Cornerback positional preview - Upgrade / Downgrade
by GopherNation on Aug 6, 2010 4:00 AM CDT
in Gopher Football
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And we now get to the position group that has me most concerned heading into 2010.
Gone are Marcus Sherels and Traye Simmons who were two year starters and who gave the Gopher defensive backfield a pair of reliable corners for the first time in years. Like our 2009 linebackers, both of these guys are currently fighting for a roster spot with NFL teams. Sherels is down in Mankato trying to be a Viking and Simmons signed with San Diego hoping he'll end up on their roster in September.
Sherels and Simmons were significant upgrades and largely contributed to the Gopher pass defense moving from among the Big Ten's worst to very respectable. Below you can see the pass defense numbers and Big Ten rank from 2007 when Sherels was a walk-on WR and Simmons was in the JUCO ranks, to their senior year in 2009.
| Pass Yds Allowed | B10 Rank | Pass TD allowed | BT Rank | |
| 2007 | 289.3 | 11 | 28 | 11 |
| 2008 | 240.3 | 10 | 21 | 11 |
| 2009 | 217.5 | 5 | 15 | 5 |
Obviously two corners are not entirely responsible for the overall pass defense, but they are critical and responsible for the two biggest receiving threats that an opposing offense has to offer. Safeties provide support, linebackers cover tight ends and backs out of the backfield; but the corners are key. Not having guys who can cover exposes your pass defense in ways that makes it incredibly difficult for the rest of the defense to make up the difference.
Looking at those numbers the Gopher pass defense gave up 50 fewer yards in their first year starting and then another 23 yards as seniors. Think those guys were valuable?
Moving into 2010 your starting corners will be the two guys who saw plenty of action backing up Sherels and Simmons. The biggest name is sophomore, Michael Carter. We all know by now that Carter is a cousin to former Gopher great, Tyrone Carter. And Gopher Nation is hoping that Michael will live up to his surname. In 2009 Carter was a true freshman and worked his way on to the field as a backup corner and occasionally nickelback. He ended up with 2 starts, 11 tackles and 2 pass breakups. Heading into his sophomore season he has put on 20 lbs and is the clear-cut #1 corner on the Gopher defense. The overall success of the Gopher pass defense isn't all on Carter's shoulders but him stepping up this year would go a long way towards not having a dropoff in production from 2009.
CB#2 is very likely going to be Ryan Collado. The senior is the Gopher's most experienced corner. As a freshman Collado started nine games and has seen action in every game throughout his career. He is a very good tackler from the outside but has been on the wrong end of too many highlight touchdowns. His cover skills need to improve, but Gopher fans should take some comfort in having some experience at this position.
After those two guys nobody is really sure who will see the most time as corners. JUCO transfer, Christyn Lewis came into the program this spring and was expected to play corner but then he spent most of the spring game playing safety. At the time both Royston and Theret were not able to play so this may have been for depth reasons. On the official depth chart he may be a backup safety but my guess is that Lewis will be the Gopher nickelback who may see action as a corner.
Next we get to a couple of true freshman. A native of Florida, Tyrone Bouie is a physical corner and has the size to play right away. Ideally he would redshirt but this year's cornerback group is rather thin and he may be forced into action early. Brock Vereen is also potentially a corner who may have to play in his freshman season. He has very good speed and could be ready to play this year in certain situations. With a true freshman it is so hard to gauge how ready he will or will not be but these guys may have to see some time on the field this fall.
Johnnie Johnson is a junior and has primarily contributed on special teams but may be needed at corner this year. At the very least he has experience. Kyle Henderson is an under the radar guy who has very good speed and has been in the program for a year following a transfer from Mankato State. I doubt he'll be an answer but you never know.
Overall, I would once again vote that this group is a downgrade. I know we have a number of young guys who are capable of stepping up and making this group stronger, but I'm not going to let pre-season optimism get in the way of what is likely going to be a thin, inexperienced 2010 set of corners. Carter is one of my picks to have a breakout year and he has all-Big Ten potential. I have very few concerns about him, but he can't do it alone. Collado has yet to prove he can cover Big Ten receivers and the rest of this group are completely unproven. Carter alone may be better than anything we had last year, but as a whole group this is a downgrade. Much like the rest of our defense I think our starters will be fine, I love that some young guys will get some real experience this year and we should be much better in 2011.
