Only Four Corners Worthy Of Top-48 Picks
April 8th, 2013
Might the Bucs go small-school with B. W. Webb? Could Dee Milliner slip to the No. 9 pick (owned by the Jets) and trigger a blockbuster Darrelle Revis trade?
It’s considered a deep draft class of cornerbacks in 2013, but it’s hard to find an analyst to call it a great class.
It kind of reminds Joe of this year’s free agent market for corners. You know, the one the Bucs didn’t dabble in.
Veteran NFL scout Chris Landry, who also works for various media outlets including Yahoo! Sports, joined The Steve Duemig Show on WDAE-AM 620 last week to talk all things draft and go deep into cornerback chatter. Landry’s study tells him only four cornerbacks are worth the upper half of the second round or better.
“I think there are only two guys with first-round talent, with first-round grades,” Landry said. “Dee Milliner, he just doesn’t have any holes in him. He’s just solid, well coached, good quickness, good burst out of his pedal, turn and run speed. Desmond Trufant out of Washington is really good and I like him a lot. I do think Xavier Rhodes and Blidi Wreh-Wilson from Connecticut are guys that will go in the second round. To me, those are the only four guys with top half of the second round and first round grades.
“I think there are some guys that have the ability with mid-to-late second round value. [B.W.] Webb out of William and Mary, Jonathan Banks out of Mississippi State, Jamar Taylor out of Boise are all guys that represent good value, kind of mid-to-late second round, that I think can play. There’s good depth into the third and fourth round.”
Joe will be riddled with stress if the Bucs enter the draft in 17 short days in need of a starting cornerback. That’s dangerous territory for a team expecting to the make the playoffs this season.
Of course, that worry goes out the window if Darrelle Revis and Ronde Barber are on the roster by then.
One interesting nugget Joe found out of New York last week explored what might happen if Milliner slips a bit and is on the board when the Jets are on the clock with the No. 9 overall pick. Might that opportunity trigger the Revis-to-Bucs trade?
April 8th, 2013 at 8:01 am
just read on pft that the Pop-star is offering a 1st, 3rd, and 6th round picks for Revis
April 8th, 2013 at 8:07 am
The first is, without a doubt, for 2014. At least for now.
April 8th, 2013 at 8:10 am
Fear not Joe. The Jets are feeling the stress too. The Bucs still have the options the Jets simply don’t.
The worst scenario is that we blow a bunch of premium picks on a player with injury concerns.
April 8th, 2013 at 8:18 am
Joe always appreciates when you guys can at least try to stick to the topic of the post in the comments. Thanks.
April 8th, 2013 at 8:22 am
Lol joe
April 8th, 2013 at 8:22 am
I really like Trufant as well. I really hope we have the chance to snag the guy. It’s going to be interesting on draft day.
April 8th, 2013 at 8:26 am
Graded truant ahead of Rhodes interesting but you never know the draft is a crabshot I think either Rhodes or truant I would be happy with btw joe did u hear anything else about Milner medical recheck? Any concern? Maybe I am just praying he drops and we move up to get him . . . On revis I have long been saying it a 1st and 3rd we offer althought the 6th is news to me
April 8th, 2013 at 8:32 am
Jets aren’t taking a cornerback in the first round. They need pass rush on that defense. Jets really don’t need a CB if they lose Revis. They only dropped 1 spot on pass defense(from 1 to 2)
April 8th, 2013 at 8:32 am
Rhodes is a much better prospect than Trufant. Trufant has got one of the worst backpedals I’ve ever seen for a first round corner.
April 8th, 2013 at 8:34 am
Haven’t seen Rhodes as a second yet. Interesting.
April 8th, 2013 at 8:35 am
Rhodes and Trufant are completely different players. Trufant is a finesse cover corner who can match up with quicker receivers on an island in off-man coverage. He will struggle against the run in the NFL, and may have trouble with stronger receivers. Rhodes is the opposite: he shows flashes of being a physical run defender and he has elite size and length for a press or zone corner. He doesn’t have sudden movement skills or good long speed though, so he’ll need regular safety help down the field.
Given the amount of man coverage we ran last year with minimal safety help, I think Trufant is our best bet. Problem is we also have needs at TE and along the DL, so trading future picks for Revis makes even more sense. That would give us the flexibility to draft Eifert or a DL in round 1, followed by the other position in round 2. Revis and Wright is a good CB duo, but their injury history would necessitate signing a veteran 3rd corner.
April 8th, 2013 at 8:37 am
If you want me to take your evaluation seriously, you’ve gotta get the names right. Could that be Blidi Wreh Wilson from UCONN?
