Morris Claiborne & The Effect on Mike Jenkins

By:  Bobby Shores

**Editor's Note:  Sorry this is not all linked up like usual, I was writing on a plane and would have been posted early this morning but the stupid WiFi on American Airlines didn't work, but better late than never!!**

When I saw the Cowboys were trading up to the number 6 overall pick my first thought was confusion, followed immediately by extreme joy as I thought to myself that Jerry Jones had finally listened to me and was selecting Mississippi State DT/DE Fletcher Cox. When I started hearing that they were instead choosing LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne I was filled with more thoughts of confusion……

Let me start by saying I am very high on Claiborne, I feel he is the best all around defensive back in this draft and probably the best DB that the Cowboys could have taken. His physical style is ideal for Rob Ryan’s press man scheme and he is versatile enough to play outside corner or slide in and play the slot. He also has the ability to return punts, which the Cowboys are in desperate need of, after averaging over 26 yards per return at LSU. This is not a bad pick for America’s Team.

Now I know what most of you are saying, “What a flip-flopper, this guy has been banging the Janoris Jenkins drum for months!”. Yes, you are right, I do believe that Janoris is by far the best pure cover guy in this draft, and I had designs of taking him in the 2^nd (possibly the 3^rd) round where the value would be unbeatable. I think Claiborne has much more versatility than Janoris and never even thought there was a remote chance of landing him, so I never even thought of what would happen if we picked him until late last night.

So what does this mean for the Cowboys defense/secondary now? That is a good question and one that I am currently working on still…..

My initial thought was “Well, you can never have to many cornerbacks”, and then I remembered that the Eagles had three excellent cornerbacks last year and they couldn’t stop Blaine Gabbert from looking like a an actual NFL quarterback if they tried. Still, with the injury history of Mike Jenkins, having four solid cornerbacks is a good problem to have, as a Cowboys fan I know the problems of not having any good ones…..

As I am a fan of putting your best eleven players on the field at all times, and obviously our top four cornerbacks will be part of the “best 11” defensive players no matter what combination you try and use, how do we get them all on the field at once, especially if the offense isn’t running a 4-receiver set? NFL teams use 3-receiver sets for the majority of plays, and many times more, but they don’t run 4-receiver or more sets the majority of the time. So I will be researching this dilemma today, right now I am leaning toward my previous article of eliminating or minimizing the Safety’s on the field, running with either a “single high” or possibly no “true” safety. Ryan has the creativity and now has the personnel to make this a truly unique, one of a kind defense.

My second thought when I heard that the Cowboys were taking Claiborne, was who does this make expendable? Obviously Claiborne and the team’s new $50 million defensive back Brandon Carr are going to be on the field, that leaves Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins.

Scandrick just signed a 5-year $27 million contract this last season, so I don’t expect them to even try and move him, whether by trade or outright release. Scandrick has been our best defensive back against the run, and plays aggressively, not afraid to take a chance and I think that is the kind of player Ryan likes. Yes, he did struggle quite a bit last year, but I believe that was largely due to the ineffectiveness of the rest of the defense, and constantly shuffling him from position-to-position to cover up for other players inefficiencies and injuries. Scandrick is not going anywhere, he is a young cornerback that is still growing and we have him at a good rate for the next few years.

That leaves Mike Jenkins, the former 2008 first round pick who became a full time starter in 2009. While he has basically been the best cover corner that the Cowboys have had for the last few years, the guy is literally always injured. I can’t remember a game he played where he did not have an ankle, knee, shoulder, hamstring, etc injury slowing him down. Also the fact that he is in the final year of his deal and is wanting Carr type money I think it’t time to move him…..and I mean now!!

Mike is recovering from shoulder surgery and will miss the beginning of off-season workouts, but it should not limit him during the season. Since he is owed a VERY reasonable salary of about $1.5 million this year, any team with a corner need who missed on their first round prospects should be calling the Cowboys (I’m talking to you Vikings, Patriots, Lions). I think that Mike is worth a 2^nd round pick, especially if more than one team is fighting for him, realistically though we will probably get a 3^rd and maybe a 6^th.

Regardless, if we want to trade him (and I said last night I thought he would be on the trade block after the Claiborne pick) we need to move him early in the 2^nd round so that we can package picks and move back into the 2^nd if there is a player we covet (Ronell Lewis)

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