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Collado Will Be Fine
He is actually one who excells in run support and does a good job blitzing. He has improved in coverage and we got a glimpse of what happens to receivers looking to beat him in press with a faster safety coming over top in the Spring Game. I expect our Safeties to be fast and better overall giving him better support. Thus, Collado will actually look the best he has since being here this year. Carter, I just don’t see a reason to hype him; may be best CB in conference.
Ha
The kid hasn’t even started a game and he’s already the best in the conference. Unbelievable. That’s surely not hype.
The Spring Game means nothing, unless Ryan Collado was defending Kyle Prater, Ron Johnson, DJK, Toon, Gilreath, McNutt, Posey or someone similar. Collado knew the 5 plays the offense was going to run, he sees them every practice. Call me when he shuts down a big-time receiver. 3 years of evidence shows me that he gives up a 50-yard TD EVERY game. Until he proves otherwise, he’s a poor, poor pass defender who should play box safety.
Means Nothing?
Wow, you are feeling a little zeal today I see. I did not say Collado would be a lock down cornerback in this league. However, if we put him in positions where he can excell, the coaches know and can rely on what he does well. In zone, he will get better help due to more speed from the Safeties. And I am not hyping Mr. Carter; his talent speaks for itself. Other BT teams would love to have him and I know that for a fact.
Irrelevant
you said Carter might be the best cornerback in the conference. That’s a long ways away from “other BT teams would love to have him.” Of course – he’s a great PROSPECT.
There are tens of cornerbacks in the conference who have done more than him. I don’t doubt he can become an All Big Ten selection. Calling him that before he starts his FIRST game as a starter is just jumping the gun hyperbole.
As for Collado, I’ve watched every game of his from the second row with my season tix since the beginning of 2007. He gets burned every game. My evidence of three seasons of proven performance (as in, good run defense, back-breaking pass defense) >>> your evidence of speculative improvement, until we see otherwise.
Carter Started Two Games In '09
Why do you keep claiming he has not started a game. You did make it to the SDS game last year, correct. He started the Iowa game as well. And Mr. Collado played very well against Iowa and did not get “burned” during that game. So much for your evidence. Please also note that Collado played the majority of the Insight Bowl and did not get “burned” in that game either; it was Theret that got burned. Well now, we have several games in which he played without getting beat deep as you claim occurred in every game you attended since 2007; there is the evidence that he has improved. Again, Collado will be even better this year because of faster safeties.
Hopefully Only a Small Downgrade
I don’t think this position is even up for debate. While Carter has good ball skills and looks very promising, Collado is a downgrade in coverage – and who is our nickel?These guys (Sherels and Simmons) wouldn’t be in NFL camps if they didn’t have the skills or couldn’t tackle. We didn’t get much pressure on any QB last year unless we blitzed LB’s, so they were asked to cover their man an awful long time.
The best we can hope for is that our defensive line will be able to get some pressure this year to help out, otherwise it could be a very long year. As a season ticket holder, I am hoping for only a slight downgrade, but this position really scares me.
Dowgrade for sure
What makes the last group impressive is that they moved up to 5th in the Big 10 in pass coverage. Usually in football you see a big jump in pass coverage along with an increase in sacks/defensive line production….I dont think we were 5th in the big 10 in sacks…so it says a lot more on how well they played the pass….It did help to have athletic LB’s which takes pressure of the DB’s on run support and covering TE’s.
Neutral
Whilte BPT and Sherels were very good, both excelled in man coverage. BPT really struggled in zone coverage, leading to Carter playing a ton the 2nd half of the year. Both of these corners are solid in zone coverage and have shown to be good blitzers as well. I expect them to play well and I really do think Carter can be a top B10 corner. The kid got thrown in the fire last year and played really well and with the additional weight I expect him to breakout this year
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