Mike Mayock Position Rankings: Draft analyst shuffles his CB order

Although media personalities who analyze the NFL Draft are often the subject of fans’ mockery, Mike Mayock of NFL Network seems to generally avoid most of the scathing criticism that befalls his competitors. Perhaps this is because Mayock compiles rankings of each position, updating them throughout the process; perhaps it is because he publishes just one mock draft each year, shortly before the NFL Draft begins.

Whatever the reason, fans seem to hold Mayock in generally higher esteem than ESPn’s Mel Kiper. Therefore, when Mayock does update his positional rankings, it is a little more notable than yet another mock draft by one of the other talking heads.

This week, his rankings got quite a makeover — particularly at the cornerback position. In his first rankings of the year, Mayock had Washington corner Sidney Jones as his top corner, a surprise given that most analysts have rated Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore at the top of the board.

Since then, the Huskies held their Pro Day, and Jones tore an Achilles tendon. Rankings shot.

With that news and the Scouting Combine now in the rear-view mirror, here is a look at his top cornerbacks as of this morning:

1. Marshon Lattimore (Ohio State)
2. Marlon Humphrey (Alabama)
3. Kevin King (Washington)
4. Gareon Conley (Ohio State)
5. Fabian Moreau (UCLA)

Three of these names are new to this list from the previous edition, as Mayock clearly values the impact of Combine workouts. King, Conley, and Moreau all put up impressive numbers in Indianapolis, especially compared to their peers. Meanwhile, Jones dropped off the list due to injury as Florida’s Teez Tabor and LSU’s Tre’Davious White fell as well, likely because of less-impressive workouts.

Note: Jones tweeted this afternoon that his surgery was successful and that he expects to play sometime during the 2017 season.

It is worth noting that the Combine performances of three of the current top 5 at the position meet a couple of the Green Bay Packers’ key cutoffs for cornerbacks, as compiled by Justis Mosqueda: height greater than 5’10-1/2”, 3-cone time less than 6.87 seconds. Those three are Humphrey, King, and Conley. Lattimore did not run the 3-cone, while Moreau was a bit slower at 6.94 seconds. However, those two will have a chance to improve their times in Pro Days this week — UCLA works out today (Tuesday), while Ohio State’s is Thursday.