Just over a year ago the most dominant player in the NFL playoffs wasn’t Drew Brees or Peyton Manning. It was Darrell Revis. He completely shut down the likes of Reggie Wayne, Chad Johnson and anyone else he lined up against. He continued offering Revis Island vacations to opposing receivers this year and almost helped the Jets reach the Super Bowl.
Who is the hottest free agent this season? That’s easy, he’s the only guy that all 32 teams would love to have and his last name sounds like awesome. Nnamdi Asomugha will be paid a pretty penny this summer by a team in need of a true shutdown corner. It would seem that the corner position is pretty valuable in the scheme of things.
Why then is Patrick Peterson, the consensus ‘best player in the draft’, sliding down mock drafts? Analysts constantly point out that “no corner has ever been taken in the top 3” or argue that “you can’t pay top 3 money to a corner”. Really? But you can pay top 3 money to JaMarcus Russell? Don’t get me wrong I understand the finances of the pick and that the cornerback position on average does not receive the same money as say a quarterback or defensive linemen, but we’re not talking about an average player here. I would feel a lot more comfortable paying a large sum of money to Peterson than I would Cam Newton, or Blaine Gabbert.
In Jon Gruden’s book “Do You Love Football”, he says that when building a team you first need to get a franchise quarterback, then a shutdown corner, and then either a defensive end or offensive tackle. If you’re Carolina, you need to decide whether or not Jimmy Clausen can still be the guy (I believe he can be). If they don’t think Clausen has it in him, I can see them going with Gabbert or Newton. The Broncos at #2 overall have a fair amount of money tied up in Champ Bailey and need help along the defensive line. Although I would pick Peterson, I can’t fault them for taking Marcel Dareus to fill the void at defensive tackle. Here’s where it gets interesting. The Bills, Bengals and Cardinals all need franchise quarterbacks but there aren’t enough to go around. Sure you’re going to hear the arguments about how guys like Da’Quan Bowers, Von Miller and Robert Quinn can all get after the quarterback and that is more important. But now it’s time to go back to the Jets and Revis. Tom Brady enjoyed one of the most prolific stretches a quarterback has ever had until he met the Jets in the playoffs. He never looked comfortable in the pocket, was hit a lot and ultimately lost the game. The Jets didn’t have one guy in their front seven that I would classify as a “dangerous” pass rusher (proof of this is that getting a pass rusher is need #1 for the Jets this offseason). So how come Brady struggled? It’s because the coverage downfield was exceptional. He had a lot of time in the pocket, but simply had nowhere to throw the ball.
Where Peterson goes on draft day is still a mystery (although someone needs to get fired if he gets by San Fran at #7). Somehow the best player in the draft, at a key position, is not worth a top 5 pick. Go figure.
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