05-06-2019, 12:46 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-07-2019, 03:53 PM by Fordhammer.)
Now that my first official season in the DSFL is over and my second one is on the horizon, I thought I could take some time to reflect on the toughest challenges that I’ve faced so far. As a cornerback, most of these challenges are directly caused by wide receivers’ talent and finesse. Thus, I thought I’d spend some time this week to address the 5 wide receivers that really stood out to me last year and that I think secondaries should pay special attention to this year. This is in no particular order and obviously, I can’t speak about receivers that were mainly covered by my partner Emoji, so some quality talent might not be mentioned. I have no shame in saying that on some plays, these receivers had me completely beat. However, I used those experiences to study receiver tricks and make no mistake about it: I never allowed them to get me twice. Here we go.
To start, I’d actually like to talk about the man who went #10 overall in the season 15 NSFL draft, Ahri Espeeyeeseetee (@`steelsound`). He and I squared off multiple times throughout the season as division rivals, but things really came to a head in the NFC Conference Championship game. Espeeyeeseetee is an extremely dangerous player to have to contend with. On top of his insane top speed, Espeeyeeseetee has hands that might as well be made of glue. Even when I’m able to keep up with him on the field, if he is able to get a single hand on the ball, I have no chance of fighting it from him. Espeeyeeseetee isn’t a very aggressive receiver on the field, which can give off a false sense of security for a young cornerback like myself. While I would think that I had my man covered and that I was able to keep up with him, he would be waiting to gun it and use his huge hands to snatch the ball before I even had a chance at it. If you look at the top fo the field in this play, you can see that I think that I have Espeeyeeseetee completely covered, but he’s able to use his speed to break away from me after a fake cut. Between that and his ability to catch difficult balls, Espeeyeeseetee can be a nightmare to unprepared secondaries.
The next player I’d like to talk about is Rod Tidwell (@SDCore), who went #15 overall (one pick before me) in this past draft. I had the displeasure of matching up with Tidwell in the Ultmini this past season and despite what the stat sheet might make you think, he almost had me beat many times. Tidwell is a very different receiver from Espeeyeeseetee. While he still has an incredible ability to catch difficult balls, Tidwell is the kind of receiver that can outmaneuver and juke you rather than simply outracing you one-on-one. For me, as a player who struggled with speed in college, this is a matchup that I am more comfortable with. However, Tidwell didn’t allow me to slack off at all, as he challenged me throughout the championship game and at the top of the field on this play, he even did a spin move to get around me before catching the ball. Even without the high speed to threaten cornerbacks, Tidwell presents a dangerous slipperiness that guarantees that he will get away if you take your eyes off of him for a single second.
I would be remiss to leave out Cedric Parker (@rohanm), who went #84 overall, but who I believe has much more talent than that number would lead you to believe. To this moment, I haven’t actually been able to figure out what makes Parker so special. None of his traits really stick out to me as exceptional, but when he puts it all together on the field, he becomes a force to be reckoned with. Parker isn’t the fastest nor most slippery player out there. He won’t be able to force the ball away in a contested catch nor will he be able to dominate if the play devolves into physicality. However, as you can see in the bottom of this play here, he absolutely wrecked me. I have no excuses for what happened there. He pushed me when I didn’t expect it and I stumbled. By the time I had recovered, he already had the ball and was on his way to score. That element of surprise must be what makes Parker so unique. He has an unconventional style of play that kept me guessing throughout the season and while it sometimes worked in my favor, it also sometimes worked in his.
Next on my list is actually a tight end. Chase Jensen (@dizzyDC), who was drafted #5 overall, presented a very unique challenge for me from the start, since I don’t usually cover tight ends. As a tight end, Jensen was certainly not the fastest player I lined up against, but by far, he was the strongest. I did my best to keep up with him when the shoving started, but I’ll admit that there were some plays where he swatted me away like a fly. Also, I by no means am trying to say that Jensen was slow on the field. Once Jensen got you out of his way, he would be downfield before you knew it. As you can see at the top of this play, Jensen was able to truck right through me while running his route for the play. Luckily, I was fast enough to reach him after he caught the ball, but that must’ve been the easiest catch of his career. Teams that struggle against tight ends that frequently catch the ball need to really worry about Jensen.
