Friday, March 6, 2009

Recruiting Short Cornerbacks

While I was reading a Detroit News article yesterday on fast rising Detroit Renaissance cornerback Mylan Hicks, I started thinking about cornerbacks and height. Mylan is listed at 5"9 167 pounds another high profile CB recruit is Dior Mathis is 5"8 160 and already has a host of offers from the likes of Michigan, Miami, Florida, LSU, Oregon, and many more.

If you look at some of the cornerbacks in the 2010 class that Michigan has offered, most of them are under 6 feet tall:

  • Nickell Robey from Florida is 5"10 154
  • Lo Wood from Florida is 5"11 163
  • Lamarcus Joyner from Florida is 5"8 163

Only Cullen Christian from Pittsburgh is over 6 feet at 6"1 175.

Take a look at the size of the three WR's that have committed to Michigan's class for 2010:

  • Ricardo Miller, 6"2 200
  • Jeremy Jackson, 6"2 175
  • Jerald Robinson, 6"1 17o

So the first thing that might come to mind is: Why are we recruiting tall WR's and shorter CB's?

The reason is a couple things: First, the guys that Michigan has offered at CB are lighting fast. Dior is said to have put up a 4.3 40 yard dash. That is why he is getting offers from every major program. The other guys run somewhere in the 4.5 range.

I also heard an interview with Tommy Tubberville after he left Auburn and was doing some work for ESPN U. He said that CB's in highschool are very hard to find. That taller athletes will look to the offensive side of the ball first at WR, QB, etc. The faster smaller guys have to play corner. So getting a guy that can cover, is fast, and is over 6"0 is impressive.

Just consider what an important pick up Justin Turner was for Michigan in the 2009 class. Justin was not only a 5 star prospect from Scouts, rated Ohio's #1 player, showed he could cover in the Army All American game after recording an interception, and is 6"2 200 lbs.

In conclusion, I'm not saying "don't" recruit shorter CB's because there are not a ton of guys out there that are over 6 feet. I'm just asking junior high and high school coaches and fathers, to have their sons try corner instead of WR, because if your son is 6"2, runs a 4.4 and has good cover skills, he will be able to pick any program he wants.

For now we will have to live with 5"9 fast DB's trying to out jump 6"3 WR's.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is the problem....CB is not a glory position like WR. WR's get to make the spectacular catches that win games (Crabtree v. Texas) or win Super Bowls (Holmes v. Cardinals) when was the last time you saw a CB win a game and it be all over Sportscenter?? I mean for every Deion Sanders you name...you can name 10 WR's that are getting a lot more run.....
Another thing is money...WR's make way way more than CB. Kids see that and want that.....that is just the nature of the beast..

Anonymous said...

I agree and your right. On the other hand if not "elite" of a WR meaning 3 stars or lower.

CB might be a better way to get to the league?

Jenkins from OSU is a first round guy (of course he had a bad combine).

Anonymous said...

Taller players generally don't have the hip fluidity and flexibility of shorter players, and therefore it's difficult for them to cover as well as shorter players.

That's also the main reason that many of the slot receivers Michigan recruits are short players too: the flexibility and burst to make players miss in the open field are very rare in taller players.

When you see a taller player with these characteristics (Justin Turner, and Florida's Andre DeBose in the class of '09), that's generally why they're rated very highly.

Anonymous said...

FYI...One kid that is flying under the radar is Justin Ford from Kenowa Hills in Grand Rapids, MI. He was invited to Junior day and will be attanding. 6-2 194 4.5 speed, missed 6 games last year due to a shoulder injury, started at corner on class A school as a freshman, RR must know something to invite him.