Very difficult to win a Super Bowl in the modern-day pass-happy NFL without a shutdown cornerback, and easily the top-rated cornerback in the 2020 NFL Draft – which will still be held starting April 23 but not in Las Vegas and no fans in attendance – is Ohio State's Jeff Okudah.
He almost surely will be the first defensive back off the board in the first round and most scouts rate him as the No. 4 overall player in the Class of 2020, behind teammate/defensive end Chase Young (likely No. 2 pick), LSU quarterback Joe Burrow (lock No. 1 overall pick) and Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
On the William Hill NFL odds, Okudah is given an Over-Under draft position of 4.5, with the Over priced at -137 (bet $138 to win $100) and the Under +110 (win $110 on $100 wager).
William Hill actually opened that number at 3.5, and it's surprising that it has moved. Why? Because the Detroit Lions need cornerback help – yes, they signed Desmond Trufant from Atlanta in free agency but traded No. 1 cornerback Darius Slay to Philadelphia -- and currently hold the No. 3 pick.
Then again, the Lions also really need defensive line help so they could lean that way. Or they could trade back as some team might want to jump into that spot to take Tagovailoa assuming that Burrow and Young go 1-2.
Detroit hasn't taken a defensive back in the first round since Terry Fair in 1998 at No. 20 overall. Last year, the first one off the board was safety Darnell Savage to Green Bay at No. 21 overall. The only first-round cornerback was DeAndre Baker at No. 30 overall to the New York Giants.
Last season, Okudah, a former five-star recruit of out Texas, became the fourth all-time Ohio State defensive back to be named unanimous All-American, joining Jack Tatum in 1970, Michael Doss in 2002 and Malik Hooker in 2016. Doss and Hooker were safeties. Okudah was the only true cornerback of that quartet. He also was a finalist for the Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation's top defensive back, but lost out to LSU's Grant Delpit.
One of the most recent CBS Sports mock drafts has Okudah going No. 3 to Detroit. We agree.
NFL pick: Under 3.5 as Okudah lands in Detroit.
