PFF review of claiborne

[jblaze2004]

and other top 10 draft picks

6. Morris Claiborne

Saturday night was Claiborne’s big night, the NFL debut of the next great cover corner. Well, if that was the case then the Cowboys’ other big acquisition at corner, Brandon Carr, stole the show. However, if this is what is to come from Claiborne, Cowboy fans won’t be overly disappointed as Claiborne had a quiet night: no mistakes, a good thing for a cornerback.

Slightly disappointing was that Claiborne wasn’t particularly active at coming up to meet plays. On his first target, a wide screen to Michael Spurlock, he wasn’t especially quick to close and make the tackle, then on a sweep in his direction later in the second quarter he was easily run off of the line and kept out of the play. On his other target, he closed well enough (after being beaten on the route) to prevent any yardage after the catch. There was no big play, no break on the football, but he wasn’t found wanting either; a solid starting point. An interesting note was that the Cowboys’ coaching staff kept Claiborne against their sideline throughout the first half. Claiborne lined up at left corner during the first quarter then flipped over to right corner for the second quarter, keeping him on the Dallas sideline close to the Cowboys’ coaching staff.

Bold part is interesting? did anyone else notice this?

 

[Galian Beast]

and other top 10 draft picks

6. Morris Claiborne

Saturday night was Claiborne’s big night, the NFL debut of the next great cover corner. Well, if that was the case then the Cowboys’ other big acquisition at corner, Brandon Carr, stole the show. However, if this is what is to come from Claiborne, Cowboy fans won’t be overly disappointed as Claiborne had a quiet night: no mistakes, a good thing for a cornerback.

Slightly disappointing was that Claiborne wasn’t particularly active at coming up to meet plays. On his first target, a wide screen to Michael Spurlock, he wasn’t especially quick to close and make the tackle, then on a sweep in his direction later in the second quarter he was easily run off of the line and kept out of the play. On his other target, he closed well enough (after being beaten on the route) to prevent any yardage after the catch. There was no big play, no break on the football, but he wasn’t found wanting either; a solid starting point. An interesting note was that the Cowboys’ coaching staff kept Claiborne against their sideline throughout the first half. Claiborne lined up at left corner during the first quarter then flipped over to right corner for the second quarter, keeping him on the Dallas sideline close to the Cowboys’ coaching staff.

Bold part is interesting? did anyone else notice this?

He is a rookie who hasn't had a whole lot of playing time or practice time. To heighten the level of communication with him it is smart to have him close to the coaches. It just makes sense.

I don't think he is going to be an all-pro from day 1, the question is whether or not he can be solid or at least serviceable and not a complete liability like Terence Newman.

Hopefully Mike Jenkins is a go, so we can bring Claiborne in more slowly, and let him build confidence with experience. I think having all three of them [Carr] in the game at the same time, could be a huge boon for our defense, especially if the safeties and linebackers play well. The better our other facets do, the secondary will be impacted significantly.