Rock Ya-Sin is Standing Out in a Make-or-Break Year

There may not have been an Indianapolis Colts' player more universally disliked by this fanbase than Rock Ya-Sin, at least coming into this year. Honestly, some of the vitriol was warranted with how he had performed up until that point in his career.

Ya-Sin had some good moments and stretches of play in his first two seasons, but he was far from where he needed to be for this team. He accumulated 15 penalties in his first two years, and he was simply unreliable in man coverage.

With two seasons of inconsistent play, 2021 was looking like a make-or-break year for the young corner. Luckily, he stepped up to the challenge and (so far) is having a strong campaign for the team.

So what finally changed for him? In today's story piece, I dive into the subtle changes in his game that have allowed him to find success.

A Change in Coaching

Prior to the year, the Colts lost their cornerbacks coach Jonathan Gannon, whom went on to become the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles under Nick Sirianni. This had the potential to be a big loss, as Gannon was widely regarded as one of the better defensive backs coaches in the league.

Luckily, the Colts found a more than suitable replacement. They went to the college ranks and hired Appalachian State's defensive backs coach James Rowe. Rowe was a coach of 11-years, mostly at the college level.

I did a lengthy deep dive into his coaching style and philosophy back with Stampede Blue last Summer. The biggest takeaway from my conversations with players and coaches that have been around him was that he is an extremely talented coach that understands film and technique at a high level.

Here is a story from All-American cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles (now with the Green Bay Packers) about the impact that Rowe had on that defense:

One example was our first game of the season against Charlotte. We played Charlotte last year (in 2019) and they put up 40-something points and had nearly 400 yards rushing. We just couldn’t stop them for some reason, and they brought back basically their entire team going into this year with the same scheme and same players.

When we were watching film, he pointed out different things we didn’t notice last season. For example, they were a big RPO team so when they lined up in certain formations with certain splits, we knew RPO was coming and took that entire play out of their game-plan early in the game. That was all because of him pointing that out to us.

He is a players-coach that puts his guys in a position to succeed. He has consistently helped players have career-best seasons. So far in 2021, we are seeing that with Rock Ya-Sin, and with Isaiah Rodgers as well.

Attacking the Problem Areas

The biggest cause for concern in Ya-Sin's game was his tendency to panic when in man coverage. He would often resort to grabbing players, which was the main reason why he accumulated 15 penalties in his first two seasons.

Rowe recognized the problem early and developed a plan for deconstructing this known issue. Here is what Rowe had to say after he was hired back in April:

I think one of the main things we're probably gonna work on most of this spring is hand placement. Sometimes, he gets his hands a little high on the wide receivers and it causes him to tug a couple times, and that's something we can correct in the whole group. And just getting used to playing the ball better and feeling more comfortable out there.

This was something that I didn't really think about too much when analyzing Ya-Sin's play in 2020. When I went back and dug into the film though, this made a ton of sense.

Ya-Sin mostly panicked when he lost off of the line of scrimmage. This play against A.J Brown stands out the most. He gives up way too much ground to the inside, and doesn't do enough to slow down Brown's progress. The result was a back-breaking touchdown early in the game.