Gosselin: Top CB might be Ramsey, but the Cowboys need to look at big playmaker

[Alexander]

Gosselin: Draft's top CB might be Jalen Ramsey, but the Cowboys need to look at big playmaker, former Sooner Zack Sanchez



By Rick Gosselin , Staff Columnist Contact Rick Gosselin on Twitter: @RickGosselinDMN


INDIANAPOLIS -- All eyes were on Jalen Ramsey at the NFL scouting combine last week.

Ramsey rates as the top cornerback in the 2016 draft. After watching Ramsey, the eyes shifted to Vernon Hargreaves and Mackensie Alexander. They also project among the elite at the cornerback position.

But I had my eyes on Zack Sanchez of Oklahoma. The Cowboys should have been watching the Keller Central product as well. Sanchez does something better than the top three cornerbacks in this draft -- make plays on the football.

Ramsey didn't have an interception last season. Neither did Alexander, and Hargreaves had four. Sanchez had more interceptions than the three of them combined last season -- seven. Hargreaves had 10 career interceptions, Ramsey three and Alexander none. Sanchez had more career interceptions than the top three corners in this draft combined -- 15.


And if you're the Cowboys, you'd better find some defensive backs in this draft capable of making plays on the ball. Only one team intercepted fewer passes than the eight of the Cowboys last season, and no team forced fewer turnovers (11). That lack of takeaways was a contributing factor in the 4-12 collapse by the Cowboys in 2015.

Sanchez won't be a first-round draft pick. He may not be a second-rounder, either. But don't lose sight of his plays. There's a history of cornerbacks either with size or speed deficiencies who slid in April but wound up making plays in the fall.

Aaron Beasley intercepted 10 passes as a junior at West Virginia and 19 in his career. He slid to the third round, the 63rd overall pick of the 1996 draft, and went on to intercept 24 passes in a nine-year NFL career. Dre Bly intercepted 11 passes as a freshman at North Carolina and an ACC-record 20 in his career. He became the 41st overall pick of the 1999 draft in the second round and went on to intercept 43 passes in his 12-year career.

Dwight Smith intercepted 10 passes as a senior at Akron. He fell to the third round, the 84th overall pick of the 2001 draft. He intercepted 23 NFL passes in eight years and returned two Rich Gannon passes for touchdowns in Tampa Bay's lone Super Bowl victory. Dwight Lowery intercepted nine passes as a junior and 13 in his two-year career at San Jose State. He slid to the fourth round, the 113th overall pick in 2008, and went on to intercept 16 NFL passes in eight years.

Casey Hayward intercepted seven passes as a senior at Vanderbilt and 15 in his career. He became the 62nd overall pick of the 2012 draft and intercepted nine passes in his first four seasons with the Packers.

Beasley, Lowery and Hayward all had speed issues. Bly and Smith had size issues. Sanchez also has a size deficiency. He's tall enough at 5-11. But his slight build (185 pounds) may cause him problems against the NFL's parade of big, physical receivers such as Dez Bryant, Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Marshall.

http://sportsday.***BANNED-URL***/d...ack-sanchez-fill-one-big-void-teams-secondary
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Great point by Gosselin.

Seems everyone is raving about "versatility" with Ramsey and Jack.

They do not make plays.

What was everyone whining about last year? Lack of big plays. Lack of turnovers.

Not a huge supporter of Sanchez, but there is something to be said for players who have a knack for getting interceptions, forcing fumbles, sacking the QB and making tackles for loss.

 

[CATCH17]

You don't see a whole lot of DB's making incredible plays on the ball.

Usually it's just a mistake and confusion by the QB.


So i'm not drafting a DB based on his interceptions because that could just be the situation they were in allowing it.


If we're not getting picks it's because either we're not getting pressure on the QB or we're not confusing the QB with scheme. In our case it's a combo of both.

Give me Ramsey over any defensive player in this draft simply because he is just better than the rest of them.

 

[Plankton]

With spread offenses all the rage in college, you see far fewer CBs that make plays on the ball - in part, because a QB seemingly always has someone to throw to in single coverage.

