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Dallas Cowboys draft review: CB Mike Mickens
10:38 AM Thu, May 14, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
[youtube]2_k9REcseYY[/youtube]
Drafted: Seventh round, 227th overall
Size: 5-11, 184
School: Cincinnati
POSITIVES
He's an experienced, confident cornerback with excellent ball skills. He was a four-year starter at Cincinnati, earning first- or second-team All-Big East recognition all four seasons. He made a school-record 14 career interceptions, including 10 the last two seasons. He has sure hands and does a good job of finding the ball and going after it. He's dangerous once gets the ball in his hands, returning three of his picks for touchdowns. He's changes directions smoothly and was effective in man (press and off) and zone coverage in college. He's not a big hitter, but he's solid in run support.
NEGATIVES
Mickens was projected as a mid-round pick, but he slid into the seventh because of concerns about his knee. He missed three games after getting arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage and had to pull out of the Senior Bowl and skip the scouting combine. However, the Cowboys didn't dock him due to the injury on their board, and he participated in the rookie minicamp without the knee bothering him. He doesn't have blazing speed, so he could have trouble recovering a receiver gets a step on him. He has decent height, but he needs to get stronger. He is purely an outside cornerback, not a guy who can play in the slot.
COWBOY FIT
If all goes well, Mickens will compete with Alan Ball to be the fourth cornerback and perhaps get some playing time in the dime package as a rookie. However, the Cowboys need Mickens to be prepared to contribute more, considering Terence Newman's recent injury history. Down the road, Mickens could join Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick to form a formidable cornerback trio.
SECONDARY COACH DAVE CAMPO
"Mickens is really a good ballhawk. He's a guy that has a lot of interceptions. He has great hands, can catch everything. That's a plus for a DB right from the get-go, because you don't have a lot of those guys. Most of them are receivers who they moved over because they can't catch. .... He's just got to clean up the technique part of it. He's done a lot of stuff just on athletic ability and just being able to go to the football and stuff like that. You take the next step, and you've got receivers who are running precise routes, so you've got to be disciplined in everything that you do. That's what we're going to be working for him to do, because he's got all the intangibles, he's a good athlete with good burst to the football. He just needs some time out there. ... We're not looking for him to come inside (to cover slot receivers). If he were to play for us, we would have somebody else in the nickel underneath, and he would be an outside corner."
SCOUTING REPORTS
NFL Draft Scout (CBSSports.com)
Scouts, Inc. (ESPN Insider)
DraftCountdown.com
PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS
LB Jason Williams
OL Robert Brewster
OLB Victor Butler
OLB Brandon Williams
FS DeAngelo Smith
SS Michael Hamlin
K David Buehler
10:38 AM Thu, May 14, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
[youtube]2_k9REcseYY[/youtube]
Drafted: Seventh round, 227th overall
Size: 5-11, 184
School: Cincinnati
POSITIVES
He's an experienced, confident cornerback with excellent ball skills. He was a four-year starter at Cincinnati, earning first- or second-team All-Big East recognition all four seasons. He made a school-record 14 career interceptions, including 10 the last two seasons. He has sure hands and does a good job of finding the ball and going after it. He's dangerous once gets the ball in his hands, returning three of his picks for touchdowns. He's changes directions smoothly and was effective in man (press and off) and zone coverage in college. He's not a big hitter, but he's solid in run support.
NEGATIVES
Mickens was projected as a mid-round pick, but he slid into the seventh because of concerns about his knee. He missed three games after getting arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage and had to pull out of the Senior Bowl and skip the scouting combine. However, the Cowboys didn't dock him due to the injury on their board, and he participated in the rookie minicamp without the knee bothering him. He doesn't have blazing speed, so he could have trouble recovering a receiver gets a step on him. He has decent height, but he needs to get stronger. He is purely an outside cornerback, not a guy who can play in the slot.
COWBOY FIT
If all goes well, Mickens will compete with Alan Ball to be the fourth cornerback and perhaps get some playing time in the dime package as a rookie. However, the Cowboys need Mickens to be prepared to contribute more, considering Terence Newman's recent injury history. Down the road, Mickens could join Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick to form a formidable cornerback trio.
SECONDARY COACH DAVE CAMPO
"Mickens is really a good ballhawk. He's a guy that has a lot of interceptions. He has great hands, can catch everything. That's a plus for a DB right from the get-go, because you don't have a lot of those guys. Most of them are receivers who they moved over because they can't catch. .... He's just got to clean up the technique part of it. He's done a lot of stuff just on athletic ability and just being able to go to the football and stuff like that. You take the next step, and you've got receivers who are running precise routes, so you've got to be disciplined in everything that you do. That's what we're going to be working for him to do, because he's got all the intangibles, he's a good athlete with good burst to the football. He just needs some time out there. ... We're not looking for him to come inside (to cover slot receivers). If he were to play for us, we would have somebody else in the nickel underneath, and he would be an outside corner."
SCOUTING REPORTS
NFL Draft Scout (CBSSports.com)
Scouts, Inc. (ESPN Insider)
DraftCountdown.com
PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS
LB Jason Williams
OL Robert Brewster
OLB Victor Butler
OLB Brandon Williams
FS DeAngelo Smith
SS Michael Hamlin
K David Buehler
