CornerBack ~ Ahkello Witherspoon ~ Colorado Buffaloes ~ 6025/198
Old Roles are getting dramatically transformed, and virtually every Front 7 ~ or Front 6!! ~ Defensive Job Description is transitioning into an Hybrid Role where the Defender is asked to excel in multiple Roles and in multiple Fronts.
For that reason, and in order to offer NomenClature that speaks not to archaic, obsolete "Positions", but rather to Skill Sets that accurately reflect the dynamic Changes of the 21st Century Game and the Roles they have spawned, I have undertaken to craft Terminology that is designed to break Skill Sets down as they really are.
Defensive Coordinators have, since Time Immemorial, employed highly creative terminology in devising Defenses and in designating Assignments. In that Spirit, I have admittedly indulged myself considerably in devising the following NomenClature. It is undeniably colorful, but I like to think that there's an underlying Logic, as well:
CornerBacks ~ I find it quite amusing that the very last Skill Set on my list is the only Defensive Skill Set ~ so far!! ~ for whom I haven't adapted or invented a new Term. The Prototype would be about 6000/195.
CornerBacks are of course Pass Defense Specialists, but I will include Run Defense in my Evaluations. But I will note, of course, that as with Blocking as it pertains to WideOuts, it is desirable, yes, but its absence is no Red Flag.
This is how I break down CornerBacks:
Agility: Acceleration, Ricochet, Fluidity, and Verticity ~ that's Turn & Burn Acuity, to you Earthlings!!
Processing Speed: How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the developing Play.
Run Defense: Power, Agility, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, Motor, and Tackling.
Pass Coverage: Agility, Processing Speed, and Field Vision.
CatchPoint Capacity: Tracking, Timing, Combat Skills, and WingSpan.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Agility
* Fluidity, above all things: Core Agility & Flexibility makes everything possible.
* Ricochet ~ How crisply and how rapidly one breaks in a new direction.
* Acceleration ~ Short Speed or Quickness. Closing Speed.
* Verticity ~ The Ability ~ or lack thereof ~ to Flips Hips and Turn & Burn in Pass Coverage.
Processing Speed
* How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the developing Play.
Run Defense
* Power
* Agility
* Combat Skills
* Processing Speed
* Motor
* Tackling
Pass Coverage
* Agility ~ Fluidity, Ricochet, Acceleration, and Speed, baby!!
* Processing Speed ~ Reading and Reacting with Speed & Precision to Offensive Tactics.
* Field Vision ~ Processing Speed with an emphasis on the Tactical LandScape.
CatchPoint Capacity
* Tracking
* Timing
* Combat Skills
* WingSpan
* Vertical Agility
Agility: Exceptional and potentially Tremendous as he continues to sync his Mind and Body: Witherspoon took to FootBall only late in High School, so his Instincts are still a Work In Progress, but he flashes outstanding Fluidity and Speed, and his Combine Numbers confirm level of Intrinsic Fluidity and Speed that Time & Training might yet develop.
Processing Speed: Already impressive, improving quickly, and potentially Extraordinary. Witherspoon is in fact a brilliant Student who ostensibly graduated High School with a 4.4 GPA (WTF??) and is while he's still rough and raw and inconsistent, he is improving by leaps and bounds in Route Reading and Reaction Time.
Run Defense: Marginal. Marginal Power, Combat Skills, and Tackling.
Pass Coverage: Impressive and potentially phenomenal. Better suited for Press Coverage at present and probably even if he develops his Game completely, as his Height will always be a detriment to'is Fluidity in Transition, which is of crucial Importance in Off Coverage more than in Press...and as his sensational WingSpan is a magnificent Advantage. His Combat Skills are still raw, but his combination of WingSpan and Speed translate to potential Dominance.
Catch Point Capacity: Hoo hoo hoo. Yeah. Outstanding and potentially insane. His Tracking & Timing are still choppy, but, yes: Impressive, improving, and potentially tremendous. His Hands, I'll grant you, are mediocre, but they, too, are improving, as The Game continues to slow down for'm. His Vertical Agility? Awesome. And his WingSpan???
I'm gonna go with Pterodactylian.
But my Trajectory Radar is screaming at me!!
Witherspoon brings tremendous, though raw, Speed and Fluidity, phenomenal Height, and an absolutely astonishing WingSpan to the Field of Battle...and after a few Years of Timing and Training, things stared to click, last Year. By the end of the Year, the Game was slowing down rapidly for Witherspoon, who ended up racking up a preposterous 23 Broken Passes!!! This Kid is a brilliant Student, and it began to show in 2016, and show Big Time.
And you know me: I'm not worried about his Resume, which is almost as thin as he is!!
Aside: Yeah, keep Beefing Up, Kid!!
What I care about is Trajectory ~ Talent x Intelligence x Drive...And Witherspoon's rapid Improvement in 2016 tell me all that I need to know about his Intelligence and Drive...and that sensational combination of Speed, Fluidity, powerful Vertical Agility, Height, and pterodactylian WingSpan translate to dominant, Hall Of Fame Potential.
This is a young Man worth betting on...and betting Big.
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the invaluable Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!
Market Value #66 | Yankee Grade Top 10!! |
None of this is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning!! Caveat Emptor!