Q & A: First Round Cornerbacks

By:  Bobby Shores
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Submit your questions for ReclinerQB to answer here (Twitter) or here (Email), or just leave it in the comments. Recent Articles include:  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?

Question:  What do you think of the potential first round cornerbacks in the draft and will the Cowboys be able to use one?

ReclinerQB Thoughts:  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. Of course now that we have signed Brandon Carr CB is not as big a need, but you can never have to many talented corners.

When healthy, Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick are solid starters, but we have next to nothing behind them. Terence Newman has had a good career with the Cowboys, and it't time to thank him and let him go.

When it comes to the first round cornerbacks I believe there are really only three that qualify (In my opinion), and they are Morris Claiborne, Janoris Jenkins and Dre Kirkpatrick.

2012 NFL Draft Hopeful Janoris Jenkins

Janoris Jenkins-North Alabama - Jenkins is my favorite DB in the draft! When I watched him play at Florida he seemed as fluid and natural a DB as I have ever seen. The way he moves in and out of breaks and seems to know the routes before the receiver does shows his understanding of football. The way he backpedals, opens his hips to run and his change of direction skills, makes me think that he is more comfortable playing cornerback on the football field than he is walking. Just an instinctual player who is confident in his ability, and with good reason. One of things that impressed me most on him was that he plays taller than he is, and by that I mean his anticipation on the ball and the way he times his jumps makes him seem taller than 5'10. He is not as big as the other two first round corners and that hinders his ability in the run game, but he does not shy away from making a tackle.

 The one concern that most people have with Jenkins is the off field concerns. He was kicked out of the University of Florida after three years after he was arrested twice in a three month span for possession of marijuana after the year before being arrested for a fight. While that concerns me, I heard him give a couple of interviews at the All-Star games and he never shied away from the questions asked about his character or tried to make excuses. He also seemed to be a model citizen at North Alabama, and I am not one to hold what a kid does when they are younger against him forever. We all make mistakes like that when we are 18-21, difference is we probably didn't get caught or do it in front of the entire country as a high profile college football player.

The one hole I have in scouting Jenkins is that I never got to see a game of his at North Alabama and from what I can tell he continued to play at a high level, but without actually seeing him play those games I cannot comment on them, and I do not use other people's scouting reports in my articles. But from what I did see at Florida I think he could be the most talented player in this entire draft.


Morris Claiborne-LSU - Even though the Cowboys chances of getting him are slim-to-none I still wanted to drop a note on him (and I do not think that the 'Boys will trade up into the Top 5 and grab him like my former colleague Daniel Wolf at National Football Authority does).

2012 NFL Draft Hopeful Morris Claiborne

I think Claiborne compares very favorably to Patrick Peterson (and not because they are both from LSU). And last year I was in love with Patrick Peterson and saw him as by far the safest and best prospect in the draft while also naming him to my "Pre-Draft All-Pro" list.

Main differences I see, is that partially due to size, (Peterson being about an inch taller and 50lbs heavier) he is not as good against the run and in press-man coverage as his predecessor. Don't get me wrong though, Claiborne plays hard/well against the run and does not lack aggression, just sometimes pulls the "dive at the ball carriers feet rather than take him head on and wrap him up" approach that has been getting a lot of DB's hurdled and/or juked in recent years.

On the other hand Claiborne has much better ball skills and great hands (played wide receiver in high school and some in his early years at LSU) and is not afraid to play off a receiver in an attempt to bait a quarterback into thinking he is open. There are also zero off-field or character concerns with Claiborne, and he will be a star in the NFL.

In the 2012 BCS National Championship game I did not have the Tide throwing towards Claiborne one time the entire game, at least according to my game notes. And that was a trend you saw all year long if you watched the SEC. They had a lot of respect for him.



Dre Kirkpatrick-Alabama - Very big and physical DB, and his style of play is the same.. Does not seem to have the greatest ball skills in my opinion and still needs to work on his play recognition and covering smaller quicker receivers (Ryan Mallett picked on him quite a bit in 2010, even though Alabama still beat us). Would have to play on the outside in the NFL as he is lacks some quickness and seems to be tight in the hips and would struggle covering the smaller quicker guys in the slot. Strongest DB against the run in the draft.

2012 NFL Draft Hopeful Dre Kirkpatrick

There is just something about Kirkpatrick that I cannot quite put my hands on, something that makes me uneasy about him. He is very fast and has good recovery speed, is big and physical. Doesn't seem to have the greatest knack for the ball and kinda seems to over rely on his athletic abilities instead of his brain. He also reminds me of some of those players on the 2005 Trojans (Lendale White, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, etc), they just looked like great players because of the cast around them.....I kind of get that vibe from Kirkpatrick.

My biggest problem with Kirkpatrick is not the marijuana possession. Seriously, who cares, I bet that 70% of NFL players partake in the magic herb during the year and it probably affects them less than alcohol (but this is not a place for my political views on it), my concern is that during the longest job interview of his life he was stupid enough to get caught with it, that right there makes me wonder if he has his head on straight.

So what is my final opinion on him? I think that he will be a good DB in the right system, but never the true "shutdown" corner that he came across as at Alabama. I also think that Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan will fall in love with Kirkpatrick due to his confidence both on and off the field (his nickname is Swag), his aggressive style of play and his ability to play press-man coverage which is a favorite of Ryan.

Should the Cowboys go ahead and draft one of these corners if they are available at #14? Ask me again after free agency (I know its a cop out), but I like the depth at the cornerback position in the draft and I think the Cowboys should only draft Jenkins of the three and as of right now they should move down to get him. So where do I think they need to upgrade the defensive backfield? I like the corners that they can get in the second or even third round, that is coming soon.

