Winner – C.J. Henderson
Tackling is a part of football.
If you got a chance a few weeks ago to catch the HBO documentary “Belichick & Saban: The Art of Coaching,” you caught a great moment from the venerable New England Patriots head coach. Talking about the evolution of the game, Belichick remarked that sometimes he would get on a plane after a loss and see “everybody on their computers with spreadsheets” trying to figure out why the Patriots just dropped a game.
Belichick, as witty as ever, recalled that he would often be left saying: “Guys, we lost because we couldn’t tackle.”
If Belichick says it, then it is part of the game. Tackling matters.
But why are you drafting a cornerback? Is it because of his tackling, or his coverage skills? Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson is a great coverage player, and he certainly helped himself on Saturday with a very fast 4.39 40-yard dash time. On film there are instances of him perhaps making some “business decisions, but his coverage skills coupled with that speed and quickness makes him a potential shutdown corner. Teams might be willing to live with him giving up a 15-yard run here and there, if he is constantly preventing the 75-yard touchdown strike through the air.
Loser -Trey Adams
If you have read this far, you probably understand that the NFL Draft has become a year-long affair. As I like to refer to it, the “Draft Industrial Complex” never sleeps, and as soon as the 2020 draft ends, draftniks (like myself) will be elbows-deep in Trevor Lawrence tape.
And, deep down, you know you’ll be reading those “way too early 2021 mock drafts” come the end of April. At least, I hope you do, as I’ll be writing some…
But part of the draft season includes the summer scouting season. When evaluators do their baseline work on the next draft class. Along the way, players are discovered, rise up early boards, and often fall back to earth when the games begin again in the fall.
Washington offensive tackle Trey Adams might be one such player.
Early evaluators looked at his mix of size and power on film and thought that Adams – who measured in at 6’8” and 318 pounds – could be a bedrock tackle in the NFL. But his film this past season failed to match the buzz, and his Combine performance did not exactly help his cause. His 40-yard dash time of 5.6 seconds (with a 1.95 10-yard split) was not a great number. Nor was his broad jump of just 7’8”. With the great work being turned in by the other tackles out in Indianapolis, Adams leaves town with a lot to accomplish with not a ton of time left on the calendar.
Plus, there is footage out there of a rather…interesting answer during one of his interview sessions. This is a family website, friends, so you’ll have to find that on your own.