True cover corners hard to come by

By Billy Tucker
Scouts Inc.

This was an interesting cornerback class to analyze because it has a few elite prospects and a good number of players in the three-to-four star range, but it lacks an abundance of true cover corners.

It’s loaded with athletic, savvy and scheme versatile cornerbacks who project well on the perimeter, but lack experience and a complete skill set. While you would like to see more complete corners, like 2009’s Dre Kirkpatrick (Alabama), this class does offer a lot of multifaceted, ball-hawking prospects who are often more valuable due to their ability to fit into a number of different college schemes and sub packages, which have become so prevalent.

Even top-rated corners Lamarcus Joyner (Miami/Saint Thomas Aquinas) and Demarcus Milliner (Millbrook, Ala./Stanhope Elmore) lack extensive game experience at cornerback, but when looking at their physical tools and skill sets we feel they project best there, at this time. For the most part, this group has more than adequate size — particularly body length — and matching physicality needed to match up with today’s bigger college receivers on the perimeter. However, it’s the smaller guys who really impress in this group. There are a number of marginal-sized corners who simply play bigger than their listed measurables between the white lines and compete fiercely for the football.

As usual the Southeast is loaded with athletic, flexible corners — particularly the state of Florida. But the good news for teams in need is that most are still on the recruiting board. Seven out of the top 10 corners are currently undecided.

Top prospects

Lamarcus Joyner
(Miami/Saint Thomas Aquinas)
College: Undecided

He is as competitive and confident as they come, and for good reason. The Under Armour All-American has great play speed, acceleration, recovery burst and is a complete ball hawk to the football. In fact, he could be a future safety. He definitely lacks some size, but he masks it well with his great explosiveness, athleticism and pure savviness on the football field.

Demarcus Milliner
(Millbrook, Ala./Stanhope Elmore)
College: Alabama

From a pure speed standpoint, this guy is at the top of this corner class and is a complete burner. He is very smooth and fluid in his movement skills for a taller corner. Milliner does need to work on his technique because the Alabama commit has played a lot of safety, but you can’t coach great speed or hip fluidity and this kid has both for Nick Saban to develop in Tuscaloosa.

John Fulton
(Manning, S.C./Manning)
College: Undecided

He could be the most well-rounded, complete corner in the 2010 class. Fulton can press, mirror in off-man, jam in Cover 2 or set the edge in run support. We also like his size on the perimeter and ability to match up versus today’s college receivers. The top overall defensive back in South Carolina is well-versed and ahead of the learning curve.

Joshua Shaw
(Palmdale, Calif./Palmdale)
College: Undecided

All of these upper-tier cornerbacks seem to possess an elite attribute and Shaw’s would be ball skills. The Under Armour All-American could easily play wideout at the next level, but we like his length, range, fluidity in and out of his pedal and recovery quickness on defense.

Jaylen Watkins
(Fort Myers, Fla./Cape Coral)
College: Florida

A tremendous athlete like Shaw, Watkins is a fast-twitched skill player with great speed acceleration and a tall, rangy frame to boot. Pursues with little wasted motion and will be a scheme-versatile player for defensive coordinator Charlie Strong to develop and employ in Gainesville.

On the verge

Dior Mathis
(Detroit/Cass Technical)
College: Undecided

Arguably the top corner out of the Midwest this year, Mathis lacks great size but has great cover skills and is really difficult to separate from. We like his footwork, hips, body control and ability to close the cushion hard and fast.

Tyler Stephenson
(Lancaster, Texas/Lancaster)
College: Baylor

He saw his stock soar this summer and with good reason. Stephenson’s a very reactive athlete with great closing speed and underneath explosiveness. He needs to fill out his leaner frame, but we like his height, range and deep ball skills.

Demetrius Wright
(Corona, Calif./Corona)
College: Undecided

Wright is a tall, athletic and versatile corner who has the size and physicality to press and match up with taller college receivers on the perimeter. He has great underneath range and closing burst when supporting the run or pass. The 6-foot-1 corner may develop into a safety with continued physical development.

Cody Riggs
(Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Saint Thomas Aquinas)
College: Undecided

Don’t let his smaller stature deceive you; Riggs plays a lot bigger and more explosive than his 154-pound frame would indicate. Aside from closing the cushion with great burst, he redirects very sharply out of his breaks and has great hip fluidity sticking tightly to receivers.

Adrian White
(Desoto, Texas/Desoto)
College: Texas

He’s a well-versed corner who is not elite in one particular area, but very good and consistent in all. The Texas commit has impressive size, feet and closing speed but his football savvy and awareness may be his best attributes.

Under the radar

Toney Hurd Jr.
(Missouri City, Texas/Thurgood Marshall)
College: Undecided

He is not the biggest or fastest cornerback prospect out there, but you can’t measure his great instincts or savviness finding the football in coverage. He may end up getting a look at safety with his great ball-hawking skills in run support or be a guy who finds his way onto nickel and sub packages early on.

Nickell Robey
(Frostproof, Fla./Frostproof)
College: Georgia

This undersized speedster comes from a smaller program and lacks great size but will bring great speed, recovery burst and redirection skills as a shutdown cover corner for the Bulldogs. He also has great return ability in the kicking game, which adds to his recruiting stock.

Ryan Ayers
(Douglasville, Ga./South Paulding)
College: Georgia Tech

He covers the whole field as a smart, explosive safety in high school, but will likely make the full-time transition to corner at Georgia Tech until he fills out. Either way, the Yellow Jackets are getting a defensive back who has great closing speed with explosive plant-and-drive skills.

Tyrone Bouie
(Sanford, Fla./Seminole)
College: Undecided

He may have been overshadowed a bit by the two ESPNU 150 prospects on his Seminole squad last year, but we feel Bouie is a fast-breaking corner with good aggressiveness for his size. He has good hips, man-to-man skills and overall is just an instinctive corner falling off the BCS radar.

A.J. Marshall
(Durham, N.C./Southern Durham)
College: Wake Forest

Wake Forest has done a great job recognizing and developing unheralded talent under Jim Grobe and we feel the Demon Deacons have landed another one in this four-star corner. Marshall has great feet with fluid hips and turns, but it’s his awareness and overall football smarts that probably attracted the Demon Deacons.

Notes
Saint Thomas Aquinas head coach George Smith certainly has some options at defensive back this season with Joyner and Riggs, but don’t forget about three-star corner Keion Payne (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Saint Thomas Aquinas). The undecided corner has fluid hips, turns and polished cover corner skills. … Detroit has another talented corner aside from Mathis. We feel the in-state Spartans have one of the better corners out of the Midwest with the smooth and quick-footed Mylan Hicks (Detroit/Renaissance). … Texas has once again put a stranglehold around the state’s top prospects and we really like the scheme versatility Carrington Byndom (Lufkin, Texas/Lufkin) brings to the table. He has great range and balanced run support skills to develop at corner or safety. … Terrence Mitchell (Tampa, Fla./Hillsborough) may not post the best 40 time on paper, but you would be hard pressed to find many corners with better play speed than this highly coveted ESPNU 150 prospect. … When talking about the top undecided corners in Florida, Tony Grimes (Hollywood, Fla./Hollywood Hills) should be mentioned because he has good size, speed and ball skills. … Dale Trimble (Gadsden, Ala./Gadsden) played opposite Kirkpatrick last season, but this well-rounded, savvy defensive back has plenty of his own intangibles and easily could have fallen under the sleeper category.

Billy Tucker is a recruiting coordinator for Scouts Inc.