Senior Bowl Profile: Cornerback Jacob Parrish

Mobile, Ala - While every position group has had some moments to shine, one of the most consistent has been the defensive backs. Play-in and play-out, there's a strong play by a DB anytime you look, and one of the guys making some big plays is Kansas State cornerback Jacob Parrish. While he has gotten burned from time to time, he still is one of the better corners in this year's Senior Bowl class.

Jacob Parrish

Position: Cornerback

School: Kansas State

Year: Junior

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 198 lbs

40 Yard Dash Time: 4.55 (via NFL Draft Buzz)

2024 Season Stats: 50 tackles, seven PBU's, one interception

Current Draft Projection: Day 3 selection (via The Draft Network)

Career Overview

It wasn't a surprise that Parrish got into football in the first place, as Parrish told our very own Sy Ingersoll, he's been watching football for a very long time:

"It was just my dad, he had us watching NFL games when we were younger and college games," Parrish said. "It was just something I always wanted to do."

Parrish was a three-star recruit out of Olathe North High School in Kansas and committed to K-State in 2022 as a top-200 prospect. In his three seasons with the Wildcats, he was an Honorable Mention for the All-Big 12 teams in 2023 and 2024, posting solid numbers throughout his tenure. After mostly playing special teams as a freshman in 2022, he had his mini-breakout season in 2023, with four interceptions, nine passes defended, and collected 44 total tackles which was good enough for 6th on the team.

Player Comparison: Kendall Fuller

Parrish thrives much more as a zone corner, and one of the best in the NFL in that department is Dolphins corner Kendall Fuller. The size, the speed (Fuller ran a 4.5 40-yard time), and the style of play match each other pretty well. He is a very quick-twitch athlete and a strong tackler to boot, which works well when trying to read and react to plays in zone coverage. Parrish said he tries to model his game after Jaire Alexander of the Green Bay Packers, but Alexander was a much better man-to-man along with being a great zone corner. Plus, I don't know if the ceiling is as high as for Parrish compared to what Alexander was coming out of Louisville.

The Fit

Three zone coverage-heavy teams would love to have a corner like Parrish in their rotation on day one: the Los Angeles Chargers, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Per Football Insights (through week 10), the Chargers ran 81% zone coverage, the Buccaneers 82% and the Vikings 76%. All three of these teams do have some level of need at the corner and to match that with one of the best zone corners in either the late third round or the fourth round could be a match made in heaven for a team that takes a chance on Parrish.

Here's the full interview that Sy did with Parish after day one of practices here at the Senior Bowl. Be on the lookout for all our interviews, live shows, and articles to come from our week here at the Senior Bowl.