If you couldn’t already guess, the last person on my list is Portland’s own Bona’beri Jones (@toivo), who went undrafted, but who will easily be the most talented player in the DSFL this year. I have never played against a player as fast as Jones in my entire life. Jones possesses a natural gift on a whole other level compared to the rest of the receivers in this league. While he doesn’t have as many flashy moves or tricks to get around a corner, he has the raw velocity to just travel past them before they can process what is going on. Even the most ambitious cornerback has to go into a game against Jones nervous. One wrong move and Jones will already be in the end zone, regardless of where the play started. And I had to practice against him every single week. You can imagine my relief on game days when I finally got a chance to play against somebody else. Jones is an unreal talent and I honestly do not look forward to playing against him if we end up on different teams in the future. At the top of this play, you can see Jones refusing to give in to the tackle and turning a regular 1st down into his longest play of the season.
Overall, I honestly don’t believe that there are bad receivers in the league right now. There are plenty of players that I have competed against that deserve to be mentioned and even more that I never got a chance to line up across from. I’m sure you noticed that the #1 overall pick Brock Landers didn’t quite make the cut here and that is just because he and I haven’t faced off yet. Every time we played the Luchadores this past season, I left him in Emoji’s capable hands while I took care of Espeeyeeseetee. For those excited to see that matchup, you’ll just have to wait until my debut with the Butchers to see how far we’ve grown and which one of us can outsmart the other.
I have addressed how difficult playing the cornerback position is in a previous post and I consider this to be a supplement to that. On top of all of the things that I had previously mentioned, consider all of the different types of receivers that I’ve described here. Along with everything else, cornerbacks have to consider what the tendencies and talents of their receiver are so that they won’t be beat on the field. I wouldn’t play a game against any of these 5 receivers even remotely similarly. Honestly, that’s the beauty of football though. Even in one position, there can be so many different types of players and so much variation in technique that there is always something to learn and experiment against.
To close, I just wanted to announce to everyone who doesn’t already know that I will be spending one more year with the Portland Pythons. However, this time around I’m not as green or as overwhelmed as I was last season. I’m ready to hit the season hard from the beginning, so to any new receivers out there, be warned that I am going to ruin everything for you. I had previously mentioned that I wanted to accomplish so much more than just an Ultimini championship, so let’s see if getting two in a row can satisfy me.
X
To start, I’d actually like to talk about the man who went #10 overall in the season 15 NSFL draft, Ahri Espeeyeeseetee (@`steelsound`). He and I squared off multiple times throughout the season as division rivals, but things really came to a head in the NFC Conference Championship game. Espeeyeeseetee is an extremely dangerous player to have to contend with. On top of his insane top speed, Espeeyeeseetee has hands that might as well be made of glue. Even when I’m able to keep up with him on the field, if he is able to get a single hand on the ball, I have no chance of fighting it from him. Espeeyeeseetee isn’t a very aggressive receiver on the field, which can give off a false sense of security for a young cornerback like myself. While I would think that I had my man covered and that I was able to keep up with him, he would be waiting to gun it and use his huge hands to snatch the ball before I even had a chance at it. If you look at the top fo the field in this play, you can see that I think that I have Espeeyeeseetee completely covered, but he’s able to use his speed to break away from me after a fake cut. Between that and his ability to catch difficult balls, Espeeyeeseetee can be a nightmare to unprepared secondaries.
The next player I’d like to talk about is Rod Tidwell (@SDCore), who went #15 overall (one pick before me) in this past draft. I had the displeasure of matching up with Tidwell in the Ultmini this past season and despite what the stat sheet might make you think, he almost had me beat many times. Tidwell is a very different receiver from Espeeyeeseetee. While he still has an incredible ability to catch difficult balls, Tidwell is the kind of receiver that can outmaneuver and juke you rather than simply outracing you one-on-one. For me, as a player who struggled with speed in college, this is a matchup that I am more comfortable with. However, Tidwell didn’t allow me to slack off at all, as he challenged me throughout the championship game and at the top of the field on this play, he even did a spin move to get around me before catching the ball. Even without the high speed to threaten cornerbacks, Tidwell presents a dangerous slipperiness that guarantees that he will get away if you take your eyes off of him for a single second.
