South Carolina football: will Jaycee Horn be a top 10 pick?
By Jacob Elsey
Could South Carolina football’s Jaycee Horn slide into the top 10?
Coming into this year’s NFL Draft season, there was no doubt that Jaycee Horn was considered to be one of the class’s top defenders. Most initial mock drafts had the cornerback falling somewhere between the 15th and 25th picks, with Horn ranking behind other defensive backs Patrick Surtain II and Caleb Farley.
Farley ended up having offseason back surgery, raising some health concerns among NFL organizations, while Horn put on a stellar performance in the Combine to see his stock rise over the last few months. Still, he was viewed as CB2, falling just a bit behind Surtain in the professional scouts’ eyes.
As draft day approaches, though, Horn is trending, skyrocketing all the way into the top 10 for a number of mock projections. There are a handful of possible destinations for the talented defender, with the most likely landing place being in Philadelphia. The Eagles hold the No. 12 pick, and could be in search of secondary help should wideouts Jaylen Waddle or DeVonta Smith not be available.
While the Eagles seem to be the most popular pick, Horn’s name has recently been tied to a couple of teams that reside in the top 10. One of those is the hometown Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers hold the No. 8 pick. They could be open to trading down, but since they’ve landed their so-called quarterback of the future in Sam Darnold, they could also stand pat and look to upgrade the secondary.
Dan Brugler of The Athletic sees this as a legitimate possibility in his final mock draft, as he pegs the South Carolina corner as being the first defensive player off the board tonight.
Another close destination comes in Michael Renner’s latest edition over at Pro Football Focus. Renner sees the Atlanta Falcons trading back to take Horn with the ninth overall selection. This prediction relies on a projected trade between the Falcons and Broncos, which is a possibility since Atlanta is not a team in need of a quarterback. The Falcons could leverage the fourth pick to attain additional late round selections, while also picking up great value at the No. 9 spot. This mock, too, sees Horn as the first defensive player off the board.
The Panthers and Falcons may be longshots, but there’s legitimate buzz surrounding the Cowboys, who hold the No. 10 pick. Rob Rang of Fox Sports and Nate Davis of USA Today both see the cornerback taking his talents to Dallas, with both believing he’ll be taken ahead of Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II. Dallas like Horn’s abilities, and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is very familiar with the South Carolina football program and former head coach Will Muschamp (Quinn was Muschamp’s DC at Florida). This is certainly not outside the realm of possibilities.
There’s obviously a lot of shuffling that will take place in tonight’s first round, and trade situations could affect (positively or negatively) where Jaycee Horn will be picked, but the path to top 10 status is visible. Should it come to fruition, he’ll become the seventh player in program history to achieve the feat.