This is a great year for a team to need a cornerback because the incoming draft class is loaded with talented ones. That’s good news for the Rams, who parted ways with Jalen Ramsey in a trade with the Dolphins and also lost David Long Jr. in free agency.
Cornerback should be high up on their list of needs heading into the draft, right there with edge rusher, offensive line and safety. In Bruce Feldman’s latest mock draft for The Athletic, he projected Kansas State cornerback Julius Brents to land with the Rams at No. 36 overall.
Brents is a big, physical cornerback who weighed in at 6-foot-3 and 199 pounds at the NFL combine. He tested as one of the most explosive athletes in Indianapolis, too, jumping 11 feet, 6 inches in the broad and 41.5 inches in the vertical. He may not have the best straight-line speed, but Brents has all the tools to become a starting cornerback.
Feldman wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being a first-round pick in April, which would make this a great pick for the Rams.
It wouldn’t shock me if Brents vaults into the first round. That may not line up with a lot of other media draft chatter, but the coaches I spoke to were really impressed with him last season. He also has ideal measurables for the corner at 6 feet 3, 199 pounds with 34-inch arms to go with jaw-dropping testing numbers at the combine: an 11-6 broad jump and a 41 1/2-inch vertical. Only Smith-Njigba ran quicker shuttle times. Brents’ 40 time was more modest: 4.53. On the field in 2022, the Iowa transfer had his best season, picking off four passes and making 45 tackles for the Big 12 champions. Brents was not physical at Iowa; he really matured at K-State, over time doing something of a 180 becoming way more physical and tougher. It’s really going to pay off for him, learning what it takes to become a top player.
Feldman is tied in at the college level and for this mock draft, he talked to coaches around the country about prospects. For Brents, one coach called him “the best corner we saw” and said “he made huge improvements over the last two years.”
Given the Rams’ need for a cornerback and Brents’ potential, he would fit very well in Los Angeles’ defense.
