{"id":618972,"date":"2026-04-20T10:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618972\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T10:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:28:10","slug":"6-cornerback-fits-for-the-patriots-in-the-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618972\/","title":{"rendered":"6 cornerback fits for the Patriots in the NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NFL Draft is less than 10 days away as the New England Patriots<\/a> continue the process of finishing their board. Things will look quite different for the team this draft picking 31st overall after back-to-back years selecting in the top-five. Cornerback is not expected to be a major need as New England<\/a> returns their top starters, but they could look to add late-round depth even though Eliot Wolf noted the secondary is not a strength of this class.<\/p>\n

So, with that said, let\u2019s take a look at some of the prospects that might make sense for the Patriots at the position.<\/p>\n

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Patriots\u2019 current cornerback situation<\/p>\n

Christian Gonzalez<\/a> remains without a long-term extension as of today, but the star 24-year-old corner is still under contract and will be leading the Patriots secondary next season. Gonzalez will team back up with Carlton Davis<\/a> and Marcus Jones<\/a>, a talented trio who New England leaned on in their run to the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

The depth behind the top three remains a larger question. After being claimed on waivers after roster cutdown day last summer,\u00a0Charles Woods<\/a>\u00a0worked his way into the rotation as the third boundary cornerback and a key special teamer. Woods held his own when called upon for injury relief and currently projects as the team\u2019s fourth cornerback<\/p>\n

Mr. Irrelevant\u00a0Kobee Minor<\/a>\u00a0and 2024 sixth-round pick\u00a0Marcellas Dial Jr., who missed all of last year with a torn ACL, will factor into the depth equation, while the Patriots signed Kindle Vildor<\/a> in free agency. Brandon Crossley also remains on the roster and being on-and-off the practice squad in his rookie year.<\/p>\n

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Patriots NFL Draft fits at cornerback<\/p>\n

Daylen Everette (Georgia): A former five-star recruit and three-year starter for the Bulldogs, Everette has the size and speed teams look for in a perimeter cornerback. He needs to play up to his 4.38 speed more and cut down on coverage busts, but Everette can provide immediate depth as a rookie with potential for more. | Consensus ranking: 108<\/p>\n

Charles Demmings (Stephen F. Austin): An impressive boundary cornerback at SFA, \u201cChuck\u201d Demmings was extremely productive over the four years he started recording 35 pass breakups and nine interceptions \u2014 while proving to be a top competitor which shows with his physicality. He pairs his strong tape with the height, length, and athletic profile to make him an developmental corner worth betting on. | Consensus ranking: 157<\/p>\n

T.J. Hall (Iowa): Hall proved to be a physical cornerback for the Hawkeyes especially coming downhill in the run game and as a tackler. His best work is done in zone coverage as he can be beaten downfield in man which leads to him then getting grabby at times. | Consensus ranking: 170<\/p>\n

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Thaddeus Dixon<\/a> (UNC): A physical, outside cornerback coached by Bill Belichick last season (and Steve Belichick at Washington<\/a> the year prior), Dixon can stick in man coverage and recorded 24 pass breakups over the last three seasons. He only managed two interceptions and will need to improve his tackling, while he also missed half of last season with an injury \u2014 but was impressive at the Senior Bowl. | Consensus ranking: 199<\/p>\n

Devon Marshall (NC State): Growing up in Massachusetts and attending Catholic Memorial, Marshall was present for the Patriots Local Pro Day this offseason. While he is on the smaller side for an outside cornerback and is an average athlete, Marshall still led the FBS in pass breakups last season and proved reliable in coverage and in run support. | Consensus ranking: 216<\/p>\n

Andre Fuller (Toledo): After Quinyon Mitchell<\/a> was a first-round pick in 2024, the Rockets are now set to see safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and cornerback Avery Smith, and Fuller reach the NFL. While Smith played the inside role, Fuller was a physical boundary cornerback who proved the ability to hold up in man\/match coverages. He\u2019ll be a 24-year-old as a sixth-year senior but has enticing tools and truly played cornerback for just one season after starting as a safety. | Consensus ranking: 226<\/p>\n

If the Patriots do dip into the cornerback market earlier than expected, Keith Abney II (Arizona State), Devin Moore (Florida), and Davison Igbinosun<\/a> (Ohio State) are candidates. Other depth options include Jadon Canady (Oregon), Tacario Davis<\/a> (Washington), Ephesians Prysock<\/a> (Washington), and Karon Prunty (Wake Forest).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is less than 10 days away as the New England Patriots continue the process…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,119569,300175,19364,242937,300177,241710,287234,1215,232732,300176,300178,127969,5384,1231,593,718,84553,85,257684,298879,3601],"class_list":{"0":"post-618972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-carlton-davis","11":"tag-charles-woods","12":"tag-christian-gonzalez","13":"tag-cornerback","14":"tag-davison-igbinosun","15":"tag-daylen-everette","16":"tag-ephesians-prysock","17":"tag-georgia-bulldogs","18":"tag-icon-sportswire","19":"tag-kindle-vildor","20":"tag-kobee-minor","21":"tag-marcus-jones","22":"tag-new-england","23":"tag-new-england-patriots","24":"tag-nfl","25":"tag-ole-miss-rebels","26":"tag-quinyon-mitchell","27":"tag-sports","28":"tag-tacario-davis","29":"tag-thaddeus-dixon","30":"tag-washington"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}