Darqueze Dennard

This can be moved to the Draft Room if need be..but anyways.


Did anyone watch him play at Mich. St? Someone that could give a good analysis of his talent?

I see a lot of people saying good things about him including experts and steeler fans. He's been linked to be drafted by the steelers in many mocks.

The reason I wonder is, I like to check out film on people just to see how they play and make my own judgement on them.

With Dennard I really feel like he isn't a special talent at CB at all. I mean I can't imagine there isn't players you could get in the 3rd, 4th or 5th round that have just as much talent as him.

I don't know he just doesn't seem that great.

What do you guys think??

 

Thanks for the response.

I pretty much feel the same way you do, if he's more of a man 2 man press guy, I mean I would be thrilled if the steelers were going to draft these kind of guys and switch to a more press coverage defense. I'm totally one of those fans that could scream out loud at the t.v (as if i'm speaking directly to Tomlin or Lebeau) when I see our CB's line up with the infamous 10 yard cushion on third and short plays..essentially conceding a first down.

But I don't really see exceptional coverage skills from him really. I also noticed that he grabs and plays physical with receivers throughout their routes. He can get away with this if he plays for the Seahawks, Niners or Ravens.

But we all know as steeler fans he won't get away with any of it while playing with the steelers. I have watched the Refs consistently over the last 2 years call steelers corners for even touching the other teams receiver at all....I know Ike deserved a lot of the calls he got..but at the same time I've never seen as many BS P.I calls as I have the last 2 years called against us.

If you are Seattle or Ravens esp. you can mug the guy and it's good clean technique and solid hard-nosed defense.


Must be nice.

 

I'm going to disagree here. IMO he is the best "cover corner" in the draft, and it isn't really that close. Justin Gilbert is intriguing because he is an elite athlete (as is Roby), but in terms of coverage Gilbert is way more polished. Schematically in college he played mostly press man, but played off man as well. If we drafted him, there's no reason to suggest that DL wouldn't let him press his man a little more than our current corners because that is what he excels at... If you have red paint, paint the barn red. Am I right? lol (I forget who in our FO said that)

I've had my eye on him for a while, and love what he could bring to our defense. He always seems to be in the receivers pocket, and very rarely gets beaten. His missed tackles from what I see comes from him throwing his body at the target instead of going for a form tackle, and that is something he would need to improve. I really like him at 15.

 

He's alright, although I would prefer to draft Gilbert he could be a special player.

 

I've never fully bought into the "what we ask CB's to do in this scheme" mentality. It makes no sense to me, because when the time comes to really need to play on your receiver then it really glares that your guys can't do it well. I've always thought, get a cover guy and teach him zone, so you have flexibility to flip flop it.

 

I think your looking @the Steelers irst rd pick,
But stranger things have happened. Oakland Raiders/Clev Brownies/ Jags can screw up
a lot of big boards.

 

I have 5 guys that I will be watching on draft day...

Gilbert
Dennard
Ebron
Evans
Benjamin

I think these are our best bets at the moment. Benjamin I think could be a slight reach, but I truly believe that would be the case no matter who we picked there. Those top 4 have been climbing up the boards, and how many QBs are taken in the top 10 will shape this draft.

 

I think it will get worse with his speed and the nfl speed. he will be going against a more polished product every week in the pro's than at mich.st.. I wonder about his draft status not living up to his pro game ability. not that he won't be a good player, I just don't think he'll be a #1 corner.

gilbert is a good cover man at times. toughness and the rest of his game don't stand out to me.

fuller I like a lot. good all around game. football smarts for the position. carnell will help him get even better.

roby has one of the better all around games. some carnell lake will help hone his skills.

verrett has a good all around game. maybe the best of the bunch if he were bigger. his quickness stands out. I keep seeing one of my favorites in him. a guy I wish we would have kept. Thomas Everett. he'd throw himself in there so hard he'd hurt himself. dallas got a good player when we let him go finally. he won a SB with them as a starter. I'm just afraid of verretts size bad shoulder just repaired, but the kid can play. smarts is a question too. a year or two in jr. college to get good enough grades to play.

jaylon Watkins is also a good one and I'm not to sure he couldn't be a really good FS down the road. another good all around corner.

 

I wasn't saying I would take Dennard,
is that is who I think the Steelers will take.
I prefer Gilbert, but I think he will be gone.
I am thinking I am going to be very disappointed
in who we get in the first round.

 

Unless we wear Seattle jerseys.

 

Trade up to get Gilbert, or trade down and take Fuller.

 

I don't think we have to trade anywhere. fuller or roby are first round capable players. the steelers have always valued run support in their corners and roby and fuller are two of the better ones at the top. coverage wise they are all pretty close. varrett is also good in run support but his lack of height will cause coverage mismatches. I'm not saying he's not on the level of the first 5 but the mismatches would be bigger against him. he's cat quick though. I just don't see dennard and gilbert as head and shoulders above any of them and possibly behind a couple in complete game as a corner.

 

Gilbert is better than the rest of those guys which is why he could go in the top 10. The Steelers aren't going to draft Roby or Fuller at #15 either.

 

all speculation. gilbert isn't near as perfect as you make him out to be, any of the top 5 guys are easily 1st round players.

 

johnny football?