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PFF - Top 30 Returning College DBs
Posted on 1/17/20 at 7:56 pm
Posted on 1/17/20 at 7:56 pm
PFF - Top 30 College DBs 2020
23. CB ROGER MCCREARY, AUBURN
He has only one career start for Auburn, but Roger McCreary has certainly proved he should be starting in 2020. McCreary is the most valuable player returning to the Tigers by PFF WAA and led the team in forced incompletions. He’s proven he can go toe-to-toe with receivers in man coverage, as he did against the best returning wide receiver in college football.
He can force contested targets like a champ, but he was caught off guard in off coverage a handful of times that led to explosive plays, so there’s certainly room for improvement.
22. CB BRANDIN ECHOLS, KENTUCKY
Brandin Echols was a junior college transfer who started off at receiver and ended up a defensive back. And based on his play in his first year at Kentucky, it seems like that was a great call. The Wildcat is one of the 10 best press-man corners in college football, where he’s allowed just eight catches on his 23 targets for 99 yards. He’s a sticky corer and is difficult to beat in contested situations. On those plays, he’s allowed just six catches while forcing 12 incompletions.
18. CB KAIIR ELAM, FLORIDA
Kaiir Elam’s true freshman season was better than anyone could have imagined and has made Gator fans excited for their defense’s future with him playing outside. Elam was on the field for 310 snaps this year and had just a handful of starts. But he was consistent, keeping his missed tackle and touchdown counts to zero and allowing 10 catches on 23 targets while picking off three passes.
14. CB ERIC STOKES, GEORGIA
After redshirting his first year in 2017, Stokes came onto the scene for the Bulldogs in 2018, making an immediate impact on their defense. On his 89 targets since the start of 2018, Stokes forced an incompletion on 24.7% of them, which was the fifth-highest rate in the FBS. It’s difficult to go one-on-one with Stokes, who owns a two-year PFF grade that is the fourth best in single coverage.
8. CB PATRICK SURTAIN II, ALABAMA
Alabama will lose their star on defense in cornerback Trevon Diggs to the NFL draft, but they’ll keep one of their other stars for another season in Patrick Surtain II. He has made an immediate impact on the field since his true freshman year in 2018, tying for 10th in two-year PFF coverage grade. Surtain has been one of the better deep-ball defenders over the last couple of years, as he ranks fifth in PFF coverage grade on 20-plus yard targets and has allowed just five of 24 targets to be caught while forcing eight incompletions.
1. CB DEREK STINGLEY JR., LSU
Where to begin with 2019’s best true freshman, best defensive back overall and most valuable non-quarterback in the country. Derek Stingley Jr. was tested constantly by opposing quarterbacks (94 times to be exact), and he routinely shut down elite receivers, holding them to just a 38.3% catch rate. He forced tight coverage on over 75% of his targets — a figure that leads all Power-5 cornerbacks and is over 27 percentage points above the FBS average. On those 71 targets, he allowed just 20 to be caught, forced 20 of them to incompletions and picked off six. The term “generational talent” is thrown around loosely, but if there is any proper time to use it to describe a player in college football, it should be used next to Derek Stingley Jr.’s name.
23. CB ROGER MCCREARY, AUBURN
He has only one career start for Auburn, but Roger McCreary has certainly proved he should be starting in 2020. McCreary is the most valuable player returning to the Tigers by PFF WAA and led the team in forced incompletions. He’s proven he can go toe-to-toe with receivers in man coverage, as he did against the best returning wide receiver in college football.
He can force contested targets like a champ, but he was caught off guard in off coverage a handful of times that led to explosive plays, so there’s certainly room for improvement.
22. CB BRANDIN ECHOLS, KENTUCKY
Brandin Echols was a junior college transfer who started off at receiver and ended up a defensive back. And based on his play in his first year at Kentucky, it seems like that was a great call. The Wildcat is one of the 10 best press-man corners in college football, where he’s allowed just eight catches on his 23 targets for 99 yards. He’s a sticky corer and is difficult to beat in contested situations. On those plays, he’s allowed just six catches while forcing 12 incompletions.
18. CB KAIIR ELAM, FLORIDA
Kaiir Elam’s true freshman season was better than anyone could have imagined and has made Gator fans excited for their defense’s future with him playing outside. Elam was on the field for 310 snaps this year and had just a handful of starts. But he was consistent, keeping his missed tackle and touchdown counts to zero and allowing 10 catches on 23 targets while picking off three passes.
14. CB ERIC STOKES, GEORGIA
After redshirting his first year in 2017, Stokes came onto the scene for the Bulldogs in 2018, making an immediate impact on their defense. On his 89 targets since the start of 2018, Stokes forced an incompletion on 24.7% of them, which was the fifth-highest rate in the FBS. It’s difficult to go one-on-one with Stokes, who owns a two-year PFF grade that is the fourth best in single coverage.
