Broncos roster review: Cornerback Faion Hicks

With the 232nd pick in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos picked up Wisconsin cornerback Faion Hicks. He was projected to go undrafted, but Denver saw something in him that got them to use a late pick to secure him on their roster.

#29 Faion Hicks
Age: 23. 5’10”, 192 lbs.
College: Wisconsin

How he fits with the Broncos

Hicks was a press-man type cornerback who played almost exclusively outside. With his size and stature, he would likely need to move inside at the NFL level. He’ll project as a developmental corner, but he is clearly one that the Broncos felt is worth drafting in the seventh round.

Early on the big way Hicks can find playing time is on special teams, which is an area he didn’t get too much experience in according to Owen Riese of Bucky’s 5th Quarter:

Summary: Hicks is a big time athlete that a team will want to take a chance on as a developmental cover corner. His size will limit him for some teams to the inside, but projects best as a perimeter corner. His speed and lateral agility (both were very impressive at pro day) will draw attention from teams, but he’ll need to be a stud on special teams to justify teams keeping him around as a developmental corner.

His overall Relative Athletic Score (RAS) was above average, but his small size played a big factor in that lower score.

If he can find success inside, then that size disadvantage would become less of a liability against the smaller slot-type receivers. I would expect him to rely on his speed and become more of an inside nickel cornerback playing a lot more man.

Final word

I’m not sure what to think of Faion Hicks early on. It seems like he would need a year or two to develop to get a chance for significant playing time, which would make me think he wouldn’t be a strong candidate for the final 53-man roster.

However, they did draft Kary Vincent in the seventh round last year and ultimately kept him on the roster until trading him to the Philadelphia Eagles shortly before the trade deadline during the season. This would suggest that Hicks is likely to at least stick around as a rookie. Given he needs that time to develop, it’ll be good for him to get a longer chance to break through.