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New Jersey – Cornerback Dee Milliner has a lot of work to do this off-season. This is a huge spring (and summer) for him. He has a lot to work on . . .
I saw a headline on newyorkjets.com that caught my attention.
It had David Harris saying that Milliner is “the guy” now.
I respect Harris a great deal. He’s a class act.
But in my opinion, that sentiment might be a little premature.
I know where Harris is coming from.
I’m sure a lot of people agree with where he’s coming from.
But Milliner has a lot of work to do. A lot.
And as one scout told me last year (not from the Jets) – “Milliner is a #2 corner.”
Remember, last year’s draft wasn’t a good one for corners, so Milliner’s stock go pushed up, due to a dearth of talent at the position.
Don’t get me wrong. I think he’s a solid player, but I agree with the scout. I don’t view him as a slam dunk #1 corner right now.
There are a couple of concerns.
First off, he played way too far off receivers, too often last year. You can’t be doing that as a #1 corner.
In the fourth quarter of the Cleveland game, the extra cushion caught Rich Gannon’s attention.
Early in the fourth quarter, Josh Gordon caught a 12-yard pass in front of Dee Miller on the right side. Two plays later, Josh Gordon had a gain of eight on the short left side in front of Milliner.
“Look at the cushion Dee Milliner is giving him,” Gannon said.
Milliner also needs to do a better job of route recognition – he falls for route gimmicks too often.
Late in the first quarter of the Cleveland game, Gordon had a 24-yard reception down the left sideline on Milliner. Milliner bit on an in-cut, and Gordon took it to the left sideline.
“It’s amazing how he turned around the corner,” said Gannon.
Milliner too often struggled last year locating the ball.
He also needs to improve his tackling. It’s not lack of toughness. Some corners don’t want to “stick their face in the fan.” I don’t think that is the issue with Milliner. Against Oakland, in the second quarter, Milliner did a nice job of stopping Marcel Reece off left tackle after a gain of one. Reece weighs 255 pounds.
But throughout last year, he was guilty of too many missed tackles.
In the first Jets-Dolphins game, Mike Wallace beats him for a 28-yard touchdown with a lot of yards after the catch. Milliner missed a tackle on the play.
Speaking of Jets-Dolphins. Some people were putting Milliner in Canton after that game. He does deserve a great deal of credit for coming up with two picks. But he also gave up a touchdown pass, and nearly gave up another, when he was soundly beat by Wallace down the sideline, but Ryan Tannehill overthrew the wideout.
I just don’t think it’s a great idea to anoint Milliner as “the guy” just yet.
He has so much to work on.
Right now his focus needs to be on improving enough to be a solid, consistent starter.
That is it.
And this is a huge off-season for him.
Remember, he missed so much of the spring and summer last year due to labrum surgery in the spring, and an achilles injury in the summer. He missed valuable reps, and this hurt his maturation process.
A whole off-season and summer of practice should help him a great deal.
April 25, 2014
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