Carrington Valentine was ready for 'next leap' in move to enter NFL Draft

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Kentucky cornerback Carrington Valentine was a surprise early entrant into the 2023 NFL Draft. However, the former three-star recruit believes he’s ready to take the next step in his football journey.

A class of 2020 signee out of Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller, Valentine picked Kentucky over Michigan State and Pittsburgh to end his recruiting process. At Kentucky, Valentine would play in 10 games as a true freshman earning a start in the Gator Bowl to end the season.

Valentine would return as a starter at boundary cornerback as a sophomore in Kentucky’s zone-heavy scheme. The second-year player played 777 snaps recording 61 tackles and five pass breakups. However, there were some struggles as Kentucky’s pass defense slipped in 2021.

Fast forward to year three and Valentine became one of the top defensive players for the Wildcats. The junior recorded 48 tackles, 10 pass breakups, and one interception while playing 700-plus snaps again. When asked to play man coverage, Valentine showed an ability to play through contact against bigger receivers and that helped lead to more ball production.

Shortly after the regular season ended with a win over Louisville that saw Valentine log six tackles, the cornerback decided to forego his final two seasons of eligibility and enter the 2023 NFL Draft. The Ohio native was ready to make the jump.

“I felt like I wanted to guard the best people in the world. And that’s the National Football League it’s not college,” Valentine told reporters at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine on Thursday. “That’s what really pushed my effort to do it. And I’m ready. I just feel like I’m ready to go out there and show that I’m not scared of anybody. I see everybody the same and I’m going to go out there and grind.”

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Valentine flashed some of that work ethic and competitiveness in three seasons at Kentucky. Despite being one of the lowest ranked players in Kentucky’s 2020 class, the cornerback quickly found the field as a true freshman and parlayed that early success into a starting role as a sophomore. Despite some growing pains, Valentine continued to get better and became a very productive player in the SEC as a junior.

Playing in a tough league has helped speed up the development process.

“It’s the best conference in the country. It’s the closest thing I feel like that you can get to the NFL,” Valentine said. “It helped me a lot. I’ve seen some guys before, I’ve seen some dudes. Just getting that NFL talent all around really helped.”

The Kentucky product has had informal meetings with the Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals, and Houston Texans this week. The 2023 draft class is loaded at cornerback and could see as many as 5-7 cornerbacks go off the board in the first round. Valentine working hard to improve his draft stock this week in Indianapolis. The pro prospect has played in a zone-heavy scheme and got to flash more of his press man coverage potential in 2022.