Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots February 23, 2018 - Draft Cornerbacks with Luke Inman

Episode Date: February 23, 2018

Luke Inman returns for the second time this week to break down prospects, this time looking at draft cornerbacks.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome everybody to a special Friday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast, Friday, February 23rd, Mark Schofield in the big chair, and we're going to do some cornerback talk today, mainly because look, we all know we can see the handwriting on the wall, Malcolm Butler probably on his way out of town, the Patriots will have to address cornerback during this offseason I assume they will do it via the draft and we're going to dive into some potential draft corners and who better to do that with than the one and only Luke Inman he's been on the show already you heard him talk O-line now he's going to talk corners with us you can follow him on Twitter at Luke underscore spinman S-P-I-N-M-A-N.

Luke, my friend, the host of the Draft Rap Podcast. How are you, buddy? Hey, appreciate you having me on for an encore, man. And what a perfect day to talk cornerbacks. I know. Obviously, Marcus Peters just minutes ago traded a huge, I mean, we love blockbuster trades in the NFL. It's so fun. But to see him go to the Rams now, very interesting.

We were talking behind the scenes what the compensation is going to be for Marcus Peters. I got to think at least a one and a lot of change, maybe a third or a future two, things like that. But, again, I mentioned to you before the scenes, reminds me of the Deion Sanders path, just an all-pro talent, but, again, a guy that because he was so colorful off off the field for multiple reasons, flip flops from teams like the Falcons to the Niners, eventually six with the Cowboys.

We'll see what happens with Marcus Peters and the Rams. Exciting day, though, to talk corners. Definitely. And before we get into the corners, I just want to throw this out there. And, you know, it's interesting, you know, being an an AFC guy getting to talk to an NFC guy you see a move like this and I can't help but feel like the balance of power in the league continues to shift sort of from AFC to NFC when you see a team like the Rams load up add some stuff on defense clearly they were a playoff team last year it just seems to me like another day

where the NFC seems to be getting a little bit better. It's wild, man. I mean, again, you go backwards and look at the playoffs last year when they started. I said any of the six seeds that made it in the playoffs to the NFC could justifiably get hot and beat the number one seed in the AFC, whoever that may have been. And again, we're talking about teams like the Rams who scare the hell out of you towards the end and again a lot of other powerhouses that are young but getting better and I think too you look at the the top of the first round Cleveland Indianapolis Houston should have had the fourth pick Denver the Jets I mean AFC really at the bottom of the barrel right now to see a star like Marcus Peters flip from the AFC to the NFC as a Viking fan. I'm not in love with it, man.

Right. I bet. I bet. All right. Let's dive into some quarters now. And you suggested four names here that we're going to jump into. I want to start with a guy that was recently mocked to New England. I forget who it was.

Might've been Albert Breer. Might've been Peter Kent. Somebody did this. Isaiah Oliver from the University of Colorado mocked to the Patriots at 31. What are your thoughts on the Buffalo's corner? Yeah, well, I think, you know, why I picked the four names that we'll get into is because I don't think, and it's similar to the quarterbacks right now, all of them could be justified as the number one corner taken. Combine is going to be huge, especially for a guy like Oliver to start seeing some of these guys separate.

But I love this cornerback class, especially at the top. And again, you mentioned Isaiah Oliver, Colorado, could be a true frontrunner to be the top cornerback taken. I think what intrigues me and really going to entice a lot of coaches about Oliver, he's tall, he's got the long arms, kind of polished technique already. And again, it's physical skills that you can't teach to be a number one corner. Listen, a lot of quarterbacks didn't really test Oliver last year. He still managed to pick off a few passes, but I think Oliver could be the first cornerback off the board if he can have a great combine.

