Cornerbacks

Question to Patriots fans everywhere – 2014 aside, when was the last time you went into a season feeling overwhelmingly confident about your team’s depth at corner? In my recollection there was a dark time between 2009 and 2014 where the back half of the roster could’ve been described as a land of misfit toys.

I apologize for my lack of faith. If this team has taught me anything it is that Nick Caserio, BB & Staff have the best personnel department in the league, but guys like Derrick Martin, Malcolm Williams, and Justin Green never really had me nodding my head in confidence. Especially given the Patriots heavy usage of DB-heavy sub packages, and the fact that we’ve used 3CB schemes with increasing regularity for the past half-decade, depth at corner is crucial to almost any team in the NFL’s success.

I’m happy to say that this year our corners have me as excited as Edelman at a Tom Brady autograph signing. As a disclaimer, I tend to fall in love with the back half of the roster pretty much every year (e.g. was convinced Dax Swanson was the second coming, and may or may not have compared James Morris to Bruschi) but this is a new year. I pledge to at least try to be a little more careful…

That said, let’s bust out the brown paper bags from under the bed and take a look at some naughty, naughty numbers:

There truly is something compelling athletically about all of these athletes. I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that the Patriots will carry five CBs this year, and that Butler, Ryan & C. Jones are all locks. That leaves a 6 man competition for two spots between–E.J. Biggers, Justin Coleman, Darryl Richards, Jonathan Jones, Cre’Von LeBlanc, and V’Angelo Bentley. All of whom are compelling players in their own rights and I will be breaking down individually in order to predict who will make the roster.
A couple quick observations in looking at this group strictly on paper:

1. Obviously a young group experience-wise. Biggers is the old veteran & Logan Ryan is one of the old men at this position. That’s certainly a positive looking at the group moving forward.
2. Seems like ~7.2 is the cutoff for 3-cone time, and ~4.2 is the cutoff for the 20-yard short shuttle. BB likes to play to his position group’s strength’s, and while there’s no one trend among all the players, all of them are excellent in one column or another.
3. With regards to 3-cone & 20-yd times, these skills are more important for the slot corners who need elite short-area quickness to stay with receivers on quick, short routes. This is why guys like Justin Coleman, Cyrus Jones & you would assume E.J. Biggers (though I couldn’t find his stats) have good numbers there.
4. Straight line speed is more important for boundary corners like Butler, Ryan & Roberts who need to flip their hips in man coverage and run with receivers down the field. Straight line speed is also crucial for special teams players like jammers and returners, something Jonathan Jones and Cyrus Jones might project to in their first years respectively.
5. Newcomer Jonathan Jones on paper is the fastest player at the position. Interestingly, Jones was a 110m hurdler in Ga. in high school, 110, and apparently he was pretty damn good. He won the national title, as in fastest in the country at the event, with a time of (13.72), the world record is 12.80. Keep in mind Jones is only 5’8! Here’s a look at him hurdling:
6. Justin Coleman, also from Ga., was a 110m hurdler among other track events, his best time (that I could find on the interwebs) of 14.61 is nearly a second slower than Jones. Hurdling is not football, but it’s an interesting competition that I’m sure the personnel department is aware of.
7. I’ve read that ~4.4. time is what scouts would prefer in an NFL corner. This is why Malcolm Butler was overlooked by many because of his 4.6 time. As Belichick detailed to weirdly enough, Coach K, the Patriots timed Butler at 4.4 in pre-draft private workouts. All hail Caserio.
8. On paper, Justin Coleman really stands out with the best Bench, 3-Cone, & 20-yd dash times in the group. All good skill for a guy who needs to play a slot corner  who needs to jam and then run with receivers underneath,
9. Darryl Roberts broad jump and vert are nice compliments to his height and make him unique to this group as one the longest players. Leaping ability is nice, but the Patriots have been lacking CBs with size desperately. Roberts by all accounts was having a great spring last year before landing on IR at the end of camp, so it will be interesting to see if he can stay healthy this year and maybe steal a roster spot for himself.
10. At least on paper Logan Ryan had a better year than Malcolm Butler last year. That to me was somewhat noteworthy, but this also reflects that Ryan was thrown at much more than Butler.

Pats fans should be excited about this group of players. They are a unique group of talents at a crucial position in a pass-heavy league.I will be taking a look at the bubble players, aka not Butler, Ryan or C. Jones, in upcoming pieces. All of them have great stories of their own that I’ll try to explore more in depth before the season starts. Here’s to training camp!