Turning The Corner ?

The Saints have never had a "franchise" defensive back. To date, their best has probably been Dave Whitsell, taken from the Bears in the 1967 expansion draft. Safety Tommy Myers ('72 - '81) had limited ability but a decent career due to effort and consistency. During the Mora era, the defensive backfield was manned by ordinaries who would not have started for many other teams, or even made their rosters. Their stints resulted from the largesse of the formidable front seven of the Dome Patrol. Jimmy Mora, Jr., coaching the defensive backfield for his father, heavily influenced the team making CB Alex Molden their top draft pick in the '96 draft, passing on stellar RB Eddie George in the process. Molden had 8 interceptions in 5 seasons with the Saints. Lamentably, now retired CB Fred Thomas was featured in a YouTube video titled Worst Cornerback Ever. Too bad S Ed Reed of Destrehan did not seek free agency to leave the Ravens and finish his career in New Orleans. If he did, he would be just as valuable to the Saints (and worthy of just as much compensation) as Drew Brees. Reed is not only the best DB, but is the most dominant defensive player in the league. Defenses really are not on a level playing field with offenses in today's NFL. This is primarily due to the league making a conscientious effort to market the game for offense in the late 1980's with new rules for liberal blocking techniques by offensive linemen and no contact allowed by CB's on receivers beyond 5 yards. This is typified by the referees biased to making ticky-tacky pass interference calls to the extent that throwing deep late in close games by offenses is good strategy in that a flag may get thrown almost as frequently as a completion might occur. It is absurd that pass interference is not subject to officials' review in the booth, a real injustice to the game. There aren't any "shutdown" cornerbacks in the league anymore. Deion Sanders was known as one early in his career, but just as much because many QB's were afraid to throw in his direction, not wanting to risk being on the wrong side of a Prime Time pick six television highlight. As his career wore on, Sanders became an inviting target to run power sweeps at as he became astute at avoiding contact and turned into a wimpy tackler. Out in Oakland, Nnamdi Asomugha is as close to a shutdown corner as there is, highly adept at the "bump and run" technique, following in the footsteps of Raider legacies Willie Brown and Lester "Stick-Em" Hayes. Pre-requisites for top corners are something of a Catch 22. Smaller ones may be swift enough to run with wide receivers, but lack the height to break up passes thrown at taller wideouts, and the physicality to make sure tackles. The taller ones (6'0 and over) simply tend to not be fast enough to stay. It's tough out there, on the island. The CB's opponent knows where he is going and has the wheels to get there quickly. The refs stand by, prone to penalize for any inadvertent contact. The position is as difficult to master as any, including QB. The best ones simply minimize the damage. It's no coincidence that many top safeties have been cornerback conversions. Corners are frequently switched when they are not up to snuff in man to man, or later on in their careers when they lose a step. Hall of Fame S Ronnie Lott was an average corner before making the switch. Saints 3rd year corner Usama Young has some ability but is now being projected at safety for this upcoming training camp. Here's to keeping the faith that top draft choice Malcolm Jenkins can change the Saints' longtime woes out on the island that is CB. On college film, he appears to have good size, sufficient speed, and the range to make plays. Keys for him will be how well he reacts to the ball while in flight - many corners shadow adequately but do not turn around and play the ball in the instant that it counts - and how he reacts to the inevitable, which is getting beat. If Jenkins' territory stays firmer than the wetlands in much of south Louisiana, he will be considered a success.