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The 2025 NFL Draft class is a strange one for defensive backs, where just about no one at the top of the position group can be locked into one role for various reasons, and where teams like the Tennessee Titans might have to bet more on talent than baseline expectations.
The Titans own eight picks in this month's draft, including the No. 1 pick in the first round. There's an outside chance a defensive back could go No. 1 for the first time ever, but even that's a low percentage likelihood connected to a very unique case. Still, teams in need of cornerbacks and safeties can find value later in the first round and throughout the middle rounds of the draft.
Here are The Tennessean's rankings for the top 10 defensive backs who the Titans could benefit from adding in the 2025 NFL Draft.
DRAFT HISTORY: Want to know why 2025 NFL Draft means so much for Tennessee Titans? Start at the beginning
Countless debates about whether Hunter is a better receiver or cornerback have led to the obvious conclusion: It doesn't really matter because he's very good at both jobs. Hunter might be better suited as a zone coverage specialist than a true lockdown defender, but he's going to make plays coverage that few others can because of his instincts and ball skills.
WHERE'S HUNTER GOING? NFL mock draft 2025: Is Shedeur Sanders falling? How many QBs after Cam Ward in Round 1?
Sure, there are some concerns with Johnson coming back from a lingering injury that limited him in 2024. But the tape Johnson puts together when he's fully healthy is well worth the investment of an early first-round pick. He's smooth, and the kind of cover corner who can take away an offense's best weapon for an afternoon.
Starks falls in the "don't overthink this" camp of prospects. He looked like a first round pick as a freshman at Georgia and never really got worse. You can quibble about whether he ever got better, but there's nothing wrong with drafting a pro-ready prospect.
Barron probably fits best in the nickel as a pro, but he was a darn good corner on the perimeter for Texas' stifling defense a year ago. He's athletic, has good ball skills and even has a knack for making tackles in the backfield despite not being the biggest corner in the class.
Emmanwori has linebacker size and, in a way, linebacker tape. The Gamecocks used him everywhere from free and strong safety to slot corner to inside linebacker, allowing him to flash his skills all across the field. Emmanwori vaulted up boards with a dazzling performance at the combine, and if a team can find a place for Emmanwori to get comfortable, he could emerge as a true three-down playmaker on defense.
Morrison missed a lot of time with injuries in 2024, so a lot of his tape is based on freshman and sophomore seasons. The good news for Morrison, though, is his freshman and sophomore tape is pretty great. Morrison's got to get healthy, but he's coming into the NFL with more than twice as many interceptions as touchdowns allowed in college, and he held opposing receivers to below 50% completion in each of his three seasons.
Revel's another player coming off injury, and one with less of a track record than Morrison at that. But what Revel does have is the build teams fall in love with. At 6-foot-2 with an even bigger wingspan, Revel's measurables are next level, and he matched that with impressive production with the ball in the air during his breakout 2023 campaign.
Hairston's 40-yard dash time got him a lot of attention in February, but his stock hasn't really cooled off since. Hairston's yet another player who missed time to injury last season, and it's not as if he was in the middle of an All-America campaign before or after. But he's another who can navigate with the ball in the air and make the plays in front of him.
Watts was almost certainly Notre Dame's most valuable defender up to and through last season's title chase. He's a safety who makes big plays in coverage and also has the size and physicality to fill against the run. He's another one with the versatility to play safety or in the slot, but he's probably best suited to the safety role as a pro.
There's a lot less ambiguity to Amos' game. He almost never lined up in the slot last year at Ole Miss, and has the length and ball skills to justify a role on the perimeter. He's a willing tackler too, something that could help set him apart and create value in this gaggle of second or third round prospects.
KEEP READING: How the heck was Cam Ward a zero-star recruit? Inside NFL draft star's frustrating story
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ranking top 10 NFL draft DBs, from Travis Hunter to Nick Emmanwori, more
Continue reading...
