Newman Is the 2nd Best CB In The NFL
According to "Dr. Z" or Sports Illustrated
Cornerbacks
Ken Lucas, Panthers, and Terence Newman, Cowboys. Champ Bailey of the Broncos finished in third place, and on sheer ability, plus the memory of what a cornerback used to look like, the Champ was king. But he'd also get into strange walkabouts when he'd seem to lose focus and next thing you knew, there were six points on the board. Nevertheless, Champ was going to be one of my top two until the end of the grading period, when I was checking notes with someone and he said, "Give Newman a more careful look."
Now my last memory of Newman was ducking his head as the Redskins' Chris Cooley ran over him for a TD, but what the heck, fair's fair. So I did a complete workup, as the doctors like to say, and Newman was my highest scorer on pure coverage, although he was not stellar playing the force. But neither was Deion. It happens that way sometimes...you just sort of fall into it, although most selectors would not admit it.
When I saw Lucas against the Patriots in September, I said, "There's one All-pro right there." I mean he was out of sight. He had other good games, but none like that one. But there were also teams, such as the Vikings, that refused to throw into his coverage. Before I forget, one more word to you Bailey fans out there. He had a game, against the Eagles, in which he was trying to struggle through, against T.O. no less, on a pulled hamstring. He had a very bad time of it. If you're wondering if I factored that game into my system, the answer is that I did not. I threw it out. I still have some honor left. Another notev -- someone asked me what I do with interference penalties. I count the yardage, on a grading system. But if I feel the penalty was too picky, I just throw it out with yesterday's garbage, which about sums up these rules.
Without going into too much detail about grades and stuff on the rest of the corners I studied, here's the way I ranked them, in order -- McAllister of Baltimore, O'Neal of Cincinnati, Barber of Tampa Bay, Kelly of Tampa Bay, Harris of Green Bay, Mathis of Jacksonville. I started workups on Vasher and Tillman of the Bears and Taylor of Pittsburgh, but quit when I realized that they would not match up with the others.
Cornerbacks
Ken Lucas, Panthers, and Terence Newman, Cowboys. Champ Bailey of the Broncos finished in third place, and on sheer ability, plus the memory of what a cornerback used to look like, the Champ was king. But he'd also get into strange walkabouts when he'd seem to lose focus and next thing you knew, there were six points on the board. Nevertheless, Champ was going to be one of my top two until the end of the grading period, when I was checking notes with someone and he said, "Give Newman a more careful look."
Now my last memory of Newman was ducking his head as the Redskins' Chris Cooley ran over him for a TD, but what the heck, fair's fair. So I did a complete workup, as the doctors like to say, and Newman was my highest scorer on pure coverage, although he was not stellar playing the force. But neither was Deion. It happens that way sometimes...you just sort of fall into it, although most selectors would not admit it.
When I saw Lucas against the Patriots in September, I said, "There's one All-pro right there." I mean he was out of sight. He had other good games, but none like that one. But there were also teams, such as the Vikings, that refused to throw into his coverage. Before I forget, one more word to you Bailey fans out there. He had a game, against the Eagles, in which he was trying to struggle through, against T.O. no less, on a pulled hamstring. He had a very bad time of it. If you're wondering if I factored that game into my system, the answer is that I did not. I threw it out. I still have some honor left. Another notev -- someone asked me what I do with interference penalties. I count the yardage, on a grading system. But if I feel the penalty was too picky, I just throw it out with yesterday's garbage, which about sums up these rules.
Without going into too much detail about grades and stuff on the rest of the corners I studied, here's the way I ranked them, in order -- McAllister of Baltimore, O'Neal of Cincinnati, Barber of Tampa Bay, Kelly of Tampa Bay, Harris of Green Bay, Mathis of Jacksonville. I started workups on Vasher and Tillman of the Bears and Taylor of Pittsburgh, but quit when I realized that they would not match up with the others.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:48 PM
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