Last week, we saw Detroit Lions players gather to watch Melissa Gonzalez, the Colombian runner and wife of QB David Blough who advanced to the semifinals of the 400m hurdles (although, unfortunately, she was eliminated on Monday morning).
The Buccaneers’ Ross Cockrell has a connection to an Olympian as well: Anna Cockrell, his sister, ran in the 400m hurdles semifinals and qualified to the finals. Tampa had a watch party and you can see how excited everyone, including Ross, gets as she gets to the finish line.
Another fantastic moment, one we get to see thanks to cameras inside the room:
CB Ross Cockrell watching his sister, Anna, advance to the Olympic finals with his teammates & coaches 👏 pic.twitter.com/pReaPhj4pB
So on the morning his sister qualified for the Olympic finals in the 400m hurdles, CB Ross Cockrell had not one not two but three interceptions in practice.
The New York Giants had a deal in place with veteran CB Ross Cockrell, but it all fell apart at the very last minute.
The New York Giants thought they had found a suitable replacement for cornerback DeAndre Baker, who is on the commissioner’s exempt list after being charged with four counts of armed robbery stemming from an incident in Florida in May.
The team had visited with and intended to sign veteran cornerback Ross Cockrell, who had taken a physical and been tested for COVID-19 over the weekend. However, on Tuesday afternoon, things fell apart.
Although the two sides had a deal in place, when it came time for Cockrell to sign his contract, he decided the financial terms weren’t to his liking, reports Jordan Raanan of ESPN.
It was believed that Cockrell would be signing with the Giants after visiting on Saturday and undergoing COVID-19 testing. The two sides had an agreement in place, but when it came time to sign a deal, the financial details no longer were to Cockrell’s satisfaction.
What prompted the sudden change remains unclear, but it thrusts the Giants back into desperation mode.
Already thin at cornerback coming into the offseason, the Giants were relying on Baker to get himself together and start alongside veteran James Bradberry, whom the team signed to contract early on in free agency.
When Baker ran into his legal troubles, Sam Beal was the next man up, but he then decided to opt out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns.
With Baker and Beal out and Cockrell not returning to East Rutherford, it’s back to the drawing board for Big Blue.
As the New York Giants ready themselves for padded training camp practices, here are some key positional battles to watch.
Every summer brings NFL training camps and every training camp has their share of roster battles.
With a new coaching staff and a load of new faces to pit against some unproven old faces, the New York Giants’ camp will have quite a number of battles for key positions this year.
AP Photo/Roger Steinman
Offensive tackle
Nate Solder was going to have to prove that he was still left tackle timber this summer before he opted out for the season. So, left tackle was very much in play. Now, it’s their priority.
The Giants are hopeful that first round pick Andrew Thomas slides right in and starts from Day 1. That could still happen. He’ll have plenty of company, though. Third round pick Matt Peart will now be thrust into the mix for the left tackle spot as well.
Right tackle is even more wide open. The loser of the left tackle role will have to fend off veteran free agent Cam Fleming and the Giants’ everyman, Nick Gates. These are the two biggest question marks of the summer.
Cockrell was the one free agent cornerback that made the most sense for the Panthers to sign.
The Giants brought in veteran CB Ross Cockrell for a visit today and intend to sign him, according to a source (and as @art_stapleton reported). He has to pass a physical and COVID tests first so it could be a few days.
According to a report by Ralph Vacchiano, the Giants brought in former Panthers cornerback Ross Cockrell for a visit on Saturday and intend to sign him once he’s cleared the COVID-19 protocols and a physical.
Cockrell was the one free agent cornerback that made the most sense for the Panthers to sign. He started 11 games for Carolina last season and had a career-best year in coverage, allowing only a 68.6 passer rating and a 55.2% completion percentage. Adding him to the cornerback room would have given the team what it needs most on defense: outside depth. Instead, former Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman adds Cockrell to a Giants group that also has James Bradberry.
This is the third corner Carolina has missed out on in recent weeks.
Signing Eli Apple for the price they did was a good low-risk, potential high-reward kind of move. General manager Marty Hurney knows that he needs to add another corner before the season begins, though and he may regret not bringing Cockrell back.
The New York Giants visited with three players on Saturday, including WR Cody White and OL Jackson Dennis.
