Who do u think will be in the slot?
If Roberts can take the entire season and next off season and sit down with the trainers,and get a real diet going to gain another 15 lbs, all while only losing around .5 on his 40 times, he would have elite corner measurable's and would be the teams best choice to match up with the bigger elite WR's in the league (Calvin Johnson, Dez Bryant , Demaryius, Thomas, Mike Evans etc etc). His vertical leap and good ball skill's, combined with his makeup speed would be a great for matching and defending these type of WR's. I read that he came into marshall at 155lbs, which I don't know what to take as. Seeing that he benched 225 23 times at only 183lbs, it could be an indicator that his frame is close to being maxed out. Lets hope the professional trainers and nutritionist the Patriots have can gain a little more weight out of him
If Coleman can gain another 10 lbs of muscle, you have an almost perfect slot candidate. Seeing he has a fairly decent ability to play both press-man, and zone, combined with decent size and good change of direction ability, make him nicely suited to line up against the different variations of players teams like to line up in the slot (Small WR's, sometime bigger WR's, and even flex TE's. He too has great ball skills and very good instants, to go along with good makeup speed. This allows him to get in the front of crossing routes and disrupt passes. His best ability, which is his run defense and natural awareness are the icing on the cake for the slot position. Going off his Tennessee game tape, I think he should already be one of the teams best run defense CB's.
Now as far as Butler goes, he isn't going to get any better physically. According to reports, he worked very hard in the offseason, and is probably in about as good as shape as he's ever going to be in. We all know by now, Butlers pro day results & measurable's aren't a great indicator to his overall physical ability. We also know he has very good technique, combined with elite recovery ability, and about as good as it get's ball skills. This makes him the perfect player to cover the Antonio Browns, a OBJ's of the League. No matter how good you are, these types of WR's are eventually going to get separation. Having the ability to recover from mistakes while using your elite balls skills to just barley close the gap, then swatting down the passes, is the best, and sometimes only way to defend these types of players. Butler has come a long way, and I'm excited to see how he progresses as a player this year.
Now I know it may seem like I have really high hopes and dreams for these player, and almost may seem to overestimate their potential. All 3 of these corners have at least above average ball skills, and all seem to have a natural nack for the game and position. They also have very good physical attributes. The main beef and nack against these guys were the school's they attended. Given some time and proper coaching, I think these players can at the least be above average as an overall unit. It looks like were going to have a very good pass rush locked up for the next several years which should also help them slow into their role, and improve as players without needing to put all the weight on their shoulder immediately.
Will any of this happen? Who Knows! However I've never felt happier about the potential of our defense for the next few seasons.