The Titans own eight picks in this month's draft, including the No. 1 pick in the first round. There's an outside chance a defensive back could go No. 1 for the first time ever, but even that's a low percentage likelihood connected to a very unique case. Still, teams in need of cornerbacks and safeties can find value later in the first round and throughout the middle rounds of the draft.
Here are The Tennessean's rankings for the top 10 defensive backs who the Titans could benefit from adding in the 2025 NFL Draft.
DRAFT HISTORY: Want to know why 2025 NFL Draft means so much for Tennessee Titans? Start at the beginning
2025 NFL draft DB rankings: Best players available
1. Travis Hunter (Colorado)
Countless debates about whether Hunter is a better receiver or cornerback have led to the obvious conclusion: It doesn't really matter because he's very good at both jobs. Hunter might be better suited as a zone coverage specialist than a true lockdown defender, but he's going to make plays coverage that few others can because of his instincts and ball skills.
WHERE'S HUNTER GOING? NFL mock draft 2025: Is Shedeur Sanders falling? How many QBs after Cam Ward in Round 1?
2. Will Johnson (Michigan)
Sure, there are some concerns with Johnson coming back from a lingering injury that limited him in 2024. But the tape Johnson puts together when he's fully healthy is well worth the investment of an early first-round pick. He's smooth, and the kind of cover corner who can take away an offense's best weapon for an afternoon.
3. Malaki Starks (Georgia)
Starks falls in the "don't overthink this" camp of prospects. He looked like a first round pick as a freshman at Georgia and never really got worse. You can quibble about whether he ever got better, but there's nothing wrong with drafting a pro-ready prospect.
4. Jahdae Barron (Texas)
Barron probably fits best in the nickel as a pro, but he was a darn good corner on the perimeter for Texas' stifling defense a year ago. He's athletic, has good ball skills and even has a knack for making tackles in the backfield despite not being the biggest corner in the class.
5. Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina)
Emmanwori has linebacker size and, in a way, linebacker tape. The Gamecocks used him everywhere from free and strong safety to slot corner to inside linebacker, allowing him to flash his skills all across the field. Emmanwori vaulted up boards with a dazzling performance at the combine, and if a team can find a place for Emmanwori to get comfortable, he could emerge as a true three-down playmaker on defense.
6. Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame)
Morrison missed a lot of time with injuries in 2024, so a lot of his tape is based on freshman and sophomore seasons. The good news for Morrison, though, is his freshman and sophomore tape is pretty great. Morrison's got to get healthy, but he's coming into the NFL with more than twice as many interceptions as touchdowns allowed in college, and he held opposing receivers to below 50% completion in each of his three seasons.
7. Shavon Revel Jr. (East Carolina)
Revel's another player coming off injury, and one with less of a track record than Morrison at that. But what Revel does have is the build teams fall in love with. At 6-foot-2 with an even bigger wingspan, Revel's measurables are next level, and he matched that with impressive production with the ball in the air during his breakout 2023 campaign.
8. Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky)
Hairston's 40-yard dash time got him a lot of attention in February, but his stock hasn't really cooled off since. Hairston's yet another player who missed time to injury last season, and it's not as if he was in the middle of an All-America campaign before or after. But he's another who can navigate with the ball in the air and make the plays in front of him.
9. Xavier Watts (Notre Dame)
Watts was almost certainly Notre Dame's most valuable defender up to and through last season's title chase. He's a safety who makes big plays in coverage and also has the size and physicality to fill against the run. He's another one with the versatility to play safety or in the slot, but he's probably best suited to the safety role as a pro.
10. Trey Amos (Ole Miss)
There's a lot less ambiguity to Amos' game. He almost never lined up in the slot last year at Ole Miss, and has the length and ball skills to justify a role on the perimeter. He's a willing tackler too, something that could help set him apart and create value in this gaggle of second or third round prospects.
KEEP READING: How the heck was Cam Ward a zero-star recruit? Inside NFL draft star's frustrating story
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ranking top 10 NFL draft DBs, from Travis Hunter to Nick Emmanwori, more
Continue reading...