New York Giants players were off on Saturday, so it provided the team an opportunity to check in on some free agents who could potentially be added to the roster.
Among those players was veteran cornerback Ross Cockrell, who is expected to be signed once he passes his physical and is tested for COVID-19.
However, Cockrell wasn’t the only player getting a look from the Giants on Saturday. Additionally, wide receiver Cody White and offensive tackle Jackson Dennis were listed as having made “visits” on the NFL’s transaction wire.
White, who went undrafted out of Michigan State back in April, signed with the Kansas City Chiefs shortly after the draft, but was waived in late July as the team trimmed their roster to 80.
The 6-foot-3 White gambled by leaving college a year early and it obviously didn’t pay off, but the 6-foot-3 receiver who was highly recruited out of High School will certainly get some additional looks this year. His size is enough to intrigue NFL teams, but his 4.66 40-yard dash time may scare some teams off.
Dennis, meanwhile, signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in April, but was waived in late July when the team made necessary roster cuts.
The 6-foot-6, 308-pound Dennis was a solid contributor at Holy Cross, appearing in 40 games with 24 starts over the course of his college career. In 2019, he made 12 starts at right tackle and was considered one of the team’s most consistent players.
The New York Giants intend to sign veteran cornerback Ross Cockrell, who also played for the team in 2017.
When DeAndre Baker was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list and Sam Beal opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19, it became apparent the New York Giants had no other choice but to sign a free agent cornerback (or two).
Late on Saturday night, the team took the first step towards beefing back up their paper thin unit with a report that they intend to sign veteran Ross Cockrell.
I’m told #NYGiants plan to sign CB Ross Cockrell provided he clears camp-entry COVID-19 testing, per source. Cockrell visited today. So there’s at least one veteran corner set to come aboard after DeAndre Baker was formally charged + Sam Beal opted out.
Cockrell was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth-round of the 2014 NFL Draft and after one season in Western New York, spent two years with the Pittsburgh Steelers before joining the Giants in 2017. For the past two seasons, Cockrell has called the Carolina Panthers home.
In 2019, Cockrell ironically played across from James Bradberry, whom the Giants brought in as a high-priced free agent earlier this year.
In six NFL seasons, Cockrell has appeared in 68 games with 43 starts (did not play in 2018), recording 219 tackles, 44 passes defensed and seven interceptions.
In 2019, Cockrell allowed a passer rating of 68.1, a completion percentage of 55.2 and just a single touchdown. Since 2010, he’s also among the NFL’s best cornerbacks in forced incompletion percentage.
The New York Giants are starved for cornerbacks and here are seven free agents they should consider signing.
The New York Giants were prepared to enter the 2020 season relatively thin at the cornerback position, but they couldn’t have prepared themselves for what was to come.
DeAndre Baker found himself in hot water following an arrest for an alleged armed robbery in Florida, ultimately landing him on the commissioner’s exempt list, and then Sam Beal decided to opt out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An already thin group became a dire cause for concern, and with training camps now underway, the Giants find themselves running out of time to locate reinforcements.
We’ve broken down similar lists earlier this year, but now is the time to do it again. Here are seven cornerbacks the Giants could potentially turn to in the coming days, weeks and months.
Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
Logan Ryan
This will sound like a broken record, but Ryan is the most obvious choice for the Giants because he’s arguably the best cornerback remaining on the free agent market. He’s also been connected to the team quite a bit through rumor and speculation.
The former Rutgers and New England Patriots star should be very high on the Giants’ shopping list. They need a veteran corner who knows the ropes and how to win and the connection to Joe Judge and Patrick Graham has to come into play here.
According to a report by Field Yates at ESPN, the Panthers and the Giants both put in claims for cornerback Ryan Lewis, who was claimed by Ron Rivera’s Washington Football Team.
Something these three teams all have in common is that we are likely to see them near the bottom of the NFC standings at the end of the season. Their lack of depth and talent at cornerback will be a significant factor.
The Panthers are projected to start Donte Jackson and Eli Apple outside, with rookies Troy Pride Jr. and Stantley Thomas-Oliver III backing them up. It’s unclear at this point who will take over for Javien Elliott in the slot.
There are still a few decent options on the market. Those choices are dwindling by the day, though. On Thursday, the Falcons took another name off the board by agreeing to terms with former Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard.
