Darqueze Dennard

His time in the 40-yard Dash (4.51) was the 13th best among all qualifying cornerbacks.

NFL draft analyst Mike Mayock stated that Dennard would have to run a 4.45 or lower in the 40 to be considered a top ten overall pick.

Dennard said that he was unable to complete all the combine drills due to unforeseen circumstances that limited him.

Darqueze Derrell Dennard (born October 10, 1991) is a former American football cornerback.

He was the runner-up in the 100-meter Dash at the 2010 GHSA 1A State Championships, recording a personal-best time of 10.72 seconds.

Considered a two-star recruit by ESPN.com, Dennard was listed as the #166 wide receiver in the nation in 2010.

Dennard accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Michigan State University, where he played for coach Mark Dantonio's Michigan State Spartans football team from 2010 to 2013.

As a true freshman in 2010, Dennard played in six games with two starts, missing five games due to injury.

As a sophomore in 2011, he played in 11 games, missing two due to injury, he finished the season with 42 tackles and three interceptions, two which came against Georgia in the Outback Bowl.

As a junior in 2012, he started all 13 games, recording 52 tackles and three interceptions.

He was a first-team All-Big Ten Conference selection.

Dennard won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2013 as the best defensive back in college football.

Dennard attended Twiggs County High School in Jeffersonville, Georgia, where he was a letterman in football, basketball, and track.

In high school football, he played defensive back and wide receiver.

As a senior, he had 40 receptions for 502 yards and 11 touchdowns on offense and 50 tackles and nine interceptions with two touchdowns on defense.

In track & field, Dennard competed as a sprinter.

As a senior in 2013, he recorded 62 tackles and four interceptions and won the Jim Thorpe Award.

Coming out of Michigan State, Dennard was a projected consensus first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.

He received an invitation to the NFL combine as a top prospect and chose to only run the 40-yard Dash, 20-yard Dash, 10-yard Dash, and perform the bench press.

He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft.

On March 7, 2014, Dennard chose to participate at Michigan State's pro day, along with Max Bullough, Denicos Allen, Bennie Fowler, Dan France, Fou Fonoti, Tyler Hoover, Andrew Maxwell, and nine other teammates.

He opted to perform the vertical jump, broad jump, short shuttle, three-cone, and positional drills.

He was ranked the top cornerback prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, CBSSports.com, and Sports Illustrated.

He was also ranked the second best cornerback by Mayock.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Dennard in the first round (24th overall) of the 2014 NFL draft.

He was the third cornerback taken, behind Justin Gilbert (8th overall, Cleveland Browns) and Kyle Fuller (14th overall, Chicago Bears).

On June 12, 2014, the Bengals signed Dennard to a four-year, $7.97 million contract that includes $6.47 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $4.12 million.

Dennard joined a deep position group upon his arrival at training camp and competed with Adam Jones, Terence Newman, Leon Hall, and Dre Kirkpatrick for the job as the starting cornerback.

Kirkpatrick, Newman, Hall, and Jones were all first round picks in the NFL draft themselves.

Head coach Marvin Lewis named Dennard the Bengals' fifth cornerback on their depth chart behind Newman, Hall, Jones, and Kirkpatrick to start the regular season.

On September 14, 2014, Dennard made his professional regular season debut for the Bengals and made one tackle during their 24–10 over the Atlanta Falcons.

The next game, he recorded a season-high three solo tackles and made the first sack of his career on Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker during the Bengals' 33–7 victory.

He saw limited playing time behind the host of a talented veterans during his rookie season and finished with only 17 combined tackles (14 solo), one pass deflection, and one sack in 14 games and zero starts.

He was limited to only 41 defensive snaps as a rookie in 2014.

The Bengals finished the 2014 season second in the AFC North with a 10–5–1 record.

On January 4, 2015, Dennard appeared in his first career playoff game and collected two solo tackles and forced a fumble to set up a touchdown during a 26–10 AFC Wildcard loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Dennard returned to the Bengals' training camp in 2015 and competed with Leon Hall, Kirkpatrick, Jones, and Josh Shaw for the position as one of the starting cornerbacks.

He was named the fourth cornerback on their depth chart to begin the season, behind Jones, Kirkpatrick, and Hall.

In the Bengals' season-opener against the Oakland Raiders, Dennard recorded five solo tackles and defended a pass in a 33–13 victory.

During a Week 4 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, he earned a season-high six combined tackles and deflected a pass, as the Bengals won their fourth consecutive game 36–21.