Duce Chestnut Ranked as Top True Freshman Cover Corner by PFF
Syracuse freshman cornerback Duce Chestnut has been nothing short of spectacular during his first five games as a college football player. Through five games, Chestnut has 22 tackles, two interceptions and three pass breakups. Pro Football Focus, which grades based on next level analytics for every position including specific traits at each position, has ranked Chestnut as the top true freshman cover cornerback in the nation through the first five games of the 2021 season.
The ranking is not an overall grade for corners, but strictly the grade in coverage for those with at least 100 coverage snaps so far this season.
Behind Chestnut and rounding out the top five are Billy Bowman of Oklahoma, Jadon Canady of Tulane, Denzel Burke of Ohio State and Noah Avinger of San Diego State. Bowman was included in the SI99 of the 2021 recruiting class as one of the best 99 prospects in the country.
Chestnut had a phenomenal interception in Saturday's game against Florida State in which he jumped a wide receiver screen and made a diving catch despite his elbows crashing into the ground with the ball in his hands.
"The instincts were right on," head coach Dino Babers said after the game. "When you make a play like that, you have to go for it. He went for it and then the catch he made was no joke because he caught the ball and the first thing to hit the ground, unless I'm wrong, were his elbows. As a wide receiver, when you catch the ball like that your elbows will jar the ball free.
"But he stayed locked on. He had so much confidence that he stayed locked on, jumped up and then let it go. Where it was like 'there's no way you guys aren't calling this an interception.' He just took off running away. A lot of confidence. A lot of moxie. I'm telling you, the catch was a lot harder than what you guys think it was. And he made it look easy."