Again, he's going to measure in very well again tall physically imposing guy and if you can rub any run anywhere in the four fours uh that's just a cherry on top so i think azalea oliver kind of a little bit of the unknown going in but again i think once we see his combine performance man watch out he could be the talk of the town once everybody leaves indie you mentioned the combine being pretty critical for Oliver. What are you sort of looking for coming out of Indy from him? Well, I think the number one drill, or there's a few drills, that you can really dissect and take away from the cornerbacks from Indy

as opposed to some other positions. It's not really a great kind of meter stick to really gauge some of these guys. But the hip drills, I mean, you want to see how fluid these guys are in their back pedal, how fluid they are in their hip turns. And then again, just if they can naturally catch the ball, you know, it sounds silly, but sometimes these guys aren't the most natural pass catchers either. So I think the hips, the feet, those are two things that pop out quite a bit from the combine. Stemming off that, though, I mean, that's kind of the general rule for all corners.

But I want to see, again, how tall Oliver is. I want to see his wingspan. I want to see, again, that 40 time, things like that, that, again, could really separate him from some of the other names we're about to get into. Yeah, when you look at Oliver, what do you see from him from like a scheme fit perspective you see him better in zone or man or what do you think on that yeah I think again because of the physical nature of him the way he's built those long arms I'd love to see him in a press type of scheme a man type of scheme but I think again you know as much as we talk about corners being able to shift from the outside to playing nickel corner and how

important having a slot corner is, I'd really like to see Oliver stay on the outside as a boundary corner. So, you know, not necessarily limited to just a man scheme. I think he could play zone if you need him to, but I think a press type of style and then again, keeping him on the boundary makes the most sense. And Mark, you told me, I i mean does that make sense for the patriots and bill belichick scheme you would know better than me but i think again those are kind of the strengths or where i would want to maximize his skill set no i mean i completely agree with that i mean new england they're going to want to do a lot of that they're going to want to do a lot of cover one you know have your guys in sort of press man situation sometimes put you on an island and say look you know we're going to just put our corners on an island we're going to expect you

to lock down the guy you're across from and then rely on linebacker safeties to take care of everything else in the middle of the field just go out and do your job that's kind of their thing right yeah absolutely yeah and again too i mean you'll know this a little bit better than me that the patriots roster itself but again sounds like but on the way out, right in on the wall. Then going from there, who are the top two or three guys? Are they etched in stone already, Mark? Would you say Stephon Gilmore, or are you going to have to refresh me? Eric Rowe, how did he kind of finish the season?

Or is there another third guy that I don't really know too much about yet? Yeah, I mean, you're looking at Gilmore definitely being your number one corner okay you're looking to add a guy to put across from him Rowe is probably going to be you know your slot guy your number three corner and then after that it's Johnson Badamosi who's more of a special teams guy okay drafted Cyrus Jones in 2016 out of Alabama but that has not panned out well they like I like Jonathan Jones Auburn the Auburn kid he did some stuff on crossers but you know that's still pretty thin and quarters go down you need quarters in this league it's a passion so you know even if that's their four right there or that's their five right there you're still going to want to make an

addition so I still think you're looking for somebody. Yeah, so just, again, recapping that, it seems like Gilmore's their one etched in stone, but we're really trying to find and develop a true number two cornerback after letting Butler go, right? Yeah, I mean, I think that's what you're looking at. And, you know, with these guys that we're going to talk about, I all think could step in and be that type of guy.

Absolutely. And again, you're kind of in that sweet spot, too, not to veer too much off topic, but you're kind of in that sweet spot, too, where, again, there's about four or five different names that, again, could all justifiably be the number one corner and vice versa. Somebody, if not two or three of these guys, are going to slip right in New England's lap. Again, I had a guy like Marcus Davenport being mocked there. Again, I just think that would be fun for Bill Belichick to develop.

But cornerback, again, understanding and talking with you a little bit more, knowing New England's, again, a little bit more of a pressing need than maybe I was led on to believe as that number two corner. This could be a great sweet spot for New England sitting at 31. Yeah, look, and like we talked about when we were doing the old line, they've got to pick early in the second too. That's right. They can theoretically wait.

