Cleveland Browns Draft Profile: Eric Stokes, CB, Georgia

How would Eric Stokes fit with the Cleveland Browns?

The Cleveland Browns have a need at boundary cornerback opposite Denzel Ward, and will have plenty of options to fill it in the 2021 NFL Draft. One of those options is Georgia’s Eric Stokes, who picked off four passes last season, returning two of them for touchdowns.

Stokes saw significant playing time in each of his three seasons with the Bulldogs, but did not intercept a pass over his first two years. He showed drastic improvement in that area in 2020, picking off the aforementioned four passes and breaking up four others.

Even on passes that weren’t intended for the player he was covering, he always seemed to be around the ball.

Positives

Athleticism

Stokes surprised many by putting on a show at Georgia’s pro day. He earned a Relative Athletic Score of 9.37 out of 10.0, running a 4.31-second 40-yard dash and jumping 3.85 inches in the vertical and 128 inches in the broad. All three of those marks are excellent, and when combined with his acceptable agility testing, increased his national media stock a fair bit in the ensuing days.

On the field, Stokes doesn’t appear quite that fast or explosive, but he doesn’t seem to have any sort of athletic limitations, whether it’s running deep with speed threats, flipping his hips and transitioning, or staying with his man in the short area of the field.

Consistency

On tape, Stokes may not have the high-end flashes that other prospects show off, but there are also very few low-end reps. He’s consistently solid, if unspectacular, which is a good sign given the athletic potential that he has. There are definitely areas to his game that he can improve on, but he is a legitimately good player at the moment.

Negatives

Run support

Playing the run is not exactly Stokes’ game, and ideally he’d be more physical against both the run and the pass. This con isn’t a death sentence, as drafting a cornerback based primarily on what he does against the run is a mistake; Stokes covers well, and that’s the primary job of a corner.

Overaggressiveness

Stokes could stand to play with more discipline in coverage; he was penalized 10 times throughout his college career and with tighter officiating in the NFL, he could be a yellow flag magnet early on.

He is fast enough that he shouldn’t need to grab and hold to stay close to a receiver, so this is something that will need to be improved upon in training camp.

Press technique

Stokes is a solid 6-1 (rounding up) 194 pounds, though he looks skinnier than that on tape. He has the length (32.75-inch arms) to be extremely effective in press-man, but needs to improve his jam and footwork at the line in order to reach his potential in that area.

He has the skill set needed to play any type of coverage, but his combination of length and speed give him a press-man ceiling that a team will do all it can to pry out of him.

Draft stock

PFF mock draft simulator average draft position: 77.5

NFL Mock Draft Database average: 48

This is a very good cornerback class, and Stokes should likely be the seventh or eighth selected. He probably won’t be a first-round pick, but given the importance of the position, it is difficult to see him lasting until Cleveland’s second-round pick at No.59 overall.

A trade up from that pick or a move down from No.26 could make Stokes an interesting option, whether the Browns have added a veteran outside corner in free agency by that point or not.