As I mentioned in the subtitle, Pat Surtain II has tremendous size on the outside. From my research on some of the most elite corners in the NFL over the past 15-20 years, I have found there is a pattern among them.

For this data set I’m taking the following CBs and identifying a common theme among them: Charles Woodson, Champ Bailey, Darrelle Revis, Aqib Talib, Nnamdi Asomugha, Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson, Jalen Ramsey, Stephon Gilmore, Jaycee Horn, Sauce Gardner, Christian Gonzalez, Derek Stingley Jr., and the inspiration for the article: Pat Surtain II. These are 14 of the best boundary corners in the NFL over the past 20 years.

All of these guys are or were at one point responsible for locking down opponent’s number one receiving options. Revis Island, the Legion of Boom, and No Fly Zone all exist because of one of these guys. Often times this means playing shut down man coverage 1v1 on the outside.

Anything in red is considered an outlier for this group. The only players who have multiple outliers for these measurements are Bailey, Sherman, Gilmore and Stingley. The Washington Redskins traded up to get Bailey #7 overall, who also played some receiver. The Houston Texans drafted Stingley #3 overall, and Gilmore also went inside the top 10 to Buffalo.

Of all these players, the biggest outlier is Sherman, who was a fifth-round pick. Asomugha barely snuck in the first round at #31 overall, but the other 12 corners on this list were drafted inside the top 20.

Let’s focus on the measurements that make up these elite of elite CBs and who in the 2026 NFL Draft class fits this mold.

The Prototype:
6’1 height
32” arm length
4.42 40-yard dash
1.54 10-yard split
38” vertical
10’7 broad jump
9.57 relative athletic score (RAS)

There are only a few CBs in this draft class that fit the majority of these criteria, and none of them are likely to be drafted in the first round. None of them are in any consensus top 5 at the position.

Looking at these four, none of them fit the average RAS criteria of 9.57. Outside of Sherman and Stingley - the two biggest outliers of this sample size in my opinion - Talib was the only other corner with a RAS lower than 9.60. Now let’s look at which CBs had success in man vs zone. This will give a better understanding of who can potentially lock down NFL receivers.

Each of these four prospects have their flaws in regard to this corner mold, but let’s break down what that looks like starting with Malik Muhammad from Texas. The only criteria he doesn’t fit is height which is interesting because he has a very similar overall athletic profile to Revis. Muhammad’s 9.50 RAS is the best of this group and the closest to the threshold. I have Muhammad graded as a firm Day 2 prospect - he’ll likely be in my final top 75. He allowed a passer rating of 57.0 in man coverage, fifth lowest among those with 10%+ man coverage snaps.

Charles “Chuck” Demmings is a small school corner from Stephen F. Austin with very low tackle production in college. He tested extremely well at the combine but not good enough to match the recent elites at the position. His 9.09 would rank 13th among the sample size, but he is the only player in the entire 2026 draft class that fits ALL the other six categories.

Arkansas’ Julian Neal is every draft analyst’s favorite sleeper (after his combine measurements of course). He is essentially a half second off in both 40-yard dash (4.49) and 10-yard split (1.59) from hitting every single mark. The RAS would rank lower than Talib’s, only above the two major outliers. Neal would be most interesting to me except he doesn’t do well in man coverage. He’s much better in zone coverage where he can sink, watch routes develop in front of him and drive on the football.

Former Kansas State Wildcat turned Aggie traitor, Will Lee III, is the last guy who nearly meets all the criteria. Very similarly to Neal, he meets everything except the 40-yard dash (4.52) and the 10-yard split (1.58). But only two corners on this list ran below 4.50, and he only ranks above Sherman in forty time. Lee struggles in zone coverage which makes him an intriguing mid-round option in a press man system.

My final takeaway on this subject is that there simply might not be an ELITE of the elite corner in this class. If I had to go out on a limb for a guy in this class, it wouldn’t be any of the four mentioned above. To me, Jermod McCoy from Tennessee is the ONLY player that I believe can reach this level of elite status based on size, speed, athleticism and draft capital. He has a similar profile to Woodson and Peterson, and he crushes it in man coverage. He ranked only behind his teammate in passer rating while in man coverage.

McCoy ran a 4.38 40-yard dash at his pro day coming off an ACL injury, posting a 38” vertical and 10’7” broad jump. These all meet the criteria for ELITE corners besides RAS, which isn’t available for him yet. With a sub-4.4 you can assume his 10-yard split qualified.

He is a surefire first round pick and he didn’t even play a snap in 2025. His arms are his only outlier among these categories, but his 2024 tape is some elite stuff. He has some of this best hip fluidity I can remember scouting in recent years. Twelve of the 14 players in the sample size were drafted inside the top 20, so look for McCoy’s floor to be the Dallas Cowboys 20th overall. I expect he goes inside the top 15, potentially cracking the top 10. Did I mention he won’t turn 21 until midway through the preseason?

McCoy’s athletic profile:
6’1 height
31.25” arm length
4.38 40-yard dash
38” vertical
10’7” broad jump

Some of the other top corners in the class don’t fit this mold. Mansoor Delane, many people’s CB1, only measured in with 30” arms at 6’0. He didn’t do any jump testing either.

I’m a huge fan of Avieon Terrell. I think he’s a great playmaker, but he only meets the criteria for his sub-4.4 forty time. Short arms - both less than 31” - plague Chris Johnson and Brandon Cisse, while Keith Abney II and D’Angelo Ponds fall short (pun intended) in the height category.

Tennessee’s other cornerback, Colton Hood, is a guy who is close to meeting this mold in a lot of ways but comes up just short in a few categories. The area he does excel in is man coverage. Hood allowed the lowest passer rating in man coverage of any corner in the 2026 class with 10%+ snaps. He also posted a class-high 36.4% forced incompletion/INT when targeted in man.

Daylen Everette (9.89 RAS) and Treydan Stukes (9.95 RAS) are close as well, but Everette’s arms and broad jump just miss the cut. Stukes primarily plays in the slot, so he doesn’t fit the boundary corner mold - however, he fits all other categories if you round up his 31.75” arms.

If you’re looking for one of the 2026 NFL Draft corners to become one of the best cornerbacks in the last 20 years, you may not find it. The best bet is to take a 3rd-5th round flyer on Muhammad, Demmings, Neal, or Lee if you can’t get your hands on the prize of the CB class: Jermod McCoy.

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