If a Davenport, like you said, falls to them, they could go Davenport at 31 and then see which one of these guys potentially is there when they pick early in the second. And a guy that that could be, next guy we're going to talk about, is the kid from Louisville, Jair Alexander. Kind of a feisty kid, had some injury troubles. What can you tell us about him yeah you just said it feisty I mean physical cover man kind of that um you know there's a certain type of feistiness or cockiness or confidence that you have to have in in the NFL to be a true number one corner hey you can be a

a great kind of uh two or three number corner in this league, but if you want to be one of those number one true shutdown corners, you do. I mean, it sounds a little silly, but you got to have that kind of cockiness to go with the position. We see Jalen Ramsey already one of the best young cornerbacks in the league, already kind of known for making a name for himself as getting in the head of some of these guys. And I think Jair Alexander from Louisville is that guy in this class. I think he's very feisty, like you said, especially around the line of scrimmage, too. I love to see, again, him jam a lot of receivers, get in the heads early on. We talked about Marcus Peters right away.

I remember cutting his tape up from Washington. Nobody was more aggressive and kind of bullied his opponents at the line of scrimmage like Marcus Peters. I see a little bit of that in Jair Alexander, and I love that. Now, 5'11", 192. We'll see, again, what he kind of measures in or comes in at the combine, but I don't think, again, he's going to match up physically as imposing as like an Isaiah Oliver, who we just mentioned from Colorado. But again, Alexander, again, don't let the weight or maybe length fool you. He plays a lot bigger than what he really is.

And I know he, you know, the big thing for him, I know he was held out quite a few games. I don't know how many games in the 2017 season, but he was hurt. And, you know, had he been able to put together a full stretch of games, I think, again, Jair Alexander would be talked about a lot more. Now that we're in draft process and draft season, he's starting to get exposed in a good way quite a bit more. But had he been able to stay healthy this 2017 season,

I think a lot more people would know about Jair Alexander because he's really that good. Do you think sort of that feistiness, that aggressive nature he has, his willingness to sort of get down, the other line of scrimmage press guys, do you think that could be a problem for him as he sort of transitions to the NFL where, you know, we watch these games, there are flags thrown on almost every single play. Do you think that's an issue that might sort where, you know, we watch these games, there are flags thrown on almost

every single play. Like, do you think that's an issue that might sort of, you know, hurt his development a little bit because he's going to get flagged? He's going to be taught to maybe be a little bit more conservative with his hands. Like, do you think that's an issue? Yeah, it's a fair question, Mark. You bring up a great point because, you know, I was chopping up Denzel Ward's tape, who we'll get here in a second, and another guy who, again, very grabby, undersized. So when you match up, especially now in the NFL, with some of these bigger, physical, imposing receivers that, to be honest, they're just not used to lining up against,

and you're already having problems with bigger guys at college, and now you get to the NFL, it's certainly a concern. And I think back to mike zimmer when he first got here uh he had to throw boxing gloves on xavier rhodes to start to train him and really start to again get rid of some of those bad habits of being grabby cornerbacks trey wayne's similar problems very grabby again, with these physical, more imposing guys. Now, Rhodes is a little bit bigger, one of the bigger, more physical, imposing press kind of cover corners.

But Trey Waynes is not, and he never will be. And I think that was always and still is kind of a work in progress. I think that might be a similar case to Jair Alexander, where you're going to have to work on that a little bit. And I think certainly, too, that he needs to find the right coach to help him do that. So as enticing as these four or five names are in the first round, if they don't match up with the right coach to develop not only, again, their weaknesses now and transition from college to the pros,

but also maximize the skill sets that they have, I think that's where, again, you don't live up to maybe the potential that you were hoping, like a – I'm trying to think of a good example – like a Byron Jones. Now, Byron Jones hasn't been bad at all, but you get the physical stuff, the athlete, the kind of freak numbers from the combine, and I'm not sure, again, he's ever lived up to that or will ever live up to that maybe potential.

