Hot corner

Jammer, Buchanon tops among draft's cover men

There are 64 starting cornerbacks in the NFL, but with most teams playing nickel and dime defenses more than half the time, it's more like 96 starters. Speed and athleticism are a premium for a corner, and that makes it a young man's position. That's why more than 20 corners are drafted every year.

Last year, four corners went in the first round -- none before the 21st pick, when Nate Clements went to the Bills. Two of those first-rounders, Willie Middlebrooks and Jamar Fletcher, have yet to prove they can play.

This year's top cover men are better than last year's, and two of them should be gone by the 10th pick. After that, things will be quiet until late in the first round and a big rush on corners will take place in the second round.

Defensive scheme has a lot to do with how teams evaluate corners. Teams like the Dolphins and Eagles play mostly man coverage, so they must have elite cover corners usually found in the first round. Teams like the Bucs and Patriots play mostly cover-two zone, so they need more of the run-support type that are usually still available later in the draft.

No matter what the scheme, though, this year everyone feels Quentin Jammer of Texas is the best of the blue chips. Jammer has size and speed and can get up in the face of a big receiver and shut him down. He could have been the first corner drafted if he'd come out last year, but he stayed in school, broke up 24 passes and didn't allow a touchdown. He's an instant NFL starter.

Miami's Phillip Buchanon will be the next to come off the board. Buchanon is not as big as Jammer but he can cover just as well and he's an excellent returner on special teams. Usually, cornerbacks were receivers coming out of high school who couldn't catch well enough to stay on offense. That's not the case with Buchanon. When the ball is in the air, he's the best in the draft.

After the top two, things get cloudy. If a team needs a man-to-man type, they have Lito Sheppard, a junior out of Florida, next on their list. He likely will start his pro career against the slot receivers in nickel and dime packages while he returns punts. One coach who really likes Sheppard told me, "He's young and people told him to stay in school, but he's not going to grow any taller than 5-9 and he's good enough to go in the first round now."

If a team's defense calls for a more physical corner who can play the run, their draft board probably has Miami's Mike Rumph or Ohio State's Derek Ross in the third spot. Both are over 6-feet and weigh about 200 pounds. Both have good speed, but not great. Both have played a lot of press coverage, but most evaluators feel they're both better suited for a zone scheme.

In August, Nebraska's Keyuo Craver was considered a sure first-rounder, maybe even the second-best corner out there. The influx of underclassmen and average spring workouts have Craver falling to the second round. It's hard to see him slipping any further, considering all the teams in need of a quality athlete to play out in space.

I figure about 10 clubs need to find quality corners who can play a significant amount of time next season. I don't believe this draft has 10 guys like that, so we may see a few teams reach for players, and we may also see some small college prospects taken later in the draft. As one GM said to me: "You never have enough corners in the draft, so what else is new."

Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years as a pro football coach, scout and personnel administrator, is an NFL analyst for CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNNSI.com.

 

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