Cornerback Play in 2011

fretgod99 · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 17823

This shouldn't be surprising to anybody here.

Chris Gamble had a very good year under Rivera this past season. Captain Munnerlyn did not.

Obviously, the statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt, but what we all saw play out on field appears to be backed up with reasonably objective measurements. Munnerlyn was 5th worst in yards per pass play, 11th worst in success rate (defined in the article), and 2nd worst in YAC allowed.

Gamble was 15th in yards per pass play, 5th in success rate, and 23rd in YAC allowed.

I always thought Gamble was a good player (not an elite corner, but one of the better players in the league), but kept getting screwed by poor defensive calls and schemes. Glad to see he was performing at a high level again last year.

Also, Munnerlyn sucks. If Claiborne, by some stroke of fortune, drops to 9, we absolutely have to take him. If we go elsewhere in round one, hopefully someone like Dennard is available in round two. I can't take another year of Munnerlyn's feeble attempts to cover a slant.
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iknowcool · Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 11424

I'm glad Gamble is finally proving how good of a cornerback he truly is. Was very good for us early on in his career and had a very good '09 season. But he was never a great fit for the soft defense Fox would routinely have us play, especially when he took over playcalling in the middle of 2008 (Ken Lucas!). Not to defend Munnerlyn because he sucks regardless but I think what hurt him even more is we run more man than we ever did before, which suits Gamble to a tee but being that Munnerlyn is relatively slow and undersized, he just gets abused.

I'd absolutely love Claiborne but it's looking more unlikely by the second.
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FriendlyEnemy · Joined: 30 Dec 2010 Posts: 1404 Location: USA

Munnerlyn is a solid nickel corner. Unfortunately that is the extent of his capabilities. If we can get a solid #2 in the draft (Dennard, Kirkpatrick, etc) then I think we'd be set in the secondary. I'd love to see Claiborne, but that is a pipe dream at this point. He won't make it out of the Top 5.
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^^Peppers90^^

89 06 MVP · Joined: 17 Dec 2009 Posts: 700 Location: Charlotte,NC

With B.Hogan & D.Butler coming in & having a full OTA & training camp i don't expect to see Munnerlyn at the 2 anymore. But if Munnerlyn beat either of the two out we in real trouble next season but i don't see it happen.The most i expect from Munnerlyn is nickel & ST duty.
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Moody · Joined: 21 Nov 2011 Posts: 604 Location: Roma

Put 2011 Chris Gamble behind a real pass rush and put a good corner on the other side and he'll be in the probowl with around seven interceptions.

Goodson is definitely better built for the position, I hope he can put it together.