CornerBack ~ Tre Flowers ~ Oklahoma State CowBoys ~ 6033/203
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, Verticity ~ that's Turn & Burn Acuity, to you Earthlings!! ~ and Speed!!
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.
* Speed ~ Corner and WideOut are really the only Roles where 40 Times matter.
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: 33. Tremendous Speed, but horrible Fluidity, Ricochet, and Verticity.
Processing Speed: 40. Flashes of brilliance, but very inconsistent.
Run Defense: 33. If I were rating'm as a RoverBack, with a RoverBack's responsibilities, I'd bottom'm out at 25. He's very fast, but his Field Vision is mediocre, his Fluidity and Ricochet are awful, his Combat Skills, in navigating Traffic, are horrible, and his Tackling is poor. His Speed gives'm a chance to compete, but a very slim one.
Pass Coverage: 33. He's simply crippled by a lack of Fluidity and Ricochet, and this is compounded by his sketchy Field Vision. The Hawks drafted'm to play a lot of Press Coverage, and his WingSpan is awesome, so he's got a prayer of competing at the next level, but only if he beefs up significantly and develops some Combat Skills.
CatchPoint Capacity: 60, though with spectacular potential because of that sprawling WingSpan, but he's got a long ways to go in terms of Tracking & Timing, Combat Skills, Power, and Vertical Agility before he gets there.
Ceiling? Contender. 3rd Round. Flowers has terrific Speed, a phenomenal WingSpan, and an excellent record of Health. But his Agility outside of his Speed, his Power, and his Combat Skills and Tackling are all awful. Even so, if he actually develops some Power and Combat Skills ~ and perhaps takes a Pilates course or ten ~ he might have a prayer.
Floor? Wash Out. UFA!! As things currently stand, you don't want'm within a mile of the Field. He is that awful.
Risk/Reward Ratio? Not good. Even if Flowers develops the Power and Combat Skills he'll need to develop as a Press Corner, it's hard to imagine that he'll ever become spry enough to develop beyond and enormous Liability in Pass Coverage. And his Run Defense is horrible. He looks like Special Teams competition, most likely.
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
Market Value #146 | Yankee Grade 6th/7th Round |
Please also note, Fellow FootBall Fiends: These CyberScouting Reports are not intended as predictions of success or failure, but as assessments ~ ludicrously amateurish assessments ~ of potential success. FootBall is a rough and often unfair business, and many a worthy Prospect has fallen far short of his potential, sometimes not because of his own failings, but because of those of coaching, scheme, timing...or because huge investments were made on other Prospects.
In other words: If any of my Super Dooper Deeper Sleepers ever fail to fulfill their vast potential, I’m confident that it goes without saying that it wasn’t their fault…or mine!!...Yes, I think that I'm being funny.
In other words: Caveat Emptor, Fellow FootBall Fiends!!
Enter at your own risk!!