NFL Analysis
9/18/24
5 min read
2025 NFL Draft: Travis Hunter, Will Johnson Lead Star-Studded Defensive Back Class
The 2025 NFL Draft is stacked with talented defensive backs.
While quarterbacks draw most of the early headlines around next year's draft, this might be one of the best groups of incoming cornerbacks and safeties that the league has seen in years.
This follows the 2024 first round, in which only three corners were taken, and the first one wasn't off the board until the Philadelphia Eagles took Quinyon Mitchell with the 22nd pick.
Defensive backs will be taken early and often in 2025, and there are already a few names NFL fans need to know early in the pre-draft process.
>> READ MORE: Latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft
Top Defensive Backs in the 2025 NFL Draft
There isn't another defensive back drawing more attention in college football than Travis Hunter.
Hunter is doing something college football fans haven't seen in decades by playing full-time on offense and defense. He's already caught 30 passes for 342 yards and five touchdowns in three games while recording 11 total tackles, two pass breakups, and one interception at corner.
There's a big debate about where Hunter will play at the NFL level, but his elite instincts, stamina, and ball skills could make him an electric corner.
Travis Hunter undercuts it for the INT. Elite CB pic.twitter.com/ZtFiWoqC50
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) September 15, 2024
For as talented as Hunter is, Will Johnson is considered the better pure cornerback. He has a prototypical build for an outside corner at 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, along with the athletic profile and physicality to shut opponents down.
Johnson is already drawing comparisons to Denver Broncos star CB Patrick Surtain II, and for good reason. Johnson hasn't allowed a touchdown in coverage on 55 targets in the last two seasons.
Will Johnson (@Willj1228) is a star. 🤩
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) July 1, 2024
Start your week with some of the @UMichFootball DB's highlights from his first two years in Ann Arbor. ⤵️#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/bO9ytx7cFP
Other potential first-round cornerbacks to monitor include Arizona's 6-foot-4 corner Tacario Davis, the explosive and physical Benjamin Morrison out of Notre Dame, and a small-school breakout star in East Carolina's Shavon Revel.
The safety class is also loaded. Georgia's Malaki Starks headlines the group as one of the most unique defensive playmakers in the country. The former 5-star athlete was a triple-option quarterback in high school and had an elite track and field background.
Kirby Smart moved Starks to safety, where started as a true freshman in 2022. He's now a three-year starter with exceptional mental processing to diagnose what's happening in front of him and communicate with the rest of the secondary.
Starks is the ultimate chess piece, capable of attacking downhill against the run or sticking with receivers in coverage to come away with highlight interceptions like this one to start the 2024 season against Clemson.
Oh my goodness. This is why Malaki Starks is a blue chip prospect pic.twitter.com/NqkR9qS3G9
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) August 31, 2024
Kevin Winston Jr. isn't as big of a star at safety, but he's putting up legitimate film for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He's a terrific run defender who does a great job of flying downhill while staying in control to avoid whiffing on tackle attempts.
In fact, PFF has credited him with just one missed tackle in his college career, including zero missed tackles on 46 attempts in 2023.
Notre Dame has another top defensive back alongside Morrison, with Xavier Watts showcasing his skills as a ball-hawking safety. He was the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner for the nation's top defensive player in 2023 after leading college football with seven interceptions. He already has another interception in three games this season, using his instincts to read the quarterback's eyes before flying across the field.
Billy Bowman Jr. out of Oklahoma, USC's Kamari Ramsey, and a pair of Iowa safeties in Xavier Nwankpa and Sebastian Castro could all be early Day 2 safety prospects.
>> READ MORE: Initial Top 50 Big Board Rankings
How Does This Group Compare to Previous Drafts?
The NFL hasn't seen a group of defensive backs like this in at least a few years. However, there's at least one recent draft class that produced elite cornerbacks and safeties.
The 2022 NFL Draft produced some exciting shutdown corners in Sauce Gardner and Derek Stingley Jr., but there were too many disappointments in the first two rounds to highlight the class as a whole. However, the 2021 draft class is a different story.
Surtain II is one of the best overall players to come out of the 2021 draft. He's already been a two-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro on his way to becoming the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history this offseason with a four-year, $96 million extension.
Jaycee Horn has been a productive corner with five interceptions and 15 pass breakups despite playing on a disappointing Carolina Panthers team. Greg Newsome has also flashed with the Cleveland Browns, recording 34 pass breakups and two interceptions in his first three seasons.
Talanoa Hufanga looks like one of the biggest steals out of that class. A fifth-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers, he became a breakout star in 2022 with 97 tackles, nine pass breakups, four interceptions, two sacks, and two forced fumbles to earn first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.
Other emerging defensive backs from the 2021 class include Tyson Campbell, Jevon Holland, Asante Samuel Jr., Paulson Adebo, and Andre Cisco.
The only other noteworthy draft for defensive backs in the last decade came in 2018. Jaire Alexander, Derwin James, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jessie Bates III, and Carlton Davis have all established themselves as key veterans from that draft class.
Those two classes produced some absolute studs for defensive secondaries around the league. The 2025 class has a chance to do that same thing.
