Hi folks,

Damn, the offseason feels all wrong. I WANT GAMETIME NOW!

Anyway, being the unlearned soul I am, I thought I would pose you all a question.

The topic is, compensatory skill when the physical is in decline.

An example would be Tauscher, who was never in shape but has great technique and leverage.

Or a reciever with great hands who is no longer a deep threat but an every down viable option/go to guy.

The position in question? Corner.

What skillset does an NFL caliber cornerback need if he didn't have great speed to begin with/is in the twlight of his career and his physical attributes are declining?

I know the safety positions are just as much about communication/game smarts, I just want to know if there is/can be skills to help older corners excel, without playing safety.

Is it one of those positions (Running Back comes to mind) that without great speed, the decline is rapid?

Thanks!

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I think you look at Al Harris and he fits that?

From what I've seen, the decling with CBs is pretty rapid. The only ones who keep on playing CB at a high level are the physical ones and the savvy guys.

You don't need your straigth end speed that often if you can jam and see what's coming in most cases. If you learn to watch the hip movement, the tendencies of WRs, how they line up etc, you have such a big advantage, especially if you can play press, as well, that you usually won't have to recover and don't need that 4.4 speed.

Like LTF said, Al Harris fits that mold perfectly. I think that he might run a high 4.6, low 4.7 if they time him now, but he's still one of the better CBs in the league.

Note that I've never played the position or anything, and this is most guessing work.

I am going to talk in general terms more so...

A great coach will always adjust his scheme to fit the players he has available... not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. They take the overall collection of players and tailor their playbook the that roster. Some players may not fit with the rest of the overall group.. but we will leave that to the side in this dis

Certain positions in football a coach can compensate around via scheme and some he cannot.

Hence why the "drop off" in play for certain positions seems very rapid and others seem very gradual in a relative nature.. there will always be an athlete that can distort the norm, but on average.. they will more often than not hold true.

A corner, you can utilize a zone or bump coverage with a rolled over safety to compensate for a lost step.

A receiver routes and sets can be shorted up to utilize their experience in running a quality route to cover for their loss of step.

A lineman hones his craft over the years... maximizing his efficiency and technique to make up for a half second lag in getting set up in pass protection or firing out in a run block... the coaching staff can keep a back, tight end or motion to help offset this as well.

But in the case of a running back.. once they have lost that burst through the hole or that extra gear... their isn't much a coaching staff can do to cover for it.. other than change the percentage of runs vs pass and maybe more rapidly developing plays.. but they can't mask that burst a player has to create yards on his own.. and backs by far have to create the most yards from scrimmage in a season...

Most of the time.. corners fall off fast because coaching staffs are unwilling to adjust to the player and the player is unwilling to admit they can't play the island by themselves any longer.. either they revert to a safety or drop into the slot receivers and less snaps a game.

My opinion from watching and studying the game for better part of three decades and how the game has changed over the years.

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was thinking the same thing
(with that post I made 1st round draft pick 🙂

I played corberback for 6 years.

I can definately say that you do lose speed as you get older but you make up for it with game smarts.

As I got older I always lined up on the inside of the receiver so he had to go through me on a slant in pattern.

My first line of focus on the snap was the o/l if they came forward I ignored the w/r and went for the ball carrier.

It's a massive learning curve of a game but with experience come smarts.

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🙂 Thanks guys

It gets me to thinking though, with corner being such a pivotal position on defense, should we address it in the upcoming draft or the next, I mean Harris/Woodson are pushing on, and shit a season can age someone real fast...Blackmon/Lee and untested, Bush should be cut - only Williams who is coming on nicely..

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Physicality, savvy, and simple experience.

As has been stated, if you get a solid jam on the WR, his speed is neutralized, and you've messed up the timing on the route - advantage, CB.

Savvy and experience are also key - a guy like Al probably recognizes the majority of the offenses he faces at this point. If you know where the WR is going to go, you can set your angle accordingly and speed becomes less an issue.

As for how this applies to the Packers. IF you have decided that Pat Lee, Josh Bell, and Underwood can't get the job done (I would argue that you're rushing to judgement, but that's a different matter), then yes - they need to get some young talent in to develop. Williams is a good CB and has improved steadily, so you know he's there. Woody and Al are approaching their limits, though, so there is a need to develop something behind them.

My take: Bell, Lee and Underwood all have good upside and potential - Underwood's only entering his second season, after all. I think that more than one of these guys can certainly emerge and play well. I see Chuck being able to play at or near his current level for at least a couple seasons, and Al is likely at worst a very solid nickel back for the team this season and next. So you've got 3 very capable guys plus 3 more that can develop. That said, I wouldn't cry if they pick another one up in the draft, if for no other reason than to truly make Bush expendable.

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