Corners Could Dictate Much of Round 1

Believe it or not, there is going to be an important storyline at next week's NFL draft that won't involve Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez or offensive tackles.

Even through all the posturing and coach-speak, it's still fairly easy to pinpoint just a handful of locations where Stafford or Sanchez might wind up. You can also more or less figure out which team needs a burly lineman or linebacker upgrade, and guess where guys like Eugene Monroe, Brian Cushing or Ray Maualuga might end up.

But I dare you to find a team that doesn't need cornerback help. There aren't many out there, which is why that position's fluidity heading into New York is a large part of the reason draft boards are still so uncertain.

There may not be a single player whose stock is harder to figure out than Ohio State's Malcolm Jenkins, who has to be considered the top cornerback in the draft -- and he may not even play the position in the pros, with a shift to safety entirely possible. Even with that positional uncertainty, Jenkins finds himself in the top-five of some mocks. FanHouse's latest mock, meanwhile, landed Jenkins No. 14 overall to the Saints, while others let him linger until near the second round.

He's the poster-child for this baffling position.

Cleveland definitely needs some cornerback help, making Jenkins' appearance at No. 5 logical. Except after the Browns, you look down the board and realize that, if Cleveland passes at 5, Jacksonville might go corner at No. 8, or Green Bay could go corner at No. 9, or San Francisco could go corner at No. 10, or ...

Are ya sensing a theme here? More than half the teams with first-round selections need defensive backfield help.

Complicating matters is that the CB positional ranking itself is a mess. Sure, you could keep Jenkins on the top of the list, but what if he can't adjust his game to the NFL level and has to move to free safety? There are several other options, each with his own set of questions and answers:

- Vontae Davis, Illinois: No offense to Jenkins, but on pure talent alone, Davis is the premier cornerback in this draft. Unfortunately, he's also been hit with the dreaded "character issue" tag after a sometimes-tumultuous stay at Illinois, and imperfect pre-draft interview sessions. Is he a coachable star-in-the-making? Or is he too brash for his own good? Davis once looked like a top-10 pick himself, but now could drop all the way to Round 2, unless a team takes a gamble on him -- in which case he could jump ahead of Jenkins and nab a high pick.

- Darius Butler, Connecticut: Butler has been one of the most consistent risers up draft boards in the past couple of months. He's had good workouts and has a prototypical cornerback's body, even if he's a bit on the smaller side. Red flags? How about the fact that he didn't have a single interception last season. Yes, teams threw away from him, but that's got to be at least a bit disconcerting for NFL scouts. Still, he looks like a near-lock to creep into the first round.

- Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest: Smith was a great college player in the ACC, picking off 21 passes in his career. His big problem came at the combine and Wake Forest's Pro Day -- he ran a disappointing 4.51 40 at the combine, then didn't attempt to improve on it later. Now teams have to see if the plays he made in college translate to the NFL, or if it was a case of a decent athlete picking on lesser competition.

Any of that trio, plus Jenkins, could hear his name called within the first couple of hours next Saturday, but there's no guarantee for any of them. Factor in second-round-and-beyond talents like Utah's Sean Smith, Maryland's Kevin Barnes, Ohio State's Donald Washington, Oregon's Jairus Byrd and Vanderbilt's D.J. Moore, and teams' decision-making processes become muddled further.

Do you try and wait and nab a borderline guy later on, or use a first-round pick on one of the elite CBs? You have to assume at least one or two teams will decide on a cornerback in the first round.

The only tricky part then is figuring out which one.