Q & A: Mid-to-Late Round Corners for Cowboys

By:  Bobby Shores
Check out recent articles:  First Round Cornerbacks, NFL Draft Quick Hits on - Dontari Poe (Biggest Potential Draft Bust), Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Jake Bequette, My 2012 NFL Draft Player Rankings By Position and the Evolution of NFL Defense's What will happen to the Safety Position?

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Question:  You recently addressed potential first round cornerbacks, but what about mid-to-late round corners that could be available for the Cowboys if they go in a different direction with their first round pick?

ReclinerQB Thoughts:  I am going to start this off the same way I started off the previous article about first round corners, and that is talking about our current defense and what we need:  while most fans want to put the failure of the defense this past season on the secondary, I believe the lack of a consistent pass rush made it nearly impossible for our defensive backs to cover and that a good pass rush is a secondary's best friend. I am also not naive enough to think that we don't need to upgrade the secondary, particularly the depth at cornerback and the starters at safety.

When healthy, Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick are solid starters, but we have next to nothing behind them.While Brandon Carr is a great addition, you can never have to many quality starters, especially since Jenkins will be a free agent this year and if he doesn't come back then we are shallow again at a critical position.

So who are possibilities in the second or later rounds? Some of the CB's that I like are Georgia's Brandon Boykin, Nebraska's Alfonzo Dennard and Oregon's Cliff Harris.

2012 NFL Draft Hopeful CB Brandon Boykin

Brandon Boykin-Georgia - Undersized for an NFL corner (barely 5'9) but plays taller as he can jump very well, has great speed and plays very physical. He will probably never be a teams #1 corner, but with his quick feet I think he will be the nickel corner and play the slot immediately and battle until he is the #2 guy. He has good ball skills and is constantly improving. I love what I have heard about him, that he is a natural leader, will outwork everyone and plays every practice like it is a game; these are the kind of players I like and the Cowboys need (I have a feeling that the players take practices a little to lightly at Valley Ranch)

If the Cowboys got him, he would be able to contribute on defense as well as special teams as he is a returner which is a major need, and I think he would instantly become the heart and soul of the special teams, something we have not had since Keith Davis left the team 5 or so years ago.

2012 NFL Draft Hopeful CB Alfonzo Dennard

Alfonzo Dennard-Nebraska - I did not see Dennard play a lot in college, but I had heard that he was better than Prince Amukamara and was going to be a high first round pick. So I was excited when I got to sit down and watch the bowl game where he would be matching up against a potential first round wide receiver in Alshon Jeffrey. I quit watching him after the third quarter (and not just because he got thrown out), he had given up over 140 receiving yards to Jeffrey and a touchdown at that point.

Besides that one game, I did watch some other film on him and was never impressed with what I saw, did not have very good ball recognition or tackling skills (seems like he arm tackles instead of squaring up on ball carriers). He is also to easy to take out of the game, as he is routinely caught fighting with opponents instead of paying attention to the game. The Cowboys should take him off their draft board, no matter how far he falls (and I think he will fall).

2012 NFL Draft Hopeful CB Cliff Harris

Cliff Harris-Oregon - Best way to describe Harris is "talented but troubled". His style of play is Explosive! Harris comes from the Deion Sanders style of playing defensive back, he is great in man coverage as he is long, lean, plays the man and the ball well and could be an elite corner and showed it in 2010 when he had 6 INT's and 23 passes defensed. He also has skills as a punt returner, when he brought 4 back to the house, again in 2010. Notice a pattern here? He fell off the map in 2011 and did not play much after having multiple off the field problems. The weaknesses in his game is that due to his lean size he is not very welcoming when it comes to contact, he never seems to avoid it, but does not go looking for it.

Hopefully spending most of the 2011 suspended and seeing his future hang in the balance will humble Harris and make him realize that natural talent alone will not carry him to greatness. If he can interview well and stay out of trouble, he could be the next 5th round or later steal at corner for the Cowboys (remember that Orlando Scandrick had a 2nd round grade but fell to the 5th).

So if the Cowboys get a chance at these guys, where would I be comfortable drafting them right now? I would be happy grabbing Boykin in the 2nd round, as he can help in all aspects of the game (defense, returner and special teams ace), I want nothing to do with Dennard and if Cliff is around in the 5th round then grab him IF you feel that he has changed and is taking his life and talents seriously.

My main worry with cornerbacks this year is that they are all being overvalued in my opinion because every team needs more with the passing game explosion. It seems that 2nd round corners are being pushed into high first round (Stephon Gilmore) and small school "project corners" are being pushed up from 4th and 5th round to 2nd (Josh Robinson, Trumaine Johnson and Dwight Bentley).

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