 

[Aven8]

He makes a perfect point IMO. You either have a nose for the ball, or you don't. It really is that simple. Carr never had that many ints in KC, and the same here.

 

[egn22]

If it were as simple as stats we'd all be experts and there would be no need for scouts.

Everything I've read indicates Ramsey is an exceptional talent and that's who I'm interested in over any other CB/S.

 

[DuDa]

I get his point but he chose the wrong player as an example. Sanchez is small and plays that way. He continually gets punked by WR's and displays Mike Jenkins level willingness to stop the run. No thanx!

 

[Paniolo22]

I point to George Teague. Never thought he was very good, but he alley seemed to make plays on the ball, either fumbles or ints.

 

[KingintheNorth]

Yeah, the stat I want to see is times targeted and/or completion percentage against. I'd love to see some interceptions but teams can and will usually gameplan against elite players in college. It's easier to get away with.

We recently had a CB get All-Conference honors and earned a scholarship to Cal this season. He did not have the stats that our other CB had (who may be signing with Colorado). At the season-ending meeting and all-league voting, the other teams stated they wanted no part of him. We left him in a lot of man and rolled the coverage to the other CB. Teams passed (and even ran) the other way the majority of the time.

 

[Killerinstinct]

How does Gosselin keep his job all these years? He is an idiot.

 

[NEODOG]

So a CB that plays in the pass happy Big 12, had more INT's against guys from the run oriented SEC & ACC...... imagine that

Tulsa threw the ball 70x's against OU....

 

[tyke1doe]

He makes a perfect point IMO. You either have a nose for the ball, or you don't. It really is that simple. Carr never had that many ints in KC, and the same here.

I agree. The more I get into the game and watch it live from the corner perspective, the more I realize this. My son plays corner in high school, and, even though I'm bias and bragging, he has a nose for the ball. Ever since he has played the corner position (and this dates back to 5th grade; he's now going into his senior year), he has always had a year where he's either made an interception or forced a fumble. And this despite the fact he's either hardly ever targeted by opposing teams or teams don't tend to pass the ball as much on the high school level and younger.

He was playing behind two senior last year, but when he got in the game, he got an interception in the end zone and almost took it back for a touchdown. In 7on7 games (which we're now playing, the first tournament he plays, he intercepts a pass, high-pointing the ball and taking it away from the receiver).

And the more I watch the game live, the more I see how there are just some guys who have a knack for getting to the football. It's an intangible you can't really put your finger on, but you know it when you see it.

So I agree with Gosselin. There are just some guys who can make a play on the ball and some who simply can't.

Don't underestimate playmakers, and guys who always find themselves around the ball.

 

[tyke1doe]

Yeah, the stat I want to see is times targeted and/or completion percentage against. I'd love to see some interceptions but teams can and will usually gameplan against elite players in college. It's easier to get away with.

We recently had a CB get All-Conference honors and earned a scholarship to Cal this season. He did not have the stats that our other CB had (who may be signing with Colorado). At the season-ending meeting and all-league voting, the other teams stated they wanted no part of him. We left him in a lot of man and rolled the coverage to the other CB. Teams passed (and even ran) the other way the majority of the time.

What were the stats? Tackles or interceptions?

While I agree stats don't tell the entire story, stats can tell you a story. If it's interceptions, if it's 1 or 2, okay. But if the All-Conference honor guy is snagging 8 or 9 interceptions, that either means ...

a.) He's got good ball skills
b.) The other team is stupid to be targeting him because he's catching these balls or
c.) The quarterback is dumb as a rock to keep on throwing it to the player who is always in the right spot to catch his errant throws - and that speaks to coaching.

Second, what's interesting about Gosselin's stats is, the guys he mentions didn't just do it on the college level, but on the NFL level also.

Yes, maybe they played in a conference where they passed more, but then for that to translate to the NFL still speaks highly of guys like Beasley and Bly.

 

[tyke1doe]

How does Gosselin keep his job all these years? He is an idiot.

What did he say that was idiotic?

 

[reddyuta]

I agree with Goose here, guys who don't have INTs con college rarely do in the NFL.case in point Byron Jones.

