CB Stars

Novacane32000

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ESPN came out with their thoughts on the top 10 CB heading into this season.

What were their star rankings in High School ? I am a star guy but did not think there would be so many 5 Stars in the top 10 being they make up such a small percentage of every class, yet there are 3 in this CB group.

Is this what you would have thought?



NFL CBStarsCollege
1. Pat Surtain (Broncos)5Alabama
2. Denzel Ward (Browns)3Ohio State
3. Sauce Gardner (Jets)3Cincinnati
4. L'Jarius Sneed (Titans2LA Tech
5. Jalen Ramsey (Dolphins)5FSU
6. Trent McDuffie (Chiefs)4Washington
7. Jaire Alexander (Packers)3Louisville
8. Jaylon Johnson (Bears)4Utah
9. Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks)2Illinois
10. Derek Stingley (Texans)5LSU
 
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ESPN came out with their thoughts on the top 10 CB heading into this season.

What were their star rankings in High School ? I am a star guy but did not think there would be so many 5 Stars in the top 10 being they make up such a small percentage of every class, yet there are 3 in this CB group.

Is this what you would have thought?



NFL CBStarsCollege
1. Pat Surtain (Broncos)5Alabama
2. Denzel Ward (Browns)3Ohio State
3. Sauce Gardner (Jets)3Cincinnati
4. L'Jarius Sