[BnGhog]

For a WRs the NFL teams are always looking for 6-1 or taller WRs. But why are most CBs 5-11+?

I always hear them talk about the hight advange or so and so over the CB.

My thinking on this is maybe for speed. But there are some guys 6-1 or taller that still have speed. Why not get taller CBs? Then that take away the advanage.

[brad7686]

[welch]

...and, as Darrell Green used to say, the difference in height after both he and a WR jumped was usually too small to give the WR an advantage.

There are counter-examples, of course, but so rare that they reinforce DG's point. Example one, near and dear to Redskin fans, was a catch that Art Monk made toward the end of the first quarter in SB 22. Skins were at their own 20 or 25, facing 3rd and about 15. Broncos leading 10-0. I still remember one of the announcers, probably Dan Dierdorf, saying, "If you're Joe Gibbs, you want to think of every play you have because the Redskins must get a first down...or they'll just be swept away by Denver's offensive avalanche."

Monk, who was playing in spite of a sprained knee, went down the left side-line, turned, and took a pass that Doug Williams floated just high enough that only Monk -- at 6 foot 2 -- could catch. The db fell down after leaping alongside Monk, and Monk ran another 10 or 20 yards.

I've always thought that the catch was a "signature play"...not the only one, but a fair sample of why Art Monk deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He should have been voted in sooner, but he's in.

Of course, few CBs can shadow a receive like Green could, and few can jump the way he could. Few WR's can leap like Art Monk and concentrate on the ball like Art Monk...that's why it is a pleasure to remember them.

[BnGhog]

If you guys get a chance to watch this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hquBATZjsRk

They measured Chad Johnson's range. To find out how acurate a QB has to be. How high he can jump and how far he can lay out for a catch.

Chad's tall and can jump.

I see the point that it is more about a CB having agility. Which is needed for man to man. But in Zone coverage and especially on jump balls, the size will make a difference.

Example, New England using Randy Moss on D when the situation calls for a jump ball.

[welch]

Fascinating video, Bn. The leap and the touch are elements of the game that we hardly notice.

It might be interesting to show the counter-lap of a good CB. My guess is that a CB could -- could -- cover most of the cubic feet shown as catchable-area for Johnson and Rice. That narrows the target, as Green says. An important difference, then, is how accurate the passer is...can he hit that small "safe-zone" with every pass rusher charging at him, receivers adjusting their routes to compensate for defensive schems...all that.

- one difference is that the WR knows where he wants to go (unless he is Desmond Howard, and can't learn the routes). The CB reacts, so agility becomes very important. Hence, the smaller guys like Green.

- another is that the CB is tasked to knock the pass down, rather than catch it. An interception is extra. Therefore (a) the CB has slightly longer reach than a WR of the same height, because the CB just need just get finger-tip high-enough to change the direction of the pass. Green used to joke about his bad hands, but teams hardly ever completed a pass against him unless the receiver was allowed to push off (take that, Michael Irvin!)

- (And the counter-example is a play -- rare-- when a pass is tipped just in fron of the reciever, but the receiver has such reactions that he grabs the tipped pass.)

- another (b) is that an defender can pulverize a WR once the WR touches the ball. That's a counter to the tendency to have small CBs like D Sanders. Pat Fischer was not much of an interception guy, but he timed his hits so the receiver had to have great hands and body control, or be lucky, to complete one.

- Starting with our old favorite, Richie Petibon, defensive coaches (like, again, our old favorite George Allen) developed the "strong safety", an extra-big safety who could sneak up to the line and stop a strong runner, or drop back and help the smaller CB knock the lights out of a WR. There was no law against a free safety hitting hard, either, although the famous ones, like Tom Brown of the Packers and Paul Krausse of the Redskins/Vikings, and Mark Murphy of the SB 17 Skins, tended to roam, and were a built a little more like WRs.

- Finally (if you've read this far), it seems that a CB has to be competent both in man-to-man and zone coverage. Otherwise, the defense loses many of the plays it would want to call.

[butzadams]

Good piece on WR RELEASES VS BUMP & RUN:

http://widereceiverdrills.com/wide-receiver-drills/wide-receiver-drills-defeating-bump-and-run

NOTE: Some clips are of Jerry Rice running routes!