"We desperately need cornerbacks." "The secondary was swiss cheese all last season".
CORRECTION: Early in the season, despite the loss of McCutcheon for the season, the Browns defense ranked high against the pass (and the run, for that matter--and especially scoring). It was not until Baxter, and then even Liegh Bodden ALSO went down that this defense became vulnerable to the pass.
INJURIES on a nearly unprecendented scale--along with fatigue--are what accounted for the strafing which then occured. We were starting special teamers and projects at cornerback. They made mistakes and miscommunicated DUH!
And stop ignoring the nature of this defense. The primary coverage is zone. A zone blitze is called a zone blitze because a lineman will drop back to cover a short zone. That's so that a blitze doesn't require man coverage.
Two rookie and sometimes three inexperienced linebackers were periodicly burned short and intermediate, too DUH!
Incredibly, I hear Savage ripped for poor choices in lower rounds already partly because of Antonio Perkins, who-despite this blitzekrieg of injuries, never showed up in the secondary.
Perkins was selected mainly as a special teamer. He was perhaps THE top punt returner in his draft. Savage knew that his coverage skills sucked, and hoped that, with some coaching and experience, he would eventually contribute in this area as well. Also, as a returner, he was to eventually compete to replace Dennis Northcutt. Who was pretty good, ya know? DUH!
At the same time as you wonder what happened to Perkins, you are oblivious to the existance of Demario Minter. Demario Minter was injured as a rookie and unable to compete. Now, HE was drafted as a cornerback. He is a complete cornerback with both man and zone skills, and was projected to compete for the nickel back slot immediately. He showed the talent to eventually take over one of the starting slots.
Well, he still exists! He is healthy now, has learned some stuff about the scheme, etc., and will now compete for a starting slot first, and the nickel slot second.
Meanwhile, Davin Holly started out as toast, but while you were sleeping, rapidly improved, game by game, and finished the season with five interceptions.
"Davin Holly emerged as a nickel cornerback, but the Browns must get a starter".
CORRECTION: Davin Holly STARTED his last several games, and it was as a STARTER, on the outside, that he emerged.
Naturally, we can't assume that Holly is the second coming of Bodden yet, nor assume too much about the promising and talented Minter. Then, too, there is the injury factor (don't we know it!?), and the prevalence of three and four-wide sets. So yeah, we could use more cornerbacks, and an elite starter would be very handy.
But, as usual, the need is massively exhaggerated by Chicken Little and company.
Mike Adams, Justin Hamilton, and Brodney Pool are also factors to which you are oblivious. Adams is a safety/cornerback hybrid who can cover even fast wide recievers. He can be used in coverage in nickel packages.
Hamilton matches up well with the more dangerous tight ends, and projects as a de facto nickel linebacker. Pool has similar skills, and can also take away the bigger possession recievers. This very impressive safety grouping mitigates the need for cornerback depth because of their man skills.
I was just about to say something about that Wright guy, but can't find him on the depth chart. They must have said "nevermind". So so will I. Nevermind.
And listen: this is a 3-4 zone defense. A man cornerback is much different than a zone guy. This is substantially why Savage grabbed Baxter and let Henry go. A zone cornerback is as much a run-defender as a coverage guy. He keeps the bad guys in front of him, with one eye on the backfield at all times. He reads the QB, seeks to anticipate the throw, and breaks foreward on it for a pick, a break-up, or a hard tackle.
Baxter was as much safety as cornerback, and excelled in that scheme. His loss and and the renewed weakeness against the run were not entirely unrelated. Any running back going anywhere around him had him coming at them hard, ala Felix Wright. We tend to think of only linemen and linebackers as tacklers, but in a zone scheme, the cornerbacks are almost as important.
The sexy cornerbacks in every draft are the "shut-down" corners, who may or may not have the heart, desire, or brains to play well in a zone. These are the guys who will go on day one. And this is exactly why Savage was ABLE to nab Minter later on. Minter, as I mentioned, is a total package.
Naturally, a smart coordinator can't run exclusive zone coverage all day, regardless of situation or opponent, so man skills are always useful. Bodden has emerged as a shut-down corner--and since he can do it, Grantham is smart enough to take advantage of it. And of course, another one like him would really give the defense a lot more flexibility.
