New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Scouts' Eye: Life on the corner

Steelers, Browns, Bengals and Saints all well-stocked at cornerback

By Matt Williamson
Scouts Inc.
Archive

Scouts Inc. takes a look at major offseason storylines every Monday:

Keeping with the theme here the past several few weeks, let's examine four positional situations in the league. This week, it will be cornerbacks.

...New Orleans Saints

If Darren Sharper returns to form, I expect the Saints to have the very best secondary in the league. They also collectively could have the best group of corners in the NFL with the addition of first-round pick Patrick Robinson to an already excellent contingent of cover men. This group dealt with a lot of injuries last season, but entering the 2010 season, aggressive defensive coordinator Gregg Williams must be salivating at the possibilities this secondary will put at his disposal in terms of personnel groupings and play calling -- especially with all the points the Saints' offense is sure to score.

Jabari Greer is among the most underrated players in the league. There are not a lot of shutdown corners in the NFL, but I'd put Greer just outside that category. A groin injury robbed him of seven games last season, and he was desperately missed. I think he is the Saints' best defensive player.

Tracy Porter obviously made a name for himself with an outstanding play in the Super Bowl; he has great speed and is consistently improving. As No. 2 corners go, he is exceptional. This starting pair challenges Cincinnati's as the best twosome in the NFL.

Robinson is a very athletic prospect with an awful lot of upside. He is smooth and fast, but he's too much of a finesse player and simply doesn't make as many plays as his athletic ability would indicate. But because of the talent around him, he should have time to learn the position at this level and could ease into it by doing plenty of work against slot wide receivers. The physicality of the position at this level might give Robinson trouble initially.

The Saints also have Randall Gay, which makes either Gay or Robinson very likely the top fourth corner in the league. But Gay is a little different from the other three prominent corners on the roster in that he is not a superb athlete and his speed is not out of this world. Gay didn't have a particularly strong 2009 season, and it's likely that Robinson will supplant him on the depth chart.

Michael Jenkins, the Saints' 2009 first-round pick, played corner as a rookie, but a switch to free safety is clearly the best move for his particular skill set. Letting him learn behind and act as an insurance policy for Sharper is again a luxury few secondaries can afford. To a lesser degree, Usama Young is in a similar situation, but he doesn't have the same degree of upside as Jenkins.

There are just so many options here. And most of them are quite attractive.

Scouts Inc. watches games, breaks down film and studies football from all angles for ESPN.com.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/news/story?id=5310090