With Cam Sutton suspended, here are three ideas I have for filling in the slot corner role:
• Beanie Bishop: At 5-9 and 182 pounds, the undrafted free agent out of West Virginia lacks the necessary size to be relied on to play outside cornerback at the NFL level. He has good speed and athleticism, as well as a good burst and transition skills that helps him break up passes and make plays in off-man coverage. It's no accident that Bishop led the nation with 20 passes defensed. Add that to his four interceptions, and that's enough to show that Bishop has the necessary ball skills to make a case for himself in the NFL.
• Ryan Watts: The team's second sixth-round pick certainly has the size to survive the beating of playing inside. In addition, he's a superb tackler. Over the course of his college career, Watts missed only 9.3% of his tackle opportunities, according to PFF, and he's coming off a season in which he missed only 2.5%. He excels in zone coverage over press man. He's worked at safety during OTAs and minicamp, but I truly believe he's got the skillset to play the slot corner spot.
• Three-safety package: Run this thing back. And with DeShon Elliott in the fold, Minkah Fitzpatrick has a running mate that can handle the dirty work closer to the line of scrimmage. Minkah and Damontae Kazee have already proven they can be a formidable duo on the back end when they have a safety that can play in the box or the slot. This could help against teams that are more physical up front and like to run the ball.
THE ASYLUM
With Cam Sutton suspended, here are three ideas I have for filling in the slot corner role:
• Beanie Bishop: At 5-9 and 182 pounds, the undrafted free agent out of West Virginia lacks the necessary size to be relied on to play outside cornerback at the NFL level. He has good speed and athleticism, as well as a good burst and transition skills that helps him break up passes and make plays in off-man coverage. It's no accident that Bishop led the nation with 20 passes defensed. Add that to his four interceptions, and that's enough to show that Bishop has the necessary ball skills to make a case for himself in the NFL.
• Ryan Watts: The team's second sixth-round pick certainly has the size to survive the beating of playing inside. In addition, he's a superb tackler. Over the course of his college career, Watts missed only 9.3% of his tackle opportunities, according to PFF, and he's coming off a season in which he missed only 2.5%. He excels in zone coverage over press man. He's worked at safety during OTAs and minicamp, but I truly believe he's got the skillset to play the slot corner spot.
• Three-safety package: Run this thing back. And with DeShon Elliott in the fold, Minkah Fitzpatrick has a running mate that can handle the dirty work closer to the line of scrimmage. Minkah and Damontae Kazee have already proven they can be a formidable duo on the back end when they have a safety that can play in the box or the slot. This could help against teams that are more physical up front and like to run the ball.
What say you?
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