So Jairair very fun again feisty confident cocky like you said you brought up a great point Mark might have some some issues transitioning though to those bigger more physical receivers in the NFL Mark Schofield Luke Inman going into some draft corners the Patriots might have in mind with that pick at the end of the first round or maybe that pick at the start of the second we're going to move to the sec now luke carlton davis from auburn a little bit of a bigger guy you know least listed at 6-1-2-0-3 what are your thoughts on him yeah i love him i think he he's slowly for whatever reason started to trickle down um towards the bottom five of these corners that we're talking um some people might even have him as the sixth or seventh corner,

more of that second-round range, but I love him. I see, again, a physicality that kind of separates him from a lot of these other guys, bigger, like you mentioned. And similar to Jair Alexander, he loves, I mean, he lives at the line of scrimmage. I think a zone scheme makes a lot of sense for him. Again, he's a physical guy with good height and length, but I think actually when you watch his playing style, I think, again, if you can keep his eyes on the quarterback,

eyes towards the ball most of the time in that kind of, again, zone scheme or whatever you want to call it, I think Carlton Davis, man, he makes a lot of sense for teams that run that style of defense. And again, I mean, when it's all said and done, if he is put in the right scheme, I think he could be one of the best of the bunch two, three years down the road. But again, if you want to remember one thing from Carlton Davis, bigger physical guy, again, really lives at the line of scrimmage awesome and press and i think again once you see him at the combine what we got to see how are the hips how are the feet um you know

the back pedal doubt he's going to be um quite as smooth as some of these other guys we're going to get into but you know does he look stiff i mean you know how well can he move uh in some of those drills going to be very interesting to see him at the combine when he's put through all those drills and tests yeah and you mentioned Luke the ability to sort of impress situations and that's an area where I think Davis kind of stands out even though like you said probably best suited for a zone scheme he can still like that we've talked about with the Patriots roll down over receiver get a jam on him and work man coverage in those situations yeah and again i think too

that i may in the beam i might be in the minority on that take by the way mark i i think most people again are gonna just assume or put him in that stereotype because he's 6'1 because he's bigger you know he's well built at over 200 pounds and he's got the length that he's got to be a press or man guy and again you go off the film really good press but i still think he's got to be a press or man guy. And again, you go off the film, really good press. But I still think he's at his best, again, staying around 5, 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. It kind of alleviates a lot of room for error with maybe those stiff feet or stiff hips. And again, I think he's at his best

when he's got the eyes towards the line of scrimmage, eyes towards the quarterback, eyes towards the ball. I think that's where he does his best. I may be in the minority on that, but again, just watching the tape that I have on him, I really like what I see, again, near and at the line of scrimmage. All right, Luke, we're going to close things out. Our fourth guy we're going to talk about here. This is a guy that I know you like.

You're looking at him as a top 10, top 15 type pick. You've recently done some work on him. You basically said he has off the chart speed, foot witness, and athleticism that allows him to drape himself all over opposing targets that's denzel ward over ohio state i know you've got a breakdown on him what have you learned chopping up his film yeah chopped up all the film uh and as you mentioned i i was just blown away by just just throw on the tape of denzel Ward and watch the feet. Forget about everything else. Turn off the music.

Put it on mute. Just watch the feet and the hips. He's really, again, I think the best in this class from an athleticism standpoint. And I think also that the combine is going to prove that. He's only going to, again, I think rise his stock a little bit more. Now he is undersized. Hopefully he can even hit 5'11", 5'11 1⁄2". is going to prove that. He's only going to, again, I think, rise his stock a little bit more. Now, he is undersized. Hopefully, he can even hit 5'11", 5'11 1⁄2". We'll find out. Doesn't have the length that you want for the prototypical, again, cover corner, but the speed, the feet,