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Next Drafting Revolution

In my previous post I talked about why teams wouldn't take Patrick Peterson #1 overall, even though I think he is deserving of the spot.  Now I will address how that can and will change in the future.

We all know that one of the hot button issues is a rookie wage scale or rooking slotting process much like the NBA has.  This will keep unproven players from collecting tens of millions of dollars before they even play a down or compete in a practice in the NFL.  I can go through and name a bunch of big busts, but everyone should already be familiar with them.  The other problem the financial windfall that top 10 picks receive is that teams will stack the top of their draft board based on it (possibly subconsciously).  Many teams year in and year out claim that they draft the "best available player" and not draft for need, which they may very well do it in the bottom half of the first round and beyond, but typically in the top half of the first round they are gunning for the "home run" pick.  I am not going to get into examples of this or this post will end up to long.  In the past 10 drafts a QB has been taken #1 overall 80% of the time, and of the 8 QB's selected 5 of them were not the savior of the franchise that drafted them (I am counting Eli Manning as a success even though he was traded on draft day).  So we know that QB's are typically taken #1, the only exception to the "home run" type pick is that teams draft LT's very high because they are protecting the face and savior of the franchise.  Now why are they doing that when it seems that #1 QB's have a high wash out rate?  Teams know that as soon as they draft a player in the Top 5, that player is going to become the highest paid player in the league at his position before he does anything to deserve it.

How can teams change that mentality at drafting?  I believe that the rookie wage scale will help change that mentality.  Will it eliminate it? No, because there is such a premium put on drafting a QB that teams will still invariably reach for them.  But with a rookie wage scale that locks players into slightly shorter deals and a lot less money, teams will be much more likely to draft the best player available because the committed dollars will not be as high.  The other benefit to a rookie wage scale is that their will be a lot more movement at the top of the draft, currently a top 5 pick is as much a burden as it is a reward because if a team picks wrong, it can set their franchise back 5-6 years because of the financial and salary cap impact that pick has.  But without the outrageous guaranteed money, teams will be much more willing to jump into the top 5 and pick a Patrick Peterson because that team desperately needs a DB and he is the best player in the draft, that team may see him as the missing piece to making a Super Bowl run.  And a team with the #1 overall pick like Carolina that has many needs will jump at the opportunity to stockpile more picks because they need multiple players to turn their franchise around.  The benefit to the veterans in the league is that their would be less money wasted on players that wash out of the league during or after their rookie contract so more money for them.  The benefit for rookies (besides the top 5) is that the contracts would be shorter so players could cash in on that 2nd big contract worth big money if they outplayed their rookie deal.  The rookie wage scale would be better for teams, players, and fans, and it would make the draft value chart made popular by the Cowboys in the early 90's relevant again. 

Safest & Possible Best Pick in the Draft - Patrick Peterson & Why They Won't Draft Him #1

I have already had one post about Patrick Peterson and the new breed of DB taking over the NFL, well here is another article focusing more on Peterson and why teams won't draft him #1 overall.  Patrick is the "do everything" DB from LSU, a guy who was a starter on a National Championship contending team the moment he stepped on campus as a freshman 3 years ago.  This is a guy who has prototypical safety size (6'1/4" - 219lbs) but cornerback speed, quickness, and instincts.  He will also jump into the Top 10 return threats in the NFL the moment he is drafted.  I believe that Peterson is a once every 10 year type player, someone that can lock up 1-on-1 against a teams best receiver and shut him down, or shut down 1/2 of the field.  Similar to a Darrelle Revis except Peterson's career will have 2 stages and that is why he is different then a Revis type.  Stage 1 he will be a regular All-Pro and Pro Bowl cornerback for at least 10 years.  Stage 2 he will move to safety and revive his career and be a perennial All-Pro and Pro Bowl safety, much like Rod Woodson did and like Charles Woodson and Champ Bailey will probably do.  Most draft "experts" have Peterson listed as the safest pick in the draft and the guy who may very well have the best Pro career out of anybody out there, and yet I am hearing that he "Cannot and Will Not" go #1 overall to the Panthers, and that he would not go #1 to any team that had that pick.

If you are like me you are wondering, why would this guy not be the #1 overall pick?  Well the thinking is, that because a team can basically take him out of the game by not throwing at him or if he is returning kicks, just not kick to him.  Unlike a defensive lineman who has a chance to make a sack or make a play every snap, or a quarterback who has the ball in his hands every play, a DB can be taken out of the game.  That is true, but if you take a DB out of the game by not throwing at him, he will neutralize your best offensive receiving threat if he plays man coverage, or he could take away half the field if he is playing zone.  To me that is a pretty big advantage.  Nobody is saying that Nnamdi Asomugha & Darrelle Revis aren't worth top player in the league money, or that Deion Sanders & Champ Bailey weren't worth it when they were in their prime; so why is Peterson not worth the #1 overall pick when he could be a defensive cornerstone for almost 20 years?!?!?! I just don't get it.

Lets take a look at the 2007 draft, the Oakland Raiders took QB JaMarcus Russell at #1, Tampa Bay took DE Gaines Adams #4, the Redskins took Laron Landry at #6, Atlanta took Jamaal Anderson at #8 followed by Ted Ginn Jr. taken by the Dolphins,the NY Jets nabbed Revis at #14.  I could keep going on with busts taken before Revis, I bet all those teams wish they would have spent their top 10 pick on Revis now.  In the 1999 draft Champ Bailey was taken #7 overall, Tim Couch was #1, Akili Smith and Ricky Williams were also drafted before Champ.  Was Bailey not worth the #1 overall pick?  I think my point has been made.

Next up:  What will change the way teams draft?  Why do they feel they have to draft the next Peyton Manning, Reggie White, or Orlando Pace at #1?  Why do they shy away from possibly better players at the DE, G, C, LB or DB spot?