 

[Killerinstinct]

What did he say that was idiotic?

Ramsey is the best athlete in the draft and he is pushing Sanchez. Watch and see Ramsey move to no 1 and 2 in many of the draft rankings. Sanchez is a project and may never even start a game in the pros.

 

[tyke1doe]

Ramsey is the best athlete in the draft and he is pushing Sanchez. Watch and see Ramsey move to no 1 and 2 in many of the draft rankings. Sanchez is a project and may never even start a game in the pros.

Thanks for the explanation. However, I think Gosselin is speaking in terms of ...

1.) The Cowboys overall needS and
2.) Being aware of players who we can get later who may serve a particular need. And in this case, that's those who can intercept the football.

Now, more than likely, you're correct. Ramsey is by far the better player. But do we take Ramsey when we have other needs or do we pass him and maybe get a corner who may not be as talented as Ramsey but who has a knack for the ball.
And as for Sanchez being a project, you are likely correct. But there are a lot of low round draft choices who've made significant impacts for their teams.

Just saying.

 

[Killerinstinct]

Thanks for the explanation. However, I think Gosselin is speaking in terms of ...

1.) The Cowboys overall needS and
2.) Being aware of players who we can get later who may serve a particular need. And in this case, that's those who can intercept the football.

Now, more than likely, you're correct. Ramsey is by far the better player. But do we take Ramsey when we have other needs or do we pass him and maybe get a corner who may not be as talented as Ramsey but who has a knack for the ball.
And as for Sanchez being a project, you are likely correct. But there are a lot of low round draft choices who've made significant impacts for their teams.

Just saying.

I don't see any mention of overall needs. I don't dislike Sanchez but to try to put him in the same category as Ramsey or worse, try to make the case Sanchez would be the better pick because he had some int's in college is just ramblings by an author that has no business even covering the cowboys.

Ramsey has a shot at being a generational Safety while Sanchez might start a game some day.

 

[CCBoy]

Sanchez will have a transitioning learning curve trying to catch up with the NFL passing game and quality of receivers in them.

 

[jterrell]

BALONEY!
No stat is more bogus than college based INTS.
NONE. Not even a close 2nd.

I played at Texas Tech behind a guy who finished 2nd in career NCAA INTs, Tracy Saul.
He lasted one camp in the NFL for his newly promoted collegiate DC.

The all-time NCAA leader is Martin Bayless with 27. He had 12 NFL INTs in 13 seasons.

Goose is truly an idiot. He not only cherry-picked even when he did it made zero sense.
Dre Bly was a gambler who would give us big plays to take chances for picks.
He was mostly an average starting CB.

Aaron Beasley wasn't a good player. He played 9 years with 105 starts but made near zero impression.

I remember Dallas drafting Deangelo Smith and Michael Hamlin and those 2 were crazy high INT guys... couldn't make the team.

You know whose not on these collegiate INT Leader lists? Any of the shutdown guys.
Darrelle Revis 8 career INT
Deion 14 career INT
Pat Peterson 7 INT
Josh Norman playing at Coastal Carolina versus nobodies... 11 career INTs.

 

[tyke1doe]

I don't see any mention of overall needs. I don't dislike Sanchez but to try to put him in the same category as Ramsey or worse, try to make the case Sanchez would be the better pick because he had some int's in college is just ramblings by an author that has no business even covering the cowboys.

Ramsey has a shot at being a generational Safety while Sanchez might start a game some day.

This is not Gosselin's only article about the draft. He has written several, so I take this article in context with the others. That leads me to conclude he's not saying Sanchez is better than Ramsey.

And I happen to agree with Gosselin. I don't know whether we should draft Ramsey or not. I, personally, don't think he will have the impact on our team as an Ezekiel Elliott or Carson Wentz (down the road) or a pass rusher will.

If he's not but he'll be a very good player, then we'll likely bypass him in the draft. And that means we'll have to fill the cornerback position with a "lesser" talent. And if that's the case, then you start looking at your particular need and what you need a corner to do. And if it's later in the draft, you look for playmakers, guys who have a knack for making interceptions.