Consensus board vs. draft day: the full CB class, charted.
The Steal
Parry Nickerson was ranked CB18 on the consensus board (#149 overall) but lasted until pick 179, where the New York Jets took him in Round 6. A 30-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any CB in the class. Behind him, Josh Jackson (+27) and Anthony Averett (+26) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Buffalo Bills took Taron Johnson at pick 121, 115 spots ahead of his #236 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Avonte Maddox (55 spots) and Chris Campbell (46 spots).
The Cliff
After Cornell Armstrong went at pick 209, the next CB didn't come off the board for 32 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 27 picks on CB, 9 of them in the first two rounds. That's below the position's average of 32.8 since 2018.
The Bet
The Green Bay Packers spent more draft capital on CB than any other club: picks 18 and 45, 45% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Quenton Meeks, ranked #91 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 256 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Denzel Ward | CB1 | #9 | −5 | Ohio State | Cleveland |
| 18 | Jaire Alexander | CB2 | #16 | +2 | Louisville | Green Bay |
| 30 | Mike Hughes | CB4 | #33 | −3 | UCF | Minnesota |
| 45 | Josh Jackson | CB3 | #18 | +27 | Iowa | Green Bay |
| 53 | M.J. Stewart | CB8 | #83 | −30 | North Carolina | Tampa Bay |
| 55 | Donte Jackson | CB7 | #52 | +3 | LSU | Carolina |
| 56 | Duke Dawson | CB9 | #89 | −33 | Florida | New England |
| 58 | Isaiah Oliver | CB5 | #37 | +21 | Colorado | Atlanta |
| 63 | Carlton Davis | CB6 | #42 | +21 | Auburn | Tampa Bay |
| 85 | Rashaan Gaulden | CB13 | #103 | −18 | Tennessee | Carolina |
| 99 | Isaac Yiadom | CB15 | #117 | −18 | Boston College | Denver |
| 110 | Nick Nelson | CB14 | #109 | +1 | Wisconsin | Las Vegas |
| 118 | Anthony Averett | CB11 | #92 | +26 | Alabama | Baltimore |
| 121 | Taron Johnson | CB27 | #236 | −115 | Weber State | Buffalo |
| 125 | Avonte Maddox | CB22 | #180 | −55 | Pittsburgh | Philadelphia |
| 142 | D.J. Reed | CB17 | #143 | −1 | Kansas State | San Francisco |
| 151 | Davontae Harris | CB31 | #258 | −107 | Illinois State | Cincinnati |
| 161 | Jermaine Carter | CB | — | — | Maryland | Carolina |
| 170 | Darius Phillips | CB21 | #172 | −2 | Western Michigan | Cincinnati |
| 179 | Parry Nickerson | CB18 | #149 | +30 | Tulane | NY Jets |
| 182 | Chris Campbell | CB25 | #228 | −46 | Penn State | Arizona |
| 188 | Simeon Thomas | CB | — | — | Louisiana | Cleveland |
| 189 | Kamrin Moore | CB36 | #298 | −109 | Boston College | New Orleans |
| 196 | Tremon Smith | CB | — | — | Central Arkansas | Kansas City |
| 209 | Cornell Armstrong | CB | — | — | Southern Miss | Miami |
| 241 | Greg Stroman | CB29 | #250 | −9 | Virginia Tech | Washington |
| 243 | Keion Crossen | CB | — | — | Western Carolina | New England |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Quenton Meeks | CB10 | #91 | — | Stanford | — |
| — | Holton Hill | CB12 | #96 | — | Texas | — |
| — | Tarvarus McFadden | CB16 | #130 | — | Florida State | — |
| — | Kevin Toliver | CB19 | #167 | — | LSU | — |
| — | Tony Brown | CB20 | #168 | — | Alabama | — |
| — | Levi Wallace | CB23 | #183 | — | Alabama | — |
| — | J.C. Jackson | CB24 | #202 | — | Maryland | — |
| — | Brandon Facyson | CB26 | #231 | — | Virginia Tech | — |
| — | Grant Haley | CB28 | #246 | — | Penn State | — |
| — | Danny Johnson | CB30 | #256 | — | Southern | — |
| — | Michael Joseph | CB32 | #267 | — | Dubuque | — |
| — | Chandon Sullivan | CB33 | #271 | — | Georgia State | — |
| — | Arrion Springs | CB34 | #284 | — | — | — |
| — | Darious Williams | CB35 | #290 | — | — | — |
| — | Jordan Thomas | CB37 | #299 | — | Oklahoma | — |
| — | Amari Coleman | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Andre Chachere | CB | — | — | San Jose State | — |
| — | Charvarius Ward | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Deatrick Nichols | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Devron Davis | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | D'Montre Wade | CB | — | — | Murray State | — |
| — | Emmanuel Moseley | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Heath Harding | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | JaMarcus King | CB | — | — | South Carolina | — |
| — | Kris Weatherspoon | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Malik Reaves | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Mike Ford | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Ranthony Texada | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Rashard Fant | CB | — | — | Indiana | — |
| — | Rico Gafford | CB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Ryan Carter | CB | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.