64 or potentially even at #96 who is both highly graded in zone coverage and has a low passer-rating when targeted in zone, is that a better use of resources than spending #32 on, say, Chris Johnson? Yes, unless of course you think Johnson is a vastly superior talent.

It’s all food for thought when you consider there could be alternative positions, for example running back, EDGE or offensive line, where there’s going to be a more significant talent gap the longer you wait to address each position.

Making the most of a draft class is in part understanding the various ‘shelves’ or talent tiers and acting accordingly. There’s a very reasonable chance the Seahawks take a cornerback with their top pick. I think there’s also a compelling argument to be made for waiting, addressing something else first and using the cornerback depth to your advantage.

It was also interesting to hear John Schneider say they’ve been trying to sign Noah Igbinoghene for a couple of years, before adding him recently. It perhaps speaks to their belief that they can coach up the former first round pick, hedging against the draft if they do want to wait on the position. They successfully turned around Josh Jobe’s career. Perhaps they can do the same for Igbinoghene? He’s only 26 after all.

You want to make sure you come out of this draft with a corner. It’s a decent group. It just doesn’t necessarily have to be your top priority in part because of the depth.

I’d also keep an eye on Jadon Canady. I really liked his tape. He was a slot cornerback at Oregon but as with Coby Bryant, could he transition to play some safety?

Here are my scouting notes on Canady:

Quality slot cornerback prospect. He’s 5-10, 181lbs with 30 inch arms. Canady shows great vision, reads the field and frequently hides in the tall grass before playing the ball.

He covers well on a mid/deep range and makes quick decisions. He has a level of field IQ which is impressive. He’s a very sharp player. His closing speed is very good. He avoided rubs in the slot and works through bodies to track his man.

Canady stalks passes into the flat. When he runs downfield he can pack a punch as a tackler. He’s very sticky in coverage and has a feisty and competitive element to his game. He regularly plays the ball. His transitions are smooth when backpedaling.

He missed only six tackles (12.2%) in 2025. At his size, in the slot, that’s impressive. He recorded two interceptions in 2025 and gave up only one TD. The longest reception he gave up in 2025 was 11 yards.

His run defense is very solid for his size. He might be able to offer versatility and play safety. His tenacity on the field suggests so, as does his awareness.

Teams only completed 17 receptions against him from 37 targets and he was only flagged twice in 2025.

He transferred from Tulane to Ole Miss to Oregon. Canady didn’t run at the combine but managed a 4.38-4.42 forty at his pro-day.