Roger
Mccreary.
Roger
Mccreary.
Auburn· 5'11"· 190 lb· 4.50s 40
"The most technically refined press corner in the class, McCreary covered the SEC's best receivers on an island for three years, and the only thing standing between him and Round 1 was a tape measure."Pre-draft read
McCreary was Auburn's boundary corner and he played it the hard way, in press-man against SEC receivers with no safety help behind him. He mirrors releases with quick, disciplined feet, stays hip-to-hip through the stem and plays the receiver's hands rather than the ball.
He is also a willing defender in the run game, an unusual trait for a cover corner: he fights through perimeter blocks and tackles like a safety, and he blitzed effectively off the slot for a sack as a senior. The length is the whole conversation — the recovery radius is short, so a jump ball he plays perfectly can still be completed. The separator is technique, because his feet and eyes are more advanced than most corners entering the league.
Press-man defense that lets him play with his hands at the line and keeps a safety over the top on true outside matchups.
Year 1: starting outside corner in press with help, or full-time nickel. Ceiling: high-volume CB2 who erases slot receivers and tackles like a safety.
An off-zone system that asks him to play the ball from depth on 50-50 throws, where his recovery radius decides reps his technique already won.
Roger McCreary — 2021 Auburn Highlights
Senior-season press-man reel against SEC receivers, breakups and the pick-six.
Roger McCreary — 2022 NFL Draft scouting report in five plays
Technique breakdown of his release mirroring, hand timing and length limitations.
Roger McCreary — Auburn highlights, 35th overall pick
Draft-night career package covering his three years as Auburn's boundary starter.
A Mobile, Alabama native who stayed home in the SEC, McCreary spent four years at Auburn and finished as the most tested cover corner in the class. He drew the opponent's best receiver every week and did it in press coverage with no help, taking on Ja'Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith and Jameson Williams in successive seasons on a defense that asked more of its corners than most.
The senior year was a technical showcase: 49 tackles, 14 pass breakups, two interceptions and one pick-six, plus a sack from the slot, and first-team All-SEC honors from a schedule with no soft weeks. The junior season had produced three interceptions and seven tackles for loss. Then the combine complicated everything — 28 7/8-inch arms, the shortest measurement of any corner in the class, and a 4.50 forty that gave teams a second reason to ask how he would recover if he lost a step. This was the rare profile where a measurement genuinely changed the projection.
The board had him as a first-round talent on tape and a second-round pick on measurables, with rooms split between viewing him as an outside starter and projecting him to nickel. Tennessee took him at 35, three picks into the second round, betting that technique and toughness would outrun the tape measure.
- 01
Press technique
Mirrors releases with disciplined feet and stays attached through the stem, the most refined man-coverage footwork in the class.
- 02
Competition tested
Covered Ja'Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith and Jameson Williams in press with no safety help and held up in all three matchups.
- 03
Run support
Fights through perimeter blocks and tackles like a safety, an unusual willingness for a corner who plays this much man coverage.
- 04
Blitz ability
Times pressure off the slot and edge, producing a sack and seven tackles for loss across his last two seasons at Auburn.
- 05
Ball awareness
Fourteen pass breakups as a senior; he plays the receiver's hands on time even when he cannot reach the ball himself.
- 01
Arm length
At 28 7/8 inches he owns the shortest arms of any corner in the class, and the recovery radius is genuinely limited on contested throws.
- 02
Interception production
Contests constantly but converts rarely, a pattern that traces directly back to how little space he can reach into.
- 03
Long speed
A 4.50 forty means separation he gives up early is separation he cannot always take back on double moves and deep overs.
- 04
Size at the catch point
Bigger receivers can box him out on back-shoulder throws and fades where he has perfect position and no answer.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.50sp50
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Auburn | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | Auburn | 13 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| 2020 | Auburn | 10 | 45 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 2021 | Auburn | 12 | 49 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
| Career | — | 42 | 135 | 1 | 6 | 32 | 1 |
2020 and 2021 verified on the cfbstats player page and matched exactly by the Tankathon prospect ledger; cfbstats does not publish 2018 or 2019, so those two seasons come from Tankathon. Season sums match the career line.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Reliable multi-year starter who covers well, tackles willingly and produces modest takeaway numbers.
Technique-first coverage defender who becomes a plus starter inside and out despite lacking prototype measurables.
Corner who plays coverage snaps but gets targeted at the catch point and never solves the finishing problem.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Roger McCreary has played two seasons for the Tennessee Titans as a cornerback. He has been a consistent starter for the team.
McCreary started immediately and rarely came off the field. He played all 17 games as a rookie with 78 tackles and eight pass breakups, then 74 tackles and six breakups in 15 games in 2023 as Tennessee moved him inside to nickel and back out as needed. He remained a full-time piece in 2024 with 45 tackles across 15 games, then split 2025 between Tennessee, where he had 33 tackles and an interception in eight games, and the Los Angeles Rams after a midseason trade. He signed with Detroit for 2026. Four seasons produced 61 games, 234 tackles, 17 pass deflections and three interceptions.
In hindsight the tape won and the tape measure was right too. McCreary has been a durable, useful starter and a coverage defender teams keep employing, but the short arms did show up: he contests everything and finishes little, with three career interceptions across four seasons of heavy snaps. He never became the shutdown outside corner Auburn's tape suggested, and he never became a liability either. At 35 in a class where corners went earlier and did less, that is a solid return without being a hit that changed a defense.
Data note: from NY Jets