Suburban-ball defense
How do you play defense without elite athleticism?
Can anyone quickly name for me the starting cornerbacks for the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles?
This is probably the easiest way possible to trap a fan who’s more than a casual but less than a hardcore Eagles fan into a wrong answer. Most people are going to say “Cooper DeJean!”
Perhaps they’ll even break into song…
The NFL’s first cornerback in…forever, caused a stir and a lot of jokes on the internet. Here’s the issue though…he’s not a cornerback.
Check out his pre-snap alignment on the pick-6 against the Chiefs.
What position is that? Almost looks like a cornerback, but the actual cornerback is behind him on his left.
Cooper DeJean played nickel for the Eagles. There’s a difference between a cornerback and a nickel. The nickel needs to be very quick, especially laterally, and he has to process a lot more than a cornerback and make quick decisions so he can react to what’s going on in the middle of the field. However, he generally does not need to do the main thing that differentiates cornerbacks from everyone else on the football field.
The ability to flip his hips to turn and run with an elite skill athlete moving at high speed.
We all know elite athleticism is more common amongst black Americans than other folks in this nation and the difference is most pronounced at cornerback. Even the great exception, Cooper DeJean, is in fact playing a hybrid position while the real breakout star for the Eagles was rookie Quinyon Mitchell, whom they took in the first round, who played corner all year and was exceptional. So, what does this mean for Texas high school ball and the predominantly white suburban powers of central Texas and DFW? How do they play defense and how are they winning state-wide titles at the highest levels?