McShay says bad year for impact DBs

[RS12]

Which is why I never thought safety at 51. Here is article. I am not insider so only partial.

This is not a good draft for teams in the market for a difference-maker at defensive back. Ordinarily, there are a handful of cornerbacks and safeties who project as immediate impact players. The only defensive back projected to come off the board in the first half of the first round this year is Ohio State's Malcolm Jenkins, and there's still debate over whether he fits best at cornerback or free safety in the NFL.

Vontae Davis of Illinois is blessed with rare physical tools, but there are questions regarding his attitude and discipline. Similar to big brother Vernon Davis (No. 6 overall, San Francisco, 2006), Vontae is emerging as one of the biggest boom-or-bust prospects in the 2009 class.

Connecticut's Darius Butler isn't as complete a player as Jenkins or Davis, but don't be surprised to see him sneak into the first round. Though he didn't intercept a pass in 2008, Butler has excellent man-to-man cover skills so teams often threw away from him. In addition, he had an excellent Senior Bowl, he performed well at the combine, and he shaved close to two-tenths of a second off his combine 40-yard dash time at his pro day (4.33). We haven't forgotten about his problems defending the run, it's just that he's the best pure cover corner after Davis and one of the few playmakers in this draft.

Wake Forest's Alphonso Smith, Utah's Sean Smith, Vanderbilt's D.J. Moore and Oregon's Jairus Byrd are four other possible first-day picks. In fact, Alphonso Smith is a fringe first-round pick. While he is just 5-foot-9 and may have a hard time matching up on the outside, he's a playmaker, and at the very least he should develop into a valuable nickelback. Sean Smith may share a last name with Alphonso but he's got the opposite problem: Sean is so tall (6-3) that there are concerns about his ability to sink his hips and explode out of his cuts, and so some feel he's a better fit at safety.

 

[KingintheNorth]

If our targeted guys are gone and Alphonso Smith is there at 51, I'd be okay with that. Scouts have said that if he was 5'11" he'd be a top 10 pick. The guy can cover and makes plays. He will be a nickelback, slot corner type but in today's NFL, they play as much as any starter.

 

[28 Joker]

I think Miami might look at Darius Butler in round 1. They like him, and I think he does sneak into round 1. Butler has speed and speed + CB = Rise


Malcolm Jenkins' 3-cone drill was really good, and Bunting says he can play CB. He compares him to Antione Winfield. A cover 2 scheme could protect his lack of long speed.

Also, Bunting says Sean Smith could play CB or S. He says his 3-cone was good enough. He's looked at all these guys on tape, and he says Smith could do well at both spots. For his size, he's not too stiff to play CB according to Bunting.

 

[jterrell]

I would agree about CBs. The top of the class is very, very weak. Neither Davis nor Jenkins looked like they had the swivel hips of a man coverage guru.

But Safeties do not always jump out as top 15 prospects prior to the draft and this group of safeties is a good one. In fact they ran as fast as the CBs in the 40 and they looked as good in the coverage based drills. Which is why I thought while watching the combine that the safeties were far better as a group.

Vontae Davis looked plain awful. He is too muscular and stiff in the hips and was wayyy more fast than he was quick. He has bust written all over him.

Jenkins and Smith could make some teams very happy as a cover 2 corner who comes up to tackle well and plays an area. But neither can man up on top flight WRs.