casmith07
Attorney-at-Zone
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Completely unscientific. This is my "Cornerback Big Board" based on nothing more than YouTube scouting and the eyeball test from watching games this year.
Warning - being a Virginia native, I am a huge homer, so I give special deference to Chase Minnifield of UVA, and Jayron Hosley of VT.
1. Morris Claiborne, LSU -- better pure CB than Patrick Peterson, value it in coverage skills both in man and in zone, as opposed to return ability that Peterson brought with him along with more "potential" in the CB category. Easily the best CB in the draft and a day 1 instant starter on any team in the league.
2. Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska -- Nebraska is a school known for putting out pretty good DB/CB prospects. Dennard is no different. Another case of the guy coming out a year later being better than the other guy, Dennard is a better tackler than Amukamara. Good value late in the 1st.
3. Chase Minnifield, Virginia -- closest thing to the definition of a "shutdown corner" in college football this past year. His stats aren't huge, but it's because teams just didn't throw his direction. If he's available in the second round, I like this pick for the Cowboys a lot. He's twice as good as anyone not named Jenkins on our roster, at a minimum. I like his size a little better than Hosley's too, and his tackling is good - exactly what Rob Ryan wants. Reminds me of Charles Woodson or Champ Bailey.
[strike]4. Desmond Trufant, Washington -- younger brother of Seahawks DB Marcus Trufant. You usually can't go wrong when a position runs in the family. I wouldn't be terribly upset with this pick, either, if he comes remotely close to being as good as his brother in his prime. Good man cover guy, too, and has speed. Haven't watched a ton of his stuff, but he looks to be a fundamentally sound tackler.[/strike] as one poster said, he's returning to school.
5. Jayron Hosley, Virginia Tech -- Ball. Hawk. You want picks? He'll deliver. Didn't get that many this past year because of injury and because of a drop off in Virginia Tech's defense across the board, but as a sophomore he led the nation with 9 picks, about half of which were stealing the ball from receivers/tight ends seemingly twice his size, or from "hawking" the ball while it was in the air from the opposite side of the field. Size is a concern, and because of that tackling may suffer, but Mike Jenkins is pretty slight of frame too. Reminds me of Joe Haden of the Browns, or Brandon Flowers of the Chiefs.
6. Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina -- potential is there, does well in man coverage, but struggles in zone and makes too many mistakes in coverage trying to "guess" on routes. Pretty physical player, though, and as long as he works on minimizing mistakes and shoring up his coverage game, could be a very good player for a long time.
7. Casey Hayward, Vanderbilt -- haven't watched much of him, but it is said that he is a ball hawk with good hands and good coverage skills. Definite day 2 guy, and is probably already better than Scandrick on day 1.
8. Brandon Boykin, Georgia -- jumps up into the top 10 purely on his return/offensive skills. He can do it all for your team - underrated cornerback who will excel from playing with a good team with solid coaching, a dynamic punt and kick returner, and can run some routes and catch TD passes. Where ever he is selected, outside of the 1st round, the pick makes sense because of what he brings to the table. Big time value no matter where he's selected. I wouldn't be terribly upset with this pick in the 2nd round, but for there being much better defenders on the board still left. However, if Hosley and Minnifield were gone, I would make this my 2nd round selection and not bat an eye. Immediate upgrade to two huge, gaping holes on the roster.
9. Xavier Rhodes, Florida State - another guy that benefitted from teams not throwing his direction, to the detriment of his stats. FSU was somewhat middle of the road, though, so it's hard to see how good a guy is when the rest of the team is kind of stinky.
10. Shaun Prater, CB, Iowa - teammate Micah Hyde is allegedly the better prospect, but everything that I've found says he's returning to school. Prater is a zone guy, and not much of a turnover creator. I don't think he would fit here in Dallas.
OFF THE BOARD: Janoris Jenkins, Dre Kirkpatrick. Character concerns would have me removing both of these guys from my board entirely, if I were working for the Cowboys. Some might not think marijuana is that big of a deal, but for me it's the decision-making process in making a conscious choice to participate in an illegal activity despite having things pretty much fairly made for you on the football field, even moreso with Kirkpatrick, who at the time of his arrest had the combine in less than 3 months and the draft in 4.
Janoris Jenkins let down his entire team by getting suspended/dismissed for something that's as simple as saying "no thanks." These kinds of decisions might not rear their heads as pot-smokers in the NFL, but I'm a believer that people with poor character allow those characteristics to manifest themselves in other ways.
