2025 NFL Draft prospect profile – Jacob Parrish, CB, Kansas State

Where will defenses play Parrish?

The New York Giants have already invested considerable resources into their secondary with high draft picks and significant free agent dollars. But even with a league-wide resurgence in the running game, stopping offenses from generating explosive plays through the air is still paramount.

It’s not a bad idea to keep a pipeline stocked with young, talented defensive backs to combat multiple receiver sets as well as attrition from injury or free agency.

Kansas State’s Jacob Parrish is a competitive and highly athletic cornerback who can play in a variety of schemes but might slid down draft boards thanks to some size concerns. Could that make him an attractive value for a team like the Giants?

Prospect: Jacob Parrish (10)
Games Watched: vs. Arizona (2024), vs. Colorado (2024), vs. Arizona State (2024)

Measurables

Kent Lee Platte | RAS.football

Strengths

Best traits

• Athleticism
• Scheme diversity
• Competitive Toughness

Jacob Parrish is a springy, athletic, Jack Russell terrier of a cornerback.

Parrish is both quick and agile while also having good explosiveness and burst. He’s a versatile corner who played out of man and zone schemes, as well as executed pattern matching principles. He has good recognition and understands offensive route concepts, allowing him to smoothly pick up and pass off receivers when in zone coverage, as well as avoid schemed traffic in man coverage. That also allowed him to smoothly rotate coverage to help disguise blitz packages.

He has solid positional diversity and played both outside corner and slot corner in Kansas State’s defense. He was also asked to play sides as well as travel with receivers, depending on the play call.

Parrish is quick and agile enough to stay in phase with most receivers, as well as fast enough to carry almost any receiver vertically down the field. He’s physical and competitive at the catch point, coming up with 16 passes defensed over the past two seasons.

Finally, Parrish is a willing run defender who doesn’t shy away from setting a firm edge when taking blockers or laying hits when the ball comes his way. He gives good effort in pursuit and combines his plus athleticism with smart angles to make tackles and limit gains on the ground.

Weaknesses

Worst traits

• Size
• Lower body stiffness (slight)

Parrish’s greatest weakness is his stature. He’s a densely built defender at 5-foot 9 ¾ inches, 190 pounds, and while that isn’t light for a corner, he is short. He has relatively long arms for his height at 31 inches (well, 30 ⅞ inches), and that does help mitigate concerns about his overall length.

However, he can still have problems against bigger receivers, both in coverage and as a run defender. Parrish is often in good position, but particularly tall receivers will have the option of out-rebounding him. He can try to play their hands or the ball on the way down, but his options are limited without risking pass interference. As a run defender, Parrish offers good play strength and effort, but he can struggle to get off blocks if the receiver uses good technique and is able to gain control.

He also has a relatively limited tackle radius, which can force him to resort to shoulder checks to try and get ball carriers on the ground.

Parrish can also show some slight stiffness in his ankles and hips. He has good change of direction skills, but can allow a bit more separation out of breaks than truly oily-hipped corners.

Game Tape

(Parrish is the Kansas State cornerback wearing number 10, with white gloves and no sleeves on his arms or legs.)

Projection

Jacob Parrish projects as a starting caliber cornerback at the NFL level, though his exact role and whether he becomes a starter in title will depend on the situation into which he’s drafted.

Some teams could look at Parrish as an every-down corner, particularly if they use a high rate of zone or off-man coverage in their defense. Parrish processes quickly and has a great downhill burst which allows him to be disruptive at the catch point. Teams that use a more press-man focused coverage scheme might view him as more of a nickel defender or a slot corner who rotates on and off the field. Those teams tend to have stricter size thresholds, and they could be concerned that Parrish will be bullied by bigger receivers or not be a factor in run defense.

So while Parrish might come in under some teams’ thresholds for cornerback length, he has the skill set to be a significant contributor on Sundays.

Does he fit the Giants?
Yes

Final Word: A late Day 2 value, possible Day 3 pick