Charlie Campbell
One of the most impressive tapes for any draft prospect in the first half of the college football season came from Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton versus the Miami Hurricanes. The 6-foot-3, 204-pound Hampton is a huge cornerback, and that automatically raises concerns about the ability to run with speed receivers. Versus Miami, Hampton was going to be challenged by one of the fastest and most explosive players in college football, star sophomore Malachi Toney. Hampton had a great night blanketing Toney with multiple breakups and good reps in man coverage versus Toney. After that stellar performance, I reached out to team sources to see if Hampton had high first-round potential, and multiple team sources said they projected him to be a mid-to-late first-round pick.
“Hampton is a first, but has holes,” said an AFC National Scout. “Run support is not good. He’s got some long body problems. He had a heck of a game against Miami, and he’s getting buzz. But I see issues that keep him from being an early 1.”
“I like Hampton,” said an AFC director of college scouting. “First round for me, but not top 10. I like a couple other corners better. I’m not so sure that Leonard Moore isn’t the best overall player in this draft. I like [Kelley] Jones, Mississippi State, and [Ellis] Robinson, Georgia, but Hampton is up there.”
Between those four cornerbacks and maybe some others, the 2027 NFL Draft could have the makings of a strong group of cornerbacks for the first round. I have all of them going in the first round of my latest 2027 NFL Mock Draft, with Hampton in the back half of the opening round.
Walt
