Top 3 Cornerback Draft Prospects - Teez Tabor

The decision to feature three prospects was based on a couple things. The more respectable of the two reasons is that there is a noticeable drop off after the top three corners. The less respectable reason is that each prospect takes hours of my time and after my fifth corner I decided to just snip it at three and move on to another position group.

How I chose the three I would feature was a nice blend of my own subjective opinions and an aggregation of opinions from around the internet.

For example, the claim that there is a “noticeable drop off” is my opinion. The consensus seems to drop off after the top two corners, after which there is a lot of debate. For me, however, there are the three in the coming articles and then there’s everyone else.

As for the opinions from around the internet, it looked something like this:

		SI	Walter	NFL	CBS	B/R	Ourlads	FOX	PFF	avg
1	Marshon Lattimore	2	3	1	1	4	NA	5	NA	2.67
2	Marlon Humphrey	5	1	3	3	8	2	2	4	3.50
3	Jalen Tabor	7	7	4	2	3	4	4	2	4.13
4	Sidney Jones	4	5	2	4	5	7	3		4.29
5	Desmond King	3	8	9*	5	6	1	7	1	4.43
6	Quincy Wilson		2	10	11	1	6	1		5.17
7	Gareon Conley	NA	6	5	9	2	5	6		5.50
8	Jourdan Lewis	6	11	8	7	9	10	9	3	7.88
9	Cordrea Tankersley	9	9	9	8	7	8	8	5	7.88
10	Tre’Davious White	10	10	6	6	14	3	12		8.71
11	Adoree’ Jackson	NA	4	7	13	12	9	11		9.33
12	Chidobe Awuzie	NA	14					10		12.00
13	Cam Sutton	8	12	22	10	11	11	NA		12.33
14	Corn Elder	NA	20			10	19	17		16.50

Fortunately, my opinion matched up with the aggregation. I also think Humphrey, Lattimore, and Tabor are the top three corners. It’s the order that I don’t agree with.

#1 Jalen “Teez” Tabor

The question of my favorite corner depends on whether your asking me as a fan or as a GM. If I were a GM I would probably make a different choice but as a fan I can’t get over the upside of Teez Tabor.

If you paid attention to my fancy chart above, you’ll also realize I’m the only one putting Teez on top. It’s not a comforting feeling but I’m okay with being wrong. What I’m not okay with is telling you Marshon Lattimore is the best corner of the draft because NFL.com says so. You don’t need my help reading other peoples mock drafts.

With that, let’s dive in.

First, let’s cover the fun stuff. Yes, he gets interceptions. Although not one of the things Teez is known for, his blend of speed and instincts make him lethal. The way he is able to play off of a receiver and close with lightning quickness to jump a route brings me back to the glory days of Al Harris and Charles Woodson.

Strangely, Teez gets knocked for this kind of stuff. They say he is “guessing.” Why not just give him credit for film study like everyone else? Personally, I’ll take that kind of guess any day.

Beyond the obvious, a play like this does more than just put you up 6. Quick timing plays like the one above are extremely common in the NFL and are nearly indefensible. To have a player with the instincts and speed of Teez, even “gimme” plays like this are at risk if you throw in Teez’s direction.

Another example of a play that’s very hard to defend is below.

The receiver cuts hard to the inside, baiting Teez to work toward the middle of the field. With Teez breaking hard to get in front of him, the receiver turns to the pylon with Teez trailing behind him. The vast majority of the time in this situation the quarterback will place the ball beyond the receiver putting the cornerback out of position to make a play and it’s an easy 6. In this case, however, even while being behind the receiver and having only seconds to react; Teez is able to close on him, extending his arm out in time to slap the ball out of the air.

Another of my favorite traits is Tabor’s aggressiveness in the air. Although he’s far too soft in run support, when the ball is in the air he’s a bully and rarely loses the battle with receivers.

In the play above, Teez is able to take away a play that never should have been denied. With Florida playing zone coverage, the Florida St. quarterback finds his receiver sitting down perfectly in the zone for what should be an easy completion. Teez, however, is somehow able to keep his eyes on the quarterback as he’s covering number 80, Nyqwan Murray. When Teez sees the ball released to the underneath receiver he immediately doubles back toward him and with his quickness is able to get to the receiver and wrestle it out of his hands. The man doesn’t even need to be covering a guy to have him covered.

Now before I get to the negative, let me just say that Teez isn’t inept in the tackling category. He’s a pretty big guy and when big and fast combine there is a boom that follows. It’s science. Physics to be exact.

Here’s an example of the boom.

That being said here is the problem.

If you can’t guess, the guy that flies into the frame, throws his body at the runners feet and embarrasses himself… That’s Tabor. It’s his one move. Even in my good tackle example, it was sort of a bad tackle. Tabor does a WWE crossbody and it’s the most you can ever expect from him in terms of helping tackle a guy.

It’s the fundamental things like tackling and the fact that some of the best scouts in the country are worried about him “guessing” that makes him sort of a boom or bust in my mind. The boom part is incredibly appealing to me and of all the players that could realistically be available at 29, Teez may be the one that gets me the most excited.