Top 10 cornerbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft

#2 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Patrick Surtain II (Alabama)

6’1”, 205 pounds; JR

Patrick Surtain II

Once a top-ten recruit in the nation, Patrick Surtain II contributed in all 15 games his freshman year. He was even better as a starter in his second season and played like the best corner in college football as a junior.

Over 25 games in the last two years, he has recorded 17 pass-breakups and three interceptions, to go with 4.5 tackles for loss. Last season, he received unanimous All-American notice and was named the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year, on his way to winning a national title.

Surtain also presents basically ideal measurements for the position with 32 ½-inch arms and he is very physical with receivers going down the field. He almost exclusively played outside corner, even though he was asked to take on certain matchups in the slot every once in a while, and he was trusted a lot in man-coverage.

Surtain was arguably the best player at his position in 2019 for the Crimson Tide already, with second-round pick Trevon Diggs and others there and then he was the top corner in the entire nation this past season. He is very patient off the snap, while reading from the hips of the receiver up, and he forces those guys to show their release with fake jams routinely, to be able to counter, without any false steps to speak of.

He has several reps, where he perfectly stays in phase with the receiver and it’s really just about who plucks the ball out of the air. He excels at taking away space towards the sideline and minimizing the area of where the ball can be thrown to. On inside releases, Surtain is very hands-on, to stay under control and feel any secondary breaks and on in-cuts, he attaches to the receiver’s near-hip.

His tape is pretty boring to watch and he has to be bored himself, because nobody actually wants to throw his way. Against Ole Miss at the start of 2020 he gave up one dig/slant for 10 yards the entire game and they threw at him like two more times. On 555 coverage snaps and 48 targets last season, he gave up just 21 completions for 273 yards and two touchdowns, compared to his one pick.

With those long arms, Surtain is very disruptive and gets his hand in-between the mitts of receivers at the catch point. There are so many passes over the middle, where he wraps around the opponent and breaks up the pass. And it really shows against back-shoulder or jump balls, where his length and the ability to swipe through the reach of the target makes him very effective.

Surtain’s ability to turn and flip in cover-three without allowing receivers to get on top of him is excellent and when the ball goes up, he doesn’t usually try to switch to the receiver with his eyes, but rather stays in that position and tries to track it. Overall in zone coverage, he displays good awareness for targets around him and plays in-between routes.

As a flat-defender, I like the way he doesn’t commit prematurely, but at the same time is able to take care of his assignments. And once the first man leaves his area, as the safety takes that guy over, Surtain falls off the receiver and he gets underneath deep crossers.

You saw him be matched up with tight-ends due to motions and some formations, where he forces those bigger bodies to go through him and doesn’t give up much at the catch point. He did a really good job one-on-one with Florida’s Kyle Pitts on the outside, with the only catch allowed coming, when the tight-end was able to pluck in a low pass on a slant.

Like all Alabama corners, this guy wants to tackle, He wraps up guys in space consistently and he plays his role in run support. He understands where the sticks are, as plenty of receptions he actually allows end up resulting third-down stops. Surtain also got involved on some CAT blitzes, where his size doesn’t make him look he is out of place near those big guys in the middle.

As much press as Surtain has played, I would actually like to see him be more physical at the line, He is not immune to push-offs and he gets caught face-guarding too much at, which results in him grabbing an arm or something at the end of it.

What gives him the most trouble are shifty receivers, who can stem their routes outside and break underneath him, because he doesn’t have that elite short-area quickness to recover or the top-end make-up speed to break up in-stride deep balls. Therefore, he won’t be a great fit for teams that ask their corners to play any extended time of off-man coverage, because there is a little pause as he tries coming out of his transitions.

While he only surrendered two touchdowns last season, those showed his major issues. There was a go ball by Tennessee’s Josh Palmer, where he was able to run by him and then another long one to Florida’s Trevon Grimes, where Surtain was seemingly perfectly in phase along the sideline, but then couldn’t find the ball at all, When speedy receivers can stack Surtain vertically.

Weighing in at 208 pounds at the Alabama pro day, Surtain put up great numbers all-around, running a 4.42, with a 39-inch vert and a 10’11” broad jump, to go with 18 reps on the bench press.

He's not as athletically gifted as Caleb Farley or physical as Jaycee Horn. But he is by far the most technically refined corner and will probably be the best from day one. He is the most complete player at the position in this year’s class and he should be a high-quality starter from day one.