Cornerback | Georgia | Senior
Height: 5-foot-11 | Weight: 193 pounds
College Stats
2018: Started all 13 games; recorded 40 total tackles with 2.0 tackles for loss, two interceptions and a team-best 10 pass breakups with a forced fumble and fumble recovery; consensus First-Team All-American by numerous outlets; honored as First-Team All-SEC selection by coaches and media; won Jim Thorpe Award (nation's top defensive back)
Career: Played in 51 career games with 34 starts; recorded 116 total tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, 24 pass breakups, 7 interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries; earned Second-Team All-SEC honors as a junior
View photos of Georgia CB Deandre Baker.
Profile
Summary: Baker got better and better in each of his four years at Georgia before finishing with a flourish as a senior in 2018. He worked himself into one of the nation's best cornerbacks, and is projected to be a first-round pick in April.
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote that Baker is a "pesky press corner who has proven he can thrive against man-to-man challenges in a competitive conference. Baker isn't a burner, but has good play speed and the foot quickness and pattern recognition to stay tight in his coverage. The biggest issue teams might have with Baker is determining whether or not he can give up 30-plus pounds against bigger, outside receivers and still hold up."
Baker's full scouting report on NFL.com can be found **here**.
Stacking up: Draft analyst Dane Brugler, who writes for The Athletic, listed Baker as the **third-best corner** in the draft. NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks had Baker third in his initial rankings but **dropped him a spot** after the combine. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com had Baker as the 31st overall player on his **most-recent list** of the Top 50 prospects in the 2019 NFL Draft, down seven spots from a pre-combine ranking but only one spot below where he was slotted in Jeremiah's initial list.
Breaking through: Baker became the first Georgia player in school history to win the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the nation's top defensive back.
Antoine Winfield (1998), Tyrone Carter (1999) and Terence Newman (2002) are players with ties to Minnesota who have won the award that was first presented in 1986.
