Forced Into a Corner?

In this weekend’s NFL draft, the last line of defense will be front and center.

Cornerbacks could corner the market on first-round slots.

As many as six of them could hear their names called in Saturday’s opening round, underscoring once again the need for a smothering secondary in an age of unfettered passing attacks and officials with whistles at the ready. The last time six cornerbacks were chosen in the first round was 1997, although the last four drafts have featured at least four first-rounders each.

While the league has put new emphasis on the five-yard chuck rules -- which require defenders to keep their hands to themselves, except in the five-yard area past the line of scrimmage -- coaches are stockpiling defensive backs who can make the best of a difficult situation.

“You’re always looking for great corners, but it’s hard to find that shutdown corner anymore because of the rules,” said Herman Edwards, coach of the New York Jets. “It’s hard on these guys now.”

It sure isn’t hard on their wallets. Last season, for the first time in league history, a position other than quarterback commanded the highest salaries: cornerback. The franchise salary for a cornerback -- the average of the top five salaries at that position -- was $8.78 million, compared to $8.08 million for quarterbacks. Even defense-minded coaches such as Chicago’s Lovie Smith are taken aback by that.

“I still have a hard time seeing it that way,” Smith said. “Of course, the cornerback is an important position and they’re covering great players, but I just still think there are other positions that do more for your team.”

Then again, Chicago is among the relatively few teams not looking to pick up a cornerback in this year’s draft. The way other teams see it, this is a bear market for corners, featuring speed-burning standouts such as Miami’s Antrel Rolle, Auburn’s Carlos Rogers, West Virginia’s Adam Jones, Clemson’s Justin Miller, Nebraska’s Fabian Washington and Stanford’s Stanley Wilson.

The fastest of those is Washington, who dazzled scouts with a 40-yard time of 4.29 seconds, and Wilson was a mere half-step slower at 4.36. Many observers consider Rolle, Rogers and Jones the top three corners in the draft.

In light of the heightened sensitivity to the bump rule, the emphasis now is finding corners with finesse.

“The trait of being able to grab, hold, turn, throw people to the ground, hopefully that trait past five yards has been devalued,” said Atlanta General Manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the competition committee, which puts rules in place. “That was the object. But I don’t think it changes the value of corners, because ... at some time they’re going to be on an island, and you’d better have good ones.”

Although he ran the 40 in 4.5, slightly slower than most corners, Rolle is considered by many people to be the best in the group. He’s big for a corner at 6 feet 1 and 198 pounds, and finished third in the voting for the Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year.

Among the most intriguing prospects is Jones, who surrendered only one touchdown pass in two seasons as a West Virginia starter -- and that came when he lost the ball in the sun. His nickname, “Pac-Man,” has nothing to do with a penchant for video games

“When I was a baby,” he said, “I used to go through the bottle like it was a Pac-Man machine, so my mom started calling me that and it kind of stuck when I started playing sports.”

Appropriately, he gobbled up yards as a return man too, earning All-Big East Conference honors for that part of his game. But he was an All-American defensive back, and that’s what is sure to earn him millions of dollars as a pro.

“Everybody can’t play corner,” he said. “Anybody can play receiver. It’s hard to be out there by yourself.”

In this draft, though, Jones will be one of a crowd.

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Not Cutting Corners

*--* Number of cornerbacks selected in the first round in the last 10 drafts: 2004...4 1999...4 2003...5 1998...4 2002...4 1997...6 2001...4 1996...1 2000...3 1995...3

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