But there is not urgent need nere, and a cornerback named Wright out of UTEP (I think) might well be there for the Browns in the FOURTH round...or else that Irons guy...
I like Irons better, because he is nasty and likes to beat people up. He feels dissed, and has a chip on his shoulder. He's like Minter: OK in man, excellent in zone. (Wright is a speedster shut-down guy).
But this draft is one of the deepest ever in cornerbacks. When you are a zone team with other needs, you are a moron if you burn a high pick on a cornerback in this situation. (Unless, of course, he's a guy who got in trouble, or for whatever reason slid form a rightful first round spot all the way into the third--THEN ok...so you suddenly got one of the best secondaries in the league. I'll take that!)
But here, now: Holly might come back and prove he can be a consistant starter. He might pick up where he left off, and do another Bodden. Minter probably WILL win at least a nickel role, if not overtake Holly. And even Jereme Perry showed improvement, and did some nice stuff. Why must you always assume a young player won't come back better than he was?
At any rate, you stand corrected.
"We still need a nose tackle and a defensive end".
CORRECTION: The highly disruptive Simon Fraser last season was a liability against the run. He got pushed around. He got tackles for losses and sacks sometimes, but other times got ran over. Ok yeah, but QUIT SHOVELLING DIRT ON HIM, FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD! He aint even dead yet!
Here we go again with the memorex moron (MM) stuff! He was a rookie. He is SIX FOOT SIX and weighED 288. YOU will be surprised if he returns at 305 or 310, but I'll be shocked if he doesn't! He should also have better mechanics, to keep his pad level low.
I'm not predicting that Fraser will be a Pro-Bowl DE in his second season, nor even guaranteeing that he'll be able to start. But YOU declared a NEED for a DE, and already ordered the gravestone for this YOUNG, IMROVING, GROWING, former rookie! Assuming facts not in evidence INCORRECT -bang-bang- NEXT!
Cincinnati restricted Shaun Smith for a reason. That reason is that he could plug up the middle on running downs. He lacks the speed and burst to attack the quarterback, but he can take on a double team and keep guards and centers off linebackers.
Cinci runs a 4-3, so Smith was used mainly on running downs because they had other, more athletic DT's who could penetrate and pressure the quarterback, and had good lateral pursuit skills. But oh yeah--they wanted to keep Smith, because he excelled in his run-stuffing niche.
And that, my MM friends, is a NOSE TACKLE. Everybody yawned when Savage signed him, because they are clueless about what a nose tackle really does. If you try to stop him with just a center, he will deposit the center on top of the quarterback, because he is short, and stronger than dirt. Therefore, you must use a guard on him as well.
On passing downs, it's fine if they just stalemate him, because that guard can't help on the DE or pick up the linebacker or safety that's coming through. On running downs, if they don't MOVE him, they lose. The back has to swing wide of him, and between him and the DE, and right at the linebacker who is attacking this PRE-DETERMINED gap.
A nose tackle might get one, two, or three tackles in a whole game and be awarded a game ball. And get taken for a steak dinner by Wimbley and Jackson. And Shaun Smith was always a nose tackle. He just got stuck on 4-3 teams and relegated to a niche. Always a nose tackle, but young and with experience. He WILL take most of the snaps at nose tackle this season, and he WILL do a good job.
So, we MIGHT or might not need another DE, and we DON'T need a nose tackle. However, there are a number of appropriate DE's and tackles who would convert to DE in this draft, including once again the lower rounds. Naturally, if you can upgrade and the guy is best available, you make a strong unit deeper and stronger (sometimes even if you need something else a lot more).
"A 3-4 defensive end is a glorified tackle"
CORRECTION: a 3-4 DE is often a converted tackle, but they need to be real athletes. They need to be a little taller, or at least have extra long arms, to keep skyscraping offensive tackles from controlling them with their hands. They have to have better lateral quickness, to contain or string out plays.
The nose tackle often gets lost statisticly during a game, and the DE's often are responsible for keeping blockers off linebackers, but they are also expected to make some tackles, pursue, and add to pressure on the pocket. They will often drop into coverage on zone-blitzes, too--and in the event it's a play-fake or a run, pursue and attack line linebackers.
That's not a glorified tackle.
YOU STAND CORRECTED.
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