CornerBack ~ Quinten Rollins ~ Miami RedHawks ~ 5111/195
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.
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, Navigating Traffic, Processing Speed, Motor, and Tackling.
Pass Coverage: Combat Skills, Agility, Processing Speed, and Catch Point Capacity.
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
* Navigating Traffic
* Processing Speed
* Motor
* Tackling
Pass Coverage
* Combat Skills
* Agility
* Processing Speed
* Catch Point Capacity
Processing Speed: Magnificent. Considering that Rollins took 4 entire Years off from FootBall after High School, in order to focus on BasketBall, and had previously played not Corner but RoverBack, I think it's fair to say that he had absolutely no Business whatsoever exhibiting the Instincts and Field Vision that he was manifesting by the end of the Year.
Run Defense: Phenomenal. So much for "Soft" Hooper Convertibles. Rollins needs Work on Combat Tactics, on his Field Vision, on navigating Traffic, and on Tackling Mechanics, to be certain, but his Efficacy in all of these Attributes grew by leaps and bounds over the course of the Year...and he brings a stunningly ferocious Impact to Run Defense.
Pass Coverage: Exceptional, and with the Potential to become extraordinary. By the end of the Year, when the Game was quite evidently slowing down for Rollins, his magnificent Mind was, incredibly, rapidly closing the distance with his tremendous Agility that 4 Years of abstention had imposed on it, and it manifested itself on Tape. I believe that Rollins projects equally well in Press Coverage or in Off Coverage, as he exhibits the developing Combat Skills and the extraordinary Fluidity to excel in Press and the Processing Speed and Acceleration to excel in Off Coverage.
01 ~ His ferocious Physicality, which is rare indeed with Hoop Convertibles, even if they've played FootBall before.
02 ~ His Processing Speed and Field Vision. They are raw, yes, but for his Experience? Utterly astonishing.
The Rapid Acceleration of Rollins's Field Vision & Instincts from the Michigan Game in Week 3 to the Ohio Game in Week 12 was preposterous. What is perhaps even more extraordinary was his having previously transformed from Walk On Invitee last Spring ~ after 4 full Years away from the Sport, mind you ~ to starting CornerBack by Opening Day.
And then he evolved with such ludicrous Speed, this erstwhile Walk On, who hadn't played a Snap since High School, and never at CornerBack, that he became the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year!!!
Hey...It's not the SouthEastern Conference, I get that...
But that's simply and utterly astonishing.
All I need to know about Quint Rollins in terms of a sensational Confluence of Intelligence, Relentless Drive, and Agility, is nakedly evident on Tape and on the Resume that preceded it, fleshed out over the course of the 2014 Campaign.
I presume nothing of the Future, but when I watch a guy transform from the stumbling, bumbling novice that I saw, Week 3, into the terrifying Force who seemed to be everywhere by Week 12, I feel really good about betting on'm.
And he's still pretty raw, mind you, and the Conventional Wisdom is that he's going to need a Year or two or three to develop his Game while earning his Keep on Special Teams...But my Money's on'm developing with astonishing Speed.
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!
2nd/3rd Round Market Value | Yankee Grade 1st/2nd Round |
This is not is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning: Caveat Emptor!!