the hips, I think they're so smooth. He's able to really keep his hips locked in because his back pedals so good and quick. Um, and it doesn't allow him to bite on double moves or things like that. So he's always in the hip pocket of a lot of receivers. The downside of Ward again, undersized doesn't have the length. He's kind of grown into this maybe bad habit of, uh, not snapping his head around. That's the one thing I noticed quite a bit. Doesn't get his head around on a lot of balls. The good news is he's almost gotten so good at that, I guess, quote-unquote flaw or bad habit that his ball skills are off the charts. I mean, he really almost is one of these guys that will glue onto the receiver

and watch and wait for him to start to haul in the ball and then immediately swat it away. I mean, he's very good with his hands, but you have to have really good just awareness to be able to do that. I was just blown away by that. So certainly not flawless. Again, doesn't snap that head around great, doesn't have the length, and there's nothing you can do about that.

I'm worried about him at press or line of scrimmage at the NFL level. But as far as, again, foot quickness, fluid hips, speed, and again, really ball skills too. Denzel Ward's at the top of the charts. He should, I'd be shocked if he didn't run in the 4-4s, maybe even sub-4-4. And if he can do that, lock him up. Again, I mentioned in the video cut-up, maybe Green Bay at 14, Miami, depending on what they do at 11 and then Oakland

at 10 all makes sense, I think for Ward. But again, combine is going to be huge for these corners when they're thrown through these drills and tests. I think any one of them could kind of leapfrog the rest and become the number one corner. So Luke, let's get you out of here on this one. Again, like I did the last time you were on, ask you to walk into a scary place and that's the mind of Bill Belichick. If you go corner, say, I'll ask a two-part question. If you go corner at 31, who would you like to see there? And if you go corner with that first pick in the second instead, who would you like to see there? Yeah, well, first, again, you mentioned the two picks in the second round love that for the Patriots uh super fun and excited and again to go over the different scenarios that you can hope for I think Mike Hughes or Jair Alexander make a lot

of sense in that first pick but I'll say this I think Carlton Davis is going to get slipped down a little bit because again some of these other corners are going to be so fluid and run a faster 40 time and things like that, a three cone and all that. And I think Bill Belichick could really do a lot of great things with Carlton Davis. I think he fits a lot of the things that he would want him to do. And I think if somebody like a, let's just say like an Arden Key, Harold Landry, Marcus Davenport, you want to pull the trigger on a guy like that in the first round, or even if they let Nate Solder go, maybe a Mike McGlinchey or somebody else of that nature, pull the trigger on that kind of talent in the first round. I think you could get Carlton Davis with that first pick in the second round. Kind of that 40 to 50 range, I think, is probably more realistic for Carlton Davis. I think you're getting great bang for the buck, great value. And I think, again, under a guy like

Bill Belichick, again, Carlton Davis could be the best of the bunch in two, three years. That's a great way to maximize, again, the value of those picks uh with your first two picks and then you still got that second second round pick as well um you know have at it uh kind of a more of a luxury pick at that point to do whatever you want i'm sure a running back if you do let deon lewis go uh depending on how you guys feel about the rest of the bunch i'm sure one of these great running backs will fall into your lap as well with that second second round pick so that for me would be the dream scenario in a situation like that Luke fantastic stuff as always before we go I'll turn the mic to you you mentioned that Denzel Ward video tell people where they can

check that out as well as what you've got coming down next in the pipeline yeah appreciate it Mark yeah very much again had a good video cut, kind of a video breakdown of Denzel Ward, chopped up balls, Tate. Check that out on my Twitter, again, at Luke underscore Spinman. You can check out all my draft work, though, not only now, but throughout the entire draft season on ZoneCoverage.com. That's ZoneCoverage.com. Fantastic stuff from our friend Luke.

Please do follow him on Twitter as you can tell. Man, I think two shows in a week that tells you how much I think of Luke right there. He's a fantastic guy to follow. One of the best people in this business. That will do it for today's show. I will be back Monday. The Mailbag Monday.

Until then, keep it locked right here. I'm Mark Stofan, and Locked on Pitch.