CornerBack ~ Marlon Humphrey ~ Alabama Crimson Tide ~ 6003/198
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: Tremendous. Excellent Fluidity, excellent Acceleration, and outstanding Speed.
Processing Speed: Marginal. Enormous Red Flag.
Run Defense: Outstanding. Tremendous Tackler and an awesome Motor.
Pass Coverage: Mediocre. Tremendous Agility, but too easily gets disoriented with'is Back to the Ball.
Catch Point Capacity: Mediocre. Exceptional Power and WingSpan, and adequate Hands, but deficient Tracking & Timing.
With me, it's all about Processing Speed, and for whatever reason, Marlon Humphrey comes across to me to lack it.
He is an extraordinary Athlete and has an awesome Motor. I love this Kid.
But even playing with that magnificent Front 7 at Alabama, he got routinely lit up, because he got routinely hornswoggled.
And it's not gonna get easier at the next level.
Caveat Emptor!!
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the invaluable Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!
Market Value #16 | Yankee Grade 4th/5th Round |
None of this is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning!! Caveat Emptor!