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 Size a concern for '99 cornerbacks
Posted: Wednesday April 14, 1999 12:31 PM
The 1999 draft is not as strong as recent drafts have been in the secondary. And the coaches I spoke with said colleges are just not producing enough quality corners to cover the tall receivers playing in the NFL right now. How did the situation get like this? One coach pointed out that it starts back in the freshman year of college. The tall recruits are put at receiver, and the shorter receivers who fell from grace when the run and shoot died are put on defense.
Take a look at this draft class and you get the feeling he may be right.After the top two prospects -- 6-foot, 186-pound Champ Bailey of Georgia, and 6-foot-1, 207-pound Chris McAlister of Arizona -- the rest of the top corners are on the small side. Ohio State's Antoine Winfield is 5-foot-8. North Carolina's Dre' Bly 5-foot-9, Daylon McCutcheon of Southern Cal is 5-foot-8 and Alabama's Fernando Bryant is 5-foot-10. I brought up the fact that I was with 5-foot-9 Aaron Glenn in New York and he got the job done. But they were all quick to point out there's probably no Glenn in this group. So what are the defensive coaches doing about this problem? The four I talked with said they're looking to the safety position for possible conversion players. The Giants were successful doing it with Jason Sehorn in 1994 and last year's experiment in New England with Tebucky Jones looks like it will work, too. I asked the coaches which safeties have a chance to make the transition and here are the six names they brought up most often: Clemson's Antwan Edwards, Cal's Marquis Smith, Kenny Wright of Northwestern State, Auburn's Brad Ware, Tony George of Florida and Pierson Prioleau of Virginia Tech. The agents representing these players know there's more money waiting for their clients if they can make the transition, just like there's more money for left offensive tackles than guards. And as one personnel man pointed out to me, there's a reason Denver paid cornerback Dale Carter a $7.8 million signing bonus. He's a tall, tough corner, and they're very hard to find. Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years in the NFL as a coach and scout, is an NFL analyst for CNN/SI.
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