April 8th, 2013 at 8:40 am
I think Trufant is the best corner in this draft. Would live to see a trade back then trade up with Trufanf and Eifert. Add Revis to that and Don has another 2 years
April 8th, 2013 at 9:01 am
PFT said this morning that the Buc’s have offered a 1st. 3rd, and 6th for Revis and are willing to pay him 15/16 million a year on a long term contract.
PFT also said the Buc’s are growing weary with NY’s attitude on the trade.
If, that was the offer, I have only one comment.
That;s where 2 fools met, the one that made the offer and the one that did not take it.
If they do a deal like this it will come back to haunt the Buc’s in dealing with players for a long time. Bringing Revis into the current culture will set the Buc’s back 10 years/
April 8th, 2013 at 9:02 am
I don’t know fellow Bucs backers. I am still trying to figure out why they would give such a premium pick for Revis. COnsidering you still have to pay yhe man, I hope Dom holds his ground.
April 8th, 2013 at 9:02 am
Joe…..Milliner on the clock for the Jets?…..doubt he will still be there and…..more likely a trade will either already have been done or scrached.
If the Jets want to trade Revis after the draft starts, the Bucs deal for Revis just got a whole lot better.
April 8th, 2013 at 9:04 am
@passthebuc
please stay on topic
also it is awful how the pop-star has backed the bucs into a corner with such a need a corner. its so bad i sometimes forget how bad the Dline is that the boy-genius has been trying to build for the last 5 years
April 8th, 2013 at 9:06 am
Still think star in the first and trade in the second for truant or Rhodes and honey badger in the 3rd we can go any year without drafting a TE high we did sign Crabtree and Clark could be had for peanuts sine there is no market for him
April 8th, 2013 at 9:11 am
@ passthebuc
Agree with you 100%
April 8th, 2013 at 9:17 am
You know I was all about the revis deal but now that I think about it we can go either way if we draft 2 cb and have wright we might get by but it is a big gamble and Dom is not going to sign one . . . I don’t think anything is wrong with signin a vet and draft 2 if the revis deal falls thru and have barber back maybe it might know
April 8th, 2013 at 9:29 am
lol Fans talking about corners having “one of the worst back pedals I’ve ever seen.” Phenomenal. Welp – I guess that settles that! Why listen to the scouts when I have anonymous fans (likely an FSU fan) telling me to draft Rhodes
April 8th, 2013 at 9:42 am
It’s funny to me reading these types of post because Banks was so the pick for the bucs at the end of the college season. I find it funny how in Zero games he goes from a 13th pick to the 3rd round.
April 8th, 2013 at 9:55 am
Banks and Amerson are better than Wreh-Wilson
April 8th, 2013 at 10:25 am
I dunno Millner’s back pedal was pretty bad as well. Another thing to remember is all these 1 year corner signing’s. Next offseason lot’s of corner’s will be free agent’s. So next year we can revamp our corner’s. Not sure Wright and a rookie will be good enough thou.
April 8th, 2013 at 10:28 am
I’m already ready to run Revis’s ass out of town and he isn’t even here yet. This is to much drama, a huge circus following one guy. We need to somehow finalize this trade or walk away. The distraction for a team trying to fly under the radar is to much. I know Tampa doesn’t get a lot of good press through the years but this is the kind that makes us look silly.
April 8th, 2013 at 10:32 am
Trufant has always been the better prospect than Rhodes. Trufant was consistently graded ahead of Rhodes until the combine, somehow…both had very impressive combines, but maybe Rhodes size/speed combo gave him the edge over Trufant’s better work in drills. I would love Trufant, but I’d be happy with Rhodes too.
Secondly, this is a better CB class than last year. The depth is much much better and it’s better up top too. Milliner is a better prospect than Claiborne. Trufant is a better prospect than Kirkpatrick, etc, etc.
Finally, somehow Jonathan Banks is no longer good enough to go in the first 48 picks? Seriously the guy was the uncontested #2 corner prospect until the combine and then ran “a little” slow and he falls to the back half of the second round? He would be a steal for us with our 2nd round pick.
April 8th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Why dont we save the pics and trade up to get Milliner and some other talent? It would cost us less!
April 8th, 2013 at 12:51 pm
Jamar Taylor in the 2nd!!! I am about done with the potential 1st pick- think we’ll be fine with whoever they chose- barring a straight dumbass move. Last year I wanted Kuechly, but we took Barron and I’m cool with that. But our impact players came with the picks after him- Martin and David. Looking for something similar this year to see how our 2nd and 3rd pan out
April 8th, 2013 at 2:32 pm
These are all prospects, my guess that there are plenty of impact players in this league that many said they are not first round worthy. Get the player you need and put him in a system that he can succeed in, (Ronde Barber) and let them play. I still like Jonathan Banks, forget combine, the guy has film that says he is a football playing defensive back, every DB gets beat in this league, you just don’t want it to be a continuing pattern.