NeonDeion21
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There aren’t a lot of positives to take away from the Dallas Cowboys’ defense, particularly in the secondary. And rookie safety J.J. Wilcox had a very shaky year. And if you have already started digging into the 2014 draft, you will see many draftniks putting a safety in their first round of their mock drafts to Dallas. And while I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to that, I want to make a case as to why we shouldn’t count out Wilcox just yet.
Put J.J. Wilcox’s year in perspective. Wilcox basically had no offseason after playing in the Senior Bowl, then preparing for the NFL Combine and private workouts, to jumping right into training camp. On top of that, he was a third round pick coming from a small school (Georgia Southern) and he was also playing a position that he had only played for a few years in his life. But the transition actually got harder for him.
Then just as Wilcox was in the middle of training camp, fighting for a starting role on the team, his mother died on August 14th. The 22 year old from Georgia took a week off from camp and rejoined the team in midst of a battle with Will Allen and Jeff Heath. And somehow, things still managed to get worse for Wilcox. Right before a big game against Detroit in which he was preparing to help cover Calvin Johnson, Wilcox injured his knee in practice after he had finally started to get up to speed. Wilcox proceeded to miss three games during his rookie season and was replaced in the lineup by Jeff Heath who never gave up the starting job. And on top of all that, he is playing for the most scrutinized franchise on the face of the Earth. That’s a lot for any player to go through, let alone a 22 year old rookie from Georgia Southern. But in the limited snaps that I saw Wilcox, I came away impressed.
Read the rest at: http://cover32.com/cowboys/2014/01/30/what-does-the-future-hold-for-j-j-wilcox/
From the article. Look at Wilcox's measurables compared to other similar style of safeties:
Put J.J. Wilcox’s year in perspective. Wilcox basically had no offseason after playing in the Senior Bowl, then preparing for the NFL Combine and private workouts, to jumping right into training camp. On top of that, he was a third round pick coming from a small school (Georgia Southern) and he was also playing a position that he had only played for a few years in his life. But the transition actually got harder for him.
Then just as Wilcox was in the middle of training camp, fighting for a starting role on the team, his mother died on August 14th. The 22 year old from Georgia took a week off from camp and rejoined the team in midst of a battle with Will Allen and Jeff Heath. And somehow, things still managed to get worse for Wilcox. Right before a big game against Detroit in which he was preparing to help cover Calvin Johnson, Wilcox injured his knee in practice after he had finally started to get up to speed. Wilcox proceeded to miss three games during his rookie season and was replaced in the lineup by Jeff Heath who never gave up the starting job. And on top of all that, he is playing for the most scrutinized franchise on the face of the Earth. That’s a lot for any player to go through, let alone a 22 year old rookie from Georgia Southern. But in the limited snaps that I saw Wilcox, I came away impressed.
Read the rest at: http://cover32.com/cowboys/2014/01/30/what-does-the-future-hold-for-j-j-wilcox/
From the article. Look at Wilcox's measurables compared to other similar style of safeties:
