CornerBack ~ Isaac Yiadom ~ Boston College Eagles ~ 6006/189
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: 40. Mediocre Fluidity, mediocre Acceleration, and mediocre Speed.
Processing Speed: 80. Excellent read and react speed and efficacy. Very instinctive.
Run Defense: 60. Mediocre Power, but excellent Combat Skills to navigate Traffic and exceptional Aggressiveness.
Pass Coverage: 40 in Off Coverage. 60 in Man Coverage. Mediocre, Reserve level all-around Agility, but he's blessed with an excellent WingSpan, and he's exceptionally good at using it to Advantage in Press Coverage.
CatchPoint Capacity: 80. His Production at BC says "mediocre" at best, but this is of course about projection, and he exhibits terrific Tracking & Timing, excellent Combat Skills and of course that terrific WingSpan.
Ceiling? Warrior. 2nd/3rd Round. He's kinda slow, kinda stiff, and kinda sluggish, but he does have that WingSpan, and if he continues to work his ass off mentally and physically, he can carve out a Starter's role and keep it.
Floor? Reserve. 7th Round. Honestly, I do not perceive top 53-level Athleticism, here.
Risk/Reward Ratio? Outstanding. Yiadom has by all accounts worked his ass off, mentally, and physically, for many Years, and there's little reason to expect that trend to stop any time soon. He's got serious limitations and he will get burned, should his team foolishly leave'm out there unprotected against elite talent. But that's true of most, isn't it?
In Press Coverage, Yiadom has the WingSpan, the Combat Skills, and the deep understanding of Route Reading to stick with his man with consistency far in excess of that which his athletic "Talent" warrants by itself, and while he was pathetically unproductive at the CatchPoint at BC, I'm hear to say that I believe he will prove far more effective as a professional: he's mentally and physically well-conditioned to do so, and has improved every Year.
Yeah, Isaac Yiadom seems to me to be a classic Scapper, one with the usual low level of Talent that barely warrants his making a Roster, but loads of Intelligence and Drive and a legitimate chance to carve our a solid career.
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
Market Value #99 | Yankee Grade 3rd/4th 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!!