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There is a new cornerback in Detroit, one familiar to both fans and to defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant. The Lions signed veteran Nickell Robey-Coleman on Monday.
What are the Lions getting in Robey-Coleman?
The 29-year-old comes to Detroit after one year with the Philadelphia Eagles. He spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams prior to his stint in Philadelphia, playing under Pleasant, and four years before that with the Buffalo Bills.
Robey-Coleman had his best years in Los Angeles while almost exclusively playing inside in the slot. At 5-foot-8, it’s a natural fit for the USC product.
He’s best described as short-not-small as a corner. Robey-Coleman doesn’t have length or a lot of bulk at 180 pounds, but he’s not shy about being physical or attacking the ball. His willingness to throw his body around and hit in both the run and pass defense.
Pleasant knew how to utilize that well with the Rams. Robey-Coleman deployed more in Cover-6, meaning he dropped in the zone to keep the play in front of him by design. It allowed him to keep his eyes on the quarterback and use his quick acceleration to break on the ball.
Robey-Coleman played more man defense in Philadelphia, but also had less of an effective pass rush to help him out. It did not work well with the Eagles. Most notably, his tackling really fell off; Robey-Coleman missed 12 tackles and recorded just 44, a terrible ratio. He’s always had some issues with being more of a hitter than a wrapper as a tackler, but it got quite bad in 2020.
He’s not a lockdown type of cornerback in coverage. Robey-Coleman can mirror routes fairly well, but he’s better at closing on the receiver with the ball in the air and quickly terminating the play. He has seven career interceptions, none since 2018, and a pass defended rate of eight percent (PDs vs. targets), which is indicative of a corner that does not make a lot of plays on the ball.
The familiarity with Pleasant and with playing in front of a split safety look are assets Robey-Coleman can lean on to quickly stake a claim in the Lions’ unsettled secondary. Don’t be surprised if Robey-Coleman winds up starting in the slot at some point in 2021 as long as the tackling and positional responsibility awareness are on point.