A familiar face might be the answer, here.
Bringing back Ross Cockrell wouldn’t make the Panthers any kind of a contender, but if they are serious about improving at cornerback he is worth another look. Cockrell was generally tight in coverage, allowing a 55% completion rate, one touchdown and a 68.6 passer rating. Cockrell did miss 12 tackles, but that’s not a bad trade off.
Philadelphia Eagles star Darius Slay left off a ranking of the NFL’s 11 best outside CB’s
[jwplayer 2xjhXuAl]
The 2020 offseason has seen a myriad of cornerback rankings from different NFL outlets with the one consistent being the snubbing of the Eagles star cornerback.
Slay is among the top-5 cornerbacks in football and yet has suffered countless disrespect this offseason when it comes to where he stands among the NFL’s elite cornerbacks. Our friends over at Touchdown Wire just released their rankings for the top-11 outside cornerbacks in the NFL and Slay was once again omitted.
11. Bashaud Breeland
10. Steven Nelson
9. Troy Hill
8. Marcus Peters
7.Ross Cockrel
6. Denzel Ward
5. Quinton Dunbar
4. J.C. Jackson
3. Richard Sherman
2. Tre’Davious White
1. Stephon Gilmore
While many of the teams in the NFL primarily play zone coverage, Slay is one of the few players in the NFL that were asked to play bump and run on the majority of their snaps.
Take this tidbit from Packers star DeVante Adams on Slay and the Lions defense last season.
In his breakdown with @BaldyNFL, Davante Adams said the #Lions never disguise coverage. Adams watched 200 clips and Darius Slay never followed WRs if it was zone but always did in man.
Slay was impressive last year despite some down statistics on a bad team and yet his performance against some of the NFL’s best would be highlight-reel performances for some other cornerbacks.
Boundary cornerbacks who can erase an opponent’s best receiver are more important than ever. Here are the NFL’s 11 best.
Let’s say you’re an NFL team, and you need a bunch of really good cornerbacks. Step one, of course, is determining which characteristics define your version of that ideal. Last season, the Chargers led the NFL by playing 75% zone coverage, so their definitions are going to be different than the ones the Patriots come up with — because the Patriots played man coverage on 54% of their snaps. Only the Lions played more man coverage, and the extent to which the Lions failed to do so at a competent level implies that perhaps they weren’t exact enough with their definitions.
Add in the fact that teams are playing more dime than base defense these days (20.9% dime to 18% base), and it’s an NFL that demands more cornerbacks, and more of those cornerbacks, than ever before. It used to be enough to press up against your receiver and work him to the boundary; now, you may have to move from zone to man to combo with different numbers of defensive backs around you. And you’re doing that against offenses that present more receivers in more complex formations and route concepts than ever before.
The outside cornerback position has never been more valuable than it is now as a result, and here are the 11 best at the position as we head into the 2020 season.
Assembling a list of the NFL’s 11 best outside cornerbacks in 2020 is a brutal exercise, because there are so many good cornerbacks in the NFL out of necessity. There were instances in which the players fell just short of the 50-target limit — our apologies to Jason McCourty of the Patriots and Jimmy Smith of the Ravens, who each had 49 targets (including the postseason) and would have challenged for the top 11 with an extra rep or two. Sidney Jones of the Eagles and Jamel Dean of the Buccaneers are two younger players who also didn’t make the target limit, but are excellent talents on the rise. In other instances, overall coverage numbers represented a primary focus on the slot, and while guys like Brian Poole of the Jets, Marlon Humphrey of the Ravens, K’Waun Williams of the 49ers, and D.J. Hayden of the Jaguars also played well outside to a point, it wasn’t their primary focus. So, you’ll find all of those guys on our list of the NFL’s top 11 slot defenders.
There were other cases in which cornerbacks had high interception totals and good overall charting stats, but their touchdowns allowed (stats backed up by tape study) got in the way. So it was for Pittsburgh’s Joe Haden, who allowed 49 catches on 79 targets for 468 yards, 139 yards after the catch, had five interceptions, and allowed an opponent passer rating of 70.0… but also allowed six touchdowns. Marcus Peters of the Ravens barely made this list because of a similar touchdown problem, but the negative plays he did create for opposing offenses were frequent and important enough to be considered.
