Slim Pickings

This position has turned into a big issue for a lot of teams.

Talking about cornerback.

Not only do most teams not have enough good ones, but now a lot of teams are decimated by injuries at CB, making a bad situation even worse.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had so many injuries at cornerback, they signed Richard Sherman, even with his legal issues, and inserted him right into the starting lineup – the second he entered the building.

And guess what – he pulled his hamstring against Philly last night, and is going to be out a while. How often does that happen to players who aren’t in training camp, and jump right into games?

The 49ers are so decimated at cornerback, they signed Josh Norman, whose tank is close to empty, and the 33-year-old has struggled.  The 49rs also recently signed 32-year-old Buster Skrine, but released him after one game.

The cornerback thin Seattle Seahawks released CB Tre Flowers, who was struggling, and of course he was immediately claimed, by Cincinnati, another team thin at the position. Who might replace Flowers – Bless Austin, who was released by the Jets late in the summer.

You want to know why the Indianapolis Colts blew a two-score lead and lost to Baltimore on Monday Night Football. Sure Lamar Jackson was terrific, and the Colts’ kicker struggled due to a hip injury, but the biggest issue for the Colts was being without their top three corners – Xavier Rhodes, Rock Ya-Sin and T.J. Carrie. They were forced to play two recent practice squad players, BoPete Keyes and Anthony Chesley, and the Ravens dominated those guys during their ferocious comeback.

Let’s be honest – most teams are behind the eight ball at corner – due to substandard talent, injuries or both.

As we all know the Jets are rolling with a bunch of young corners, mostly rookies.

It looks like Joe Douglas hit on a good one in the fifth-round of the 2020 draft in Virginia’s Bryce Hall. He clearly is a lot better than a fifth-round corner, but slipped due to the leg injury he suffered during his senior year at UVA.

But after Hall, there has been wild inconsistency, which is understandable, since all these guys are late-round rookies.

When you pick a big-time cornerback prospect in the first round, you expect them to be plug-and-play.

But when you take flyers on late-round corners, to expect them to be immediate answers, especially right out of the gate, is often a pipe dream.

Michael Carter II looks like he is going to be solid.

The other late round corners – Jason Pinnock and Brandon Echols, along with priority undrafted free agent, Isaiah Dunn, all need a lot of work. Their play has been very up-and-down.

The Jets decided to go with these young guys instead of journeymen retreads like other teams.

Getting back to Tampa Bay, with all their recent injuries, aside from Sherman off the street, they recently started Pierre Desir, another Jets castoff.

The NFL has a major cornerback shortage.

October 15, 2021

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