Corners will remain hot items in the draft
By Pat Kirwan
NFL.com Senior Analyst
(April 13, 2005) -- The 2005 draft happens to be a good class for cornerbacks, yet the appetite for corners never seems to be satisfied.
The NFL has become a league where the pass is used to set up the run, where all of the quarterbacks can throw the ball and the receivers are getting bigger and faster every year. Because of this trend, most professional defenses are playing nickel and dime defenses more than 50 percent of the plays. In most cases, the third cornerback on NFL teams plays close to 60 percent of the snaps and the fourth corner gets on the field close to 35 percent of the plays. Above and beyond that work, these extra corners are expected to have some ability as return men or aggressive tacklers on the other special team units.
The hardest responsibility regarding cornerbacks fall to the general managers who face the decision of either trying to draft or buy starting corners to take star receivers out of the game. "Lockdown" corners are hard to find and very expensive to keep, but they are always worth the risk if they show up on the draft board when your turn comes to select.
Just before the start of free agency this year, there was a notion in NFL circles that the new emphasis on pass interference and defensive holding would curtail the desire for high-priced corners. On top of that theory was the fact that the two teams that made it to the Super Bowl weeks before (Philadelphia and New England) both got there with unproven talent at the corner position. New England lost both starting corners from the previous Super Bowl to injuries and didn't miss a beat with the backups. The Eagles released their starting corners for salary reasons and played with younger, less experienced men and it didn't seem to have any negative effect.
Well, the moment free agency started, Ken Lucas, Anthony Henry, Fred Smoot, Samari Rolle, Gary Baxter and Kelly Herndon switched teams and became very rich athletes, which blew the theory about corners right out of the water. It doesn't appear the run on veteran corners is over yet and the free-agent action hasn't changed the big impact corners are going to have on the draft. Andre Dyson, who had six interceptions last year for the Titans, is still available, Miami's Patrick Surtain will probably be traded to the Chiefs very close to the start of the draft, and a number of teams are hoping Ty Law will be healthy enough to sign before the season starts. Those moves will help three teams satisfy their corner needs, but that will still leave close to half of the league's 32 teams probably taking a cornerback on the first day of the draft.
I expect six corners to be drafted in the first round, another three corners to go in the second round and four to five to be picked in the third round. What is important to remember about corners and the draft is that there are so many fast athletes at this position that they tend to be graded higher than players at other positions. Consequently, when it comes time to make a draft selection on the first day, corners are rated higher than many tight ends, guards, centers, safeties and fullbacks, so it is justified to take them. The top 10 corners in this draft average 4.4 in the 40-yard dash and under 4.0 in the 20-yard short shuttle. Fabian Washington of Nebraska ran a 4.29 in the 40 and he's not in the top three corners. Neither is Justin Miller of Clemson, who hit the tape in 4.35 and is also looking up at the top three corners. Ronald Bartell of Howard is almost 6-foot-1, which is tall for a corner, and ran a 4.37 at the combine and he's considered a sleeper. Get the picture? There is a lot of talent this year.
Miami's Antrel Rolle should hear his name called early on draft day.
In the first round Adam "Pacman" Jones (West Virginia) and Antrel Rolle (Miami) are fighting it out for the top corner selection and they are followed closely by Carlos Rogers of Auburn. All three are considered can't miss and can line up as a starter on day one and shut down NFL receivers. For the teams drafting later than the top half of the first round, they can still satisfy their corner needs with Miller, Corey Webster (LSU) and Washington or they may dip deeper into the list for Marlin Jackson (Michigan), Bryant McFadden (Florida State) or Eric Green (Virginia Tech).
As the third round rolls around, there will still be some very good players left on the board who may not necessarily start, but they can make teams better in the nickel and dime packages. So for the decision-makers in Tennessee, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Washington, Cincinnati, Denver, New York (Jets), Jacksonville and other places, this draft will satisfy the need for a corner without reaching for a player.
Finally, later in the draft, after the 16 teams that must get a corner take one, there are some very interesting guys with speed. Darrent Williams (4.30), Stanley Wilson (4.36), Karl Paymah (4.35) and Scott Starks (4.37) head a group of players who will be too good to pass up.
When NFL Kickoff Weekend arrives in September, it will not surprise me if over 20 cornerbacks from this year's draft class are on an NFL roster.
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