CornerBack ~ Joshua Jones ~ North Carolina State WolfPack ~ 6012/220
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. Outstanding Acceleration and Closing Speed. Marginal Fluidity and Ricochet.
Processing Speed: Marginal. When I write of Processing Speed or, by extension, Field Vision, I am of course writing about the ability to Read and React with Speed and Precision. All the Decisiveness in the World doesn't do you or your Team much good if your Diagnostic Abilities suck, and Jones is certainly quick...but he's often not very clever.
Run Defense: Competitive. Projecting'm as a Corner, where he has played very little in this LifeTime, Jones has sufficient raw Power to excel at The Point of Attack, and enough Speed to excel, as well, In Pursuit, despite marginal Fluidity and Ricochet. However, this combination of an inability to redirect quickly or smoothly, compounded with equally sluggish Processing Speed, dramatically compromise his Effectiveness and could in fact render'm a Liability.
Pass Coverage: Marginal, with extraordinary Potential. This is almost purely speculative, of course, being based mostly on my dramatically extrapolating the way he moves around as a CenterFielder to playing CornerBack, and on his almost complete lack of Experience doing so. He's raw, that's certain. But despite his FrankenStein Fluidity, his blistering Speed and impressive Frame translate to tremendous Potential as a CornerBack, provided it's Press Coverage.
CatchPoint Capacity: Exceptional, and potentially Dominant. His Tracking & Timing are effective, he's very Powerful, he's got an Impressive WingSpan, and his Vertical Agility is outstanding. Mediocre Hands, though.
Doubling Down on those troubling Reports is his evident lack of Diagnostic Acuity and Discipline. Nor did I find Supporting Evidence on Tape to corroborate more positive Reports, these speaking to an elite level of Toughness ~ an Appetite for Combat. What I saw was more running around and less attacking than I prefer to see, punctuated by the occasional Splash Play, when he had a clean shot and an Opportunity to dazzle. I found neither tendency inspiring.
Nevertheless I find it my Duty to advocate for his Better Interests, and I believe that those would be best served by a Conversion to CornerBack. From what I saw, Jones lacks the Processing Speed and Field Vision to excel either at Rover or at CenterFielder, Liabilities that would be greatly exacerbated by his sluggish Fluidity and Ricochet: RoverBacks and CenterFielders need to diagnose Plays rapidly, decisively, and correctly, and they need the Agility to act upon those Decisions instantaneously, or Disaster can strike...and none of those are Strengths of Joshua Jones.
As a CornerBack Conversion, though ~ Press Coverage only, mind you ~ his combination of Power, WingSpan, and Speed offer extraordinary Potential. Whether or not he possesses the high levels of Intelligence and Drive needed to fulfill that Potential ~ and how much Draft Capital should be wagered on the outcome ~ is of course the Question.
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the invaluable Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!
Market Value 2nd Round | Yankee Grade 3rd Round |
None of this is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning!! Caveat Emptor!