Building your draft board position by position - week 4: CB

[Box_O_Rocks]

I'm three days late and more than a dollar short, but I'll get the CB thread started and see if anyone has anything left to say about CBs in this draft. For historical reference, here are the first three week's discussions:
Week One OC/OG: Building your draft board position by position - week 1: OC/OG
Week Two DL: Building your draft board position by position - week 2: DL
Week Three OT: Building your draft board position by position - week 3: OT

Ochmed had a nice summary of CB characteristics as perceived by draftniks watching the Pats' choices in one of Seneschal's threads, I'll use that as the starting point for this thread. As always, have fun!

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-...04&postcount=7

Originally Posted by Ochmed Jones

In the Pats system I believe BB looks for the following in a CB.

A.) Quickness/Speed. The CB must have decent speed, not track fast but still decent, and most importantly super quickness and change of direction. Quick Twitch muscle fibers.
B.) Ball Skills. Ability to know find the ball and make a paly on the ball.
C.) Taclking/Jamming. If you can't tackle then BB won't need you for long. The ability to Jam, especially bigger receivers at the line is important also.
D.) Intanglibles (Character, intelligence, discipline and a total committment to football.)
E.) Fundamentals. CBs must possess decent technical ability and most importantly the ability to take to coaching as BB refines and improves an athletes techinque. (ie: Smooth back pedal, decent turn and run ability. form tackling, etc.)
F.) Experience. Preferably in the best college conferences and preferably a multi year starter. Also includes ability to stay on the field as opposed to the training room.

Things that are not as important to BB as some would think.

- Decent Size. BB does not care if a CB is not six foot. However he seems to like them meatier, around 185 plus pounds. Probably because they hold up better physically as tacklers.
- Loose Hips. While a decent indicator of change of direction ability, loose hips are not a prerequisite for quick twitch athletes.

Based on the above, I would picture BB draft board on CB's as follows: (Note on scoring. each of the 6 criteria above are judged on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being the best.)

Hall (A=4, B=3,C=5,D=4,E=4,F=5) Total Score = 25.
Revis (A=3,B=5,C=4,D=4,E=4,F=4) Total Score = 24.
Ross (A=3,B=3,C=4,D=4,E=4,F=3) Total Score = 21.
Wilson (A=5,B=3,C=4,D=3,E=3,F=3) Total Score 21.
Wade (A=4,B=3,C=3,D=4,E=4,F=3) Total Score 21.
Irons (A=3,B=3,C=3,D=4,E=4,F=3) Total Score 20.
McCauley (A=5,B=3,C=3,D=1,E=4,F=4) Total Score = 20.
Houston (A=4,B=3,C=2,D=3,E=4,F=4) Total Score = 20.
Bennett (A-3,B=3,C=2,D=4,E=4,F=4) Total Score = 20.

Based on these results, this draft has two guys that would fit very well in the pats system and then 7 guys that are all bunched together each with a wart or two in their game.

[Fencer]

Revis is the guy I want, even at a small trade up, and Wilson is my guy for a value pick.

McCauley's "1" on intangibles may be harsh, given his lack of a police record, but I agree he's a no-go unless Pat Hill says something very surprising to BB about him.

[SamBamsFan]

Early draft board:
Darrelle Revis
Josh Wilson
AJ Davis
Michael Coe
DeAndre Jackson
John Talley
Usama Young

Based on value, these are CB's I am still thinking of:
Daymeion Hughes
CJ Gaddis (he's kind of cb/s tweener)
David Irons
Jonathan Wade
Kenny Scott

[Box_O_Rocks]

Originally Posted by SamBamsFan

Early draft board:
Darrelle Revis
Josh Wilson
AJ Davis
Michael Coe
DeAndre Jackson
John Talley
Usama Young

Based on value, these are CB's I am still thinking of:
Daymeion Hughes
CJ Gaddis (he's kind of cb/s tweener)
David Irons
Jonathan Wade
Kenny Scott

Thanks for the Usama Young tip, I just read up on him. I don't like his short shuttle, but maybe Woicik & Nash can improve on how that translates to the field. At worst, he could be another Wilson if Geno goes down again.

[mgteich]

Who do guys expect to be available in the late 3rd within reach of our pick.

[AzPatsFan]

Originally Posted by mgteich

Who do guys expect to be available in the late 3rd within reach of our pick.

I'd hope for Josh Wilson but Coe should be there. I don' think that Josh's Intellegence and attitude can be any worst than a 4 or 5 rating; He is an Academic All American, has graduated and a team leader. If he is there in the third, its becasue he is 5'9.5" tall. No other reason.

There is another CB that no one mentions. The criminal Wright has as much talent as anybody, but maybe the Bengals beckon.

[everlong]

Revis is the only CB who is a first rounder that I like.

In the third round Irons, Coe and Bennett are all interesting. I think Irons is an underrated prospect who played well against good competition. Bennett is raw and Coe played at a small school but the thing I like about them is they are both 6 ft and still finished near the top of the 3-cone and had very good short shuttle numbers and their vertical jumps, especially Bennett, were good.

Having two short corners I felt like teams threw a lot of jump balls against us last year. Having a larger corner with good speed and lift would protect us more against that. Plus they could play nickel and match up against a lot of the TEs that gave us trouble. We have a lot of teams with bigger receivers like Burress, V Jackson, TO, Cotchery on the schedule and lot of TEs that play a large part in the passing game such as Whitten, Clark, Shockey, Gates, etc.

Even if they didn't fit as a full time CB they could fit as a nickle, FS or situational corner long term and as a 3rd rounder that's good value.

[dryheat44]

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-...73&postcount=2

[Box_O_Rocks]

Time for some outside the "box" discussion: from the Auburn Pro-Day results on NFL.com comes...

Will Herring LB: Herring (6-2½, 229) ran his 40s in 4.57 and 4.58 seconds, the short shuttle in 3.99 and the three-cone drill in 6.56. He also had a 35-inch vertical jump, a 10-foot-5 broad jump and 18 bench presses.

Now those are CB numbers at 229. He's a little slow at 4.6 in the forty, but he probably had a nice 10 yd split if he broke 4 sec. in the ss. If Herring has any skill in coverage, it would seem he could lose 10 lbs or so and get a little faster for a possible CB conversion, at minimum he's a consideration for SS.

Question: Does anyone have any take on his coverage skills? Heatster? Ochmed? patchick? Seneschal? SamBam? Pony? All & sundry?

Nut, anything in your draft guides?

With those numbers I'd be hitting the tape, if I had any, and take a good look at how he plays.

[everlong]

http://auburntigers.motime.com/

That's a great find I had forgotten about him but I remember his name getting called when watching their games. I do not recall any specific plays where he was good or bad in coverage. I do have a friend who's a huge Auburn fan and I'll check with him to see if he knows more about him. There was a thread about BB using Tebucky at LB in certain situations. I wonder if a guy like this could come in and be a cross between Don Davis and Tebucky Jones and a nickel back or possibly FS or SS. This is what I was talking about in regards to a larger CB but even more extreme. In that situation he wouldn't have to lose any weight and could almost play as a Cato June type in passing situations and yet still have enough bulk in a 3rd and 4 to take on some blocks. If he could cover a Dallas Clark or Gates it would be worth the roster slot for that alone.