20. Tennessee Titans: L’Jarius Sneed & Jarvis Brownlee
After only playing five games last year in his first year as a Titan, it’s safe to say that L’Jarius Sneed was one of the biggest offseason acquisition disappointments in the NFL in 2024. He has a chance to bounce back in 2025, however, and his reputation is good enough that we can still consider him one of the better all-around defensive backs in the NFL. Jarvis Brownlee was a gem for the Titans as a rookie, leading their defense in snaps played and breaking up nine passes with seven tackles for loss.
19. Carolina Panthers: Jaycee Horn & Mike Jackson
Even though Jaycee Horn has dealt with injury issues throughout the majority of his NFL career to this point, he’s undoubtedly one of the league’s top talents at the cornerback position and just made his first career Pro Bowl last year. The Panthers don’t have much to write home about defensively, but they paid Horn like one of the best defensive backs in history and Mike Jackson was solid for them last season, starting all 17 games and breaking up a career-high 17 passes.
18. Buffalo Bills: Christian Benford & Maxwell Hairston
The Buffalo Bills have been searching high and low for help at the cornerback position over the last handful of years, and they’ve struggled to find any staple pieces for that cornerback group. But Christian Benford is one of the better-kept secrets in the NFL with 10 passes broken up in each of the last two years as well as two forced fumbles and two interceptions each season. Maxwell Hairston is a talented first-round pick who was a pick-six machine at Kentucky. He’s a projection, but a good one for this defense.
17. New York Giants: Paulson Adebo & Deonte Banks
The New York Giants have a case as one of the most talented cornerback trios in the NFL, but you’ve got to choose two between Paulson Adebo, Deonte Banks, and Andru Phillips. And at this point, it would be an assumption no matter what, but if Adebo and Banks play the majority of snaps, they should form a great duo for the Giants. Adebo was one of the more underrated offseason acquisitions in 2024 and could be a great fit behind one of the best defensive fronts in football. If Banks doesn’t benefit from that as well, it would be a shock.