How tall are cornerbacks

I think the correlation with line yards is especially interesting, and I wonder if there is some schematic selection bias baked into that. King has always been a better man corner, and man can be vulnerable to running just because man corners have their backs turned to the line.

The obvious counter to King is Jaire Alexander, who is small, and great. Eric Stokes is a CB prospect in the draft class. He scored a 9. This ranked 2 out of CB from to You may be wondering what this means for the newly drafted Eric Stokes. While not as tall as King, is still on the tall side, and like King, seems to struggle in run support and with tackling.

That said, Stokes is more medium-tall, not an outlier like King, and there are tons of similarly sized corners who have been successful in the NFL, like Darius Slay and Kyle Fuller. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

The Titans asked him to cover a variety of different zones from a variety of different alignments. At times he even dropped into a free safety position with other teammates playing man coverage underneath. The Titans suffered many breakdowns in zone coverage throughout the season, but they mostly appeared to be a result of poor safety play. Brent Grimes of the Miami Dolphins was another short cornerback who locked receivers down in zone and off-man coverage.

According to the analysts at Pro Football Focus subscription required , the eighth-year veteran finished the season with a plus coverage grade. That was the third-best coverage grade at his position. Fahey agrees:. For example, if Sherman was three inches smaller he could still be the best cornerback in the NFL. He's that good because he's exceptionally intelligent, aware and has a great combination of fluidity with physicality.

Lanky, big-bodied corners are an anomaly, which means there are fewer tall cornerbacks in comparison to short cornerbacks.

With the proper technique, a shorter cornerback can outshine his taller counterpart in press-man, off-man or zone coverage. Stay true to what matters most: production, physical abilities and coachability. Follow TysonNFL. The years during and immediately after World War II brought two big player-related developments. One expanded the talent pool; the other changed the type of talent that teams would seek. African American players returned to the NFL. In the s though the early s, most players were similar in size because substitutions were mostly prohibited.

Players were largely interchangeable and played every play — often playing multiple positions — on offense and defense. Even kickers played every down at other positions. The shortage of fit players forced the NFL to change its rules to allow free substitutions. The league tried to re-implement its restrictions after the war, but substitutions proved so popular that it lifted its restrictions permanently in Players no longer needed to be able to play both offense and defense and could even take the field for just a handful of plays per game.

That meant that, for example, coaches could use small and speedy receivers to energize their offenses, since those players would not need the size required to play defense. Punters and kickers no longer had to block, tackle, run, catch or pass. A club could keep a player primarily to return punts and kickoffs. Since the season, each team can identify 46 active and seven inactive players before each game. More roster spots meant coaches could afford to reserve spots for specialists.

Specialization was gradual as coaches adopted new strategies to take advantage of players with unique physical attributes and skills — all in the name of trying to gain an edge on their opponents. Increasingly, kickers became more one-dimensional. Like any specialist, kickers needed to excel only at the job they were hired to do.

A Cleveland Plain Dealer story told the story of how almost all Browns players worked second jobs in the early s during the six-month off-season to supplement their income. Future Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis taught students mechanical drawing in Linebacker Jim Houston, a first-round pick in the draft, opened an insurance and financial planning company.

Off-season conditioning was not the norm, because players spent it working and pursuing other interests. Television contracts, sold-out stadiums, merchandising and sponsorship deals ensured an abundant, steady flow of cash.

So, too, did the ever-rising profitability and popularity of the game. Clubs work with the players to provide sophisticated training techniques, equipment and medical expertise year-round. Future NFL stars now start with youth football and play through high school and college, all with support systems in place to develop players at every level. Top athletes may make it to the NFL, and most players are often more fit and prepared for the professional game than ever before.

Players have grown in many ways over the past three decades — in professionalism, earnings, specialization, size and strength. High school quarterbacks learn to read defenses, and defenses use line stunts and blitz packages. Specialization takes hold early.

Many major college programs have adopted pro-style offensive schemes creating players more prepared to adjust to the NFL game. Increased specialization in the NFL and the evolution of offensive and defensive coaching strategies have led to new optimal body types for each position, with customized conditioning and nutritional programs to match. NFL Players at most positions are bigger and stronger than their predecessors, but sizes and body styles have diverged — sometimes dramatically — based on the demands of their roles.

One recent analysis of average player weights by position, using data from NFL. The difference in average heights, while not as dramatic, ranged from 5 foot 11 inches for running backs and cornerbacks to 6 foot 5 inches for offensive tackles. Nowhere is the divergence more evident than on the offensive and defensive lines. In the early s, Washington line coach Joe Bugel told Joe Jacoby, a 6 foot 7 inch, pound offensive tackle at the University of Louisville, that he had a chance to make it in the NFL — but only if he got bigger.

With training, Jacoby increased his bench press from to pounds, put on 30 pounds and increased his quickness in the yard dash to five seconds flat. By , the median weight for NFL guards and tackles had reached pounds, according to one analysis. That means over half weigh more than Jacoby did.