Warning - being a Virginia native, I am a huge homer, so I give special deference to Chase Minnifield of UVA, and Jayron Hosley of VT.
1. Morris Claiborne, LSU -- better pure CB than Patrick Peterson, value it in coverage skills both in man and in zone, as opposed to return ability that Peterson brought with him along with more "potential" in the CB category. Easily the best CB in the draft and a day 1 instant starter on any team in the league.
2. Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska -- Nebraska is a school known for putting out pretty good DB/CB prospects. Dennard is no different. Another case of the guy coming out a year later being better than the other guy, Dennard is a better tackler than Amukamara. Good value late in the 1st.
3. Chase Minnifield, Virginia -- closest thing to the definition of a "shutdown corner" in college football this past year. His stats aren't huge, but it's because teams just didn't throw his direction. If he's available in the second round, I like this pick for the Cowboys a lot. He's twice as good as anyone not named Jenkins on our roster, at a minimum. I like his size a little better than Hosley's too, and his tackling is good - exactly what Rob Ryan wants. Reminds me of Charles Woodson or Champ Bailey.
[strike]4. Desmond Trufant, Washington -- younger brother of Seahawks DB Marcus Trufant. You usually can't go wrong when a position runs in the family. I wouldn't be terribly upset with this pick, either, if he comes remotely close to being as good as his brother in his prime. Good man cover guy, too, and has speed. Haven't watched a ton of his stuff, but he looks to be a fundamentally sound tackler.[/strike] as one poster said, he's returning to school.
5. Jayron Hosley, Virginia Tech -- Ball. Hawk. You want picks? He'll deliver. Didn't get that many this past year because of injury and because of a drop off in Virginia Tech's defense across the board, but as a sophomore he led the nation with 9 picks, about half of which were stealing the ball from receivers/tight ends seemingly twice his size, or from "hawking" the ball while it was in the air from the opposite side of the field. Size is a concern, and because of that tackling may suffer, but Mike Jenkins is pretty slight of frame too. Reminds me of Joe Haden of the Browns, or Brandon Flowers of the Chiefs.
6. Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina -- potential is there, does well in man coverage, but struggles in zone and makes too many mistakes in coverage trying to "guess" on routes. Pretty physical player, though, and as long as he works on minimizing mistakes and shoring up his coverage game, could be a very good player for a long time.
7. Casey Hayward, Vanderbilt -- haven't watched much of him, but it is said that he is a ball hawk with good hands and good coverage skills. Definite day 2 guy, and is probably already better than Scandrick on day 1.
8. Brandon Boykin, Georgia -- jumps up into the top 10 purely on his return/offensive skills. He can do it all for your team - underrated cornerback who will excel from playing with a good team with solid coaching, a dynamic punt and kick returner, and can run some routes and catch TD passes. Where ever he is selected, outside of the 1st round, the pick makes sense because of what he brings to the table. Big time value no matter where he's selected. I wouldn't be terribly upset with this pick in the 2nd round, but for there being much better defenders on the board still left. However, if Hosley and Minnifield were gone, I would make this my 2nd round selection and not bat an eye. Immediate upgrade to two huge, gaping holes on the roster.
9. Xavier Rhodes, Florida State - another guy that benefitted from teams not throwing his direction, to the detriment of his stats. FSU was somewhat middle of the road, though, so it's hard to see how good a guy is when the rest of the team is kind of stinky.
10. Shaun Prater, CB, Iowa - teammate Micah Hyde is allegedly the better prospect, but everything that I've found says he's returning to school. Prater is a zone guy, and not much of a turnover creator. I don't think he would fit here in Dallas.
OFF THE BOARD: Janoris Jenkins, Dre Kirkpatrick. Character concerns would have me removing both of these guys from my board entirely, if I were working for the Cowboys. Some might not think marijuana is that big of a deal, but for me it's the decision-making process in making a conscious choice to participate in an illegal activity despite having things pretty much fairly made for you on the football field, even moreso with Kirkpatrick, who at the time of his arrest had the combine in less than 3 months and the draft in 4.
Janoris Jenkins let down his entire team by getting suspended/dismissed for something that's as simple as saying "no thanks." These kinds of decisions might not rear their heads as pot-smokers in the NFL, but I'm a believer that people with poor character allow those characteristics to manifest themselves in other ways.