8. CB PATRICK SURTAIN II, ALABAMA
Alabama will lose their star on defense in cornerback Trevon Diggs to the NFL draft, but they’ll keep one of their other stars for another season in Patrick Surtain II. He has made an immediate impact on the field since his true freshman year in 2018, tying for 10th in two-year PFF coverage grade. Surtain has been one of the better deep-ball defenders over the last couple of years, as he ranks fifth in PFF coverage grade on 20-plus yard targets and has allowed just five of 24 targets to be caught while forcing eight incompletions.
1. CB DEREK STINGLEY JR., LSU
Where to begin with 2019’s best true freshman, best defensive back overall and most valuable non-quarterback in the country. Derek Stingley Jr. was tested constantly by opposing quarterbacks (94 times to be exact), and he routinely shut down elite receivers, holding them to just a 38.3% catch rate. He forced tight coverage on over 75% of his targets — a figure that leads all Power-5 cornerbacks and is over 27 percentage points above the FBS average. On those 71 targets, he allowed just 20 to be caught, forced 20 of them to incompletions and picked off six. The term “generational talent” is thrown around loosely, but if there is any proper time to use it to describe a player in college football, it should be used next to Derek Stingley Jr.’s name.
Posted on 1/17/20 at 7:57 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
Alabama will lose their star on defense in cornerback Trevon Diggs
No
Posted on 1/17/20 at 7:57 pm to WilliamTaylor21
quote:
Dee
Not a real word
Posted on 1/17/20 at 7:59 pm to WilliamTaylor21
Lol, OSU runs laps around LSU DBs... cute though
Posted on 1/17/20 at 8:04 pm to Oswald31
quote:
Lol, OSU runs laps around LSU DBs... cute though
retard alert
Posted on 1/17/20 at 8:32 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Stingley is the best College CB I’ve ever seen. That’s no bullshite either.
Posted on 1/17/20 at 8:34 pm to CapstoneGrad06
My only real time noticing Diggs was when he was torched by Chase.
Bama fans, was he really that good or is he kind of over hyped?
Bama fans, was he really that good or is he kind of over hyped?
Posted on 1/17/20 at 8:36 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Bryce Thompson not on this list is a travesty
Posted on 1/17/20 at 8:37 pm to zzemme
quote:
My only real time noticing Diggs was when he was torched by Chase.
Bama fans, was he really that good or is he kind of over hyped?
He had a very good year other than the LSU game.
The thing with Diggs is that he is super raw as a CB. He basically moved over there from WR during 2017. Then he got hurt early in 2018 and was out for the year. So, 2019 was his first full year at CB. His athleticism made up for inexperience most of the time, but LSU exposed his raw inexperience.
My guess is NFL teams expect that will get better and he's got a lot of upside.
Posted on 1/17/20 at 10:07 pm to SummerOfGeorge
lsu will be well represented at this position again next year
Posted on 1/17/20 at 11:01 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Devonta Smith vs Stingley Round 2 is going to be an absolute must watch. SEC football y'all
This post was edited on 1/17/20 at 11:01 pm
Posted on 1/17/20 at 11:17 pm to zzemme
quote:
My only real time noticing Diggs was when he was torched by Chase.
Bama fans, was he really that good or is he kind of over hyped?
That's funny, I noticed Stingley when he was torched by Devonta Smith.
Posted on 1/17/20 at 11:22 pm to zzemme
quote:
My only real time noticing Diggs was when he was torched by Chase.
That’s a good thing for a corner. You don’t want to be noticed
This post was edited on 1/17/20 at 11:23 pm
Posted on 1/17/20 at 11:30 pm to Funky Tide 8
quote:
That's funny, I noticed Stingley when he was torched by Devonta Smith.
Van Jefferson and Pitts worked him also but he will be a great one.
Not sure why he wants to play WR some next season.
This post was edited on 1/17/20 at 11:39 pm
Posted on 1/17/20 at 11:37 pm to Funky Tide 8
Pissing all over 18 year old kids gets tiresome. All these kids are studs, but god forbid they are human in any way, we pounce on moments to create some narrative about them not being - gasp - perfect.
Posted on 1/18/20 at 12:06 am to CollegeFBRules
You're correct. All of these guys awesome.
Posted on 1/18/20 at 12:18 am to Funky Tide 8
Stingley will probably have < 3 picks next season.
No one will throw against him
He is the best freshman CB ever
No one will throw against him
He is the best freshman CB ever
This post was edited on 1/18/20 at 12:20 am
Posted on 1/18/20 at 12:24 am to Sun God
When I was reading this before I got to your post I thought he will not have six interceptions next year. Nobody is going to test that guy.
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