I would be remiss to leave out Cedric Parker (@rohanm), who went #84 overall, but who I believe has much more talent than that number would lead you to believe. To this moment, I haven’t actually been able to figure out what makes Parker so special. None of his traits really stick out to me as exceptional, but when he puts it all together on the field, he becomes a force to be reckoned with. Parker isn’t the fastest nor most slippery player out there. He won’t be able to force the ball away in a contested catch nor will he be able to dominate if the play devolves into physicality. However, as you can see in the bottom of this play here, he absolutely wrecked me. I have no excuses for what happened there. He pushed me when I didn’t expect it and I stumbled. By the time I had recovered, he already had the ball and was on his way to score. That element of surprise must be what makes Parker so unique. He has an unconventional style of play that kept me guessing throughout the season and while it sometimes worked in my favor, it also sometimes worked in his.
Next on my list is actually a tight end. Chase Jensen (@dizzyDC), who was drafted #5 overall, presented a very unique challenge for me from the start, since I don’t usually cover tight ends. As a tight end, Jensen was certainly not the fastest player I lined up against, but by far, he was the strongest. I did my best to keep up with him when the shoving started, but I’ll admit that there were some plays where he swatted me away like a fly. Also, I by no means am trying to say that Jensen was slow on the field. Once Jensen got you out of his way, he would be downfield before you knew it. As you can see at the top of this play, Jensen was able to truck right through me while running his route for the play. Luckily, I was fast enough to reach him after he caught the ball, but that must’ve been the easiest catch of his career. Teams that struggle against tight ends that frequently catch the ball need to really worry about Jensen.
If you couldn’t already guess, the last person on my list is Portland’s own Bona’beri Jones (@toivo), who went undrafted, but who will easily be the most talented player in the DSFL this year. I have never played against a player as fast as Jones in my entire life. Jones possesses a natural gift on a whole other level compared to the rest of the receivers in this league. While he doesn’t have as many flashy moves or tricks to get around a corner, he has the raw velocity to just travel past them before they can process what is going on. Even the most ambitious cornerback has to go into a game against Jones nervous. One wrong move and Jones will already be in the end zone, regardless of where the play started. And I had to practice against him every single week. You can imagine my relief on game days when I finally got a chance to play against somebody else. Jones is an unreal talent and I honestly do not look forward to playing against him if we end up on different teams in the future. At the top of this play, you can see Jones refusing to give in to the tackle and turning a regular 1st down into his longest play of the season.
Overall, I honestly don’t believe that there are bad receivers in the league right now. There are plenty of players that I have competed against that deserve to be mentioned and even more that I never got a chance to line up across from. I’m sure you noticed that the #1 overall pick Brock Landers didn’t quite make the cut here and that is just because he and I haven’t faced off yet. Every time we played the Luchadores this past season, I left him in Emoji’s capable hands while I took care of Espeeyeeseetee. For those excited to see that matchup, you’ll just have to wait until my debut with the Butchers to see how far we’ve grown and which one of us can outsmart the other.
I have addressed how difficult playing the cornerback position is in a previous post and I consider this to be a supplement to that. On top of all of the things that I had previously mentioned, consider all of the different types of receivers that I’ve described here. Along with everything else, cornerbacks have to consider what the tendencies and talents of their receiver are so that they won’t be beat on the field. I wouldn’t play a game against any of these 5 receivers even remotely similarly. Honestly, that’s the beauty of football though. Even in one position, there can be so many different types of players and so much variation in technique that there is always something to learn and experiment against.
To close, I just wanted to announce to everyone who doesn’t already know that I will be spending one more year with the Portland Pythons. However, this time around I’m not as green or as overwhelmed as I was last season. I’m ready to hit the season hard from the beginning, so to any new receivers out there, be warned that I am going to ruin everything for you. I had previously mentioned that I wanted to accomplish so much more than just an Ultimini championship, so let’s see if getting two in a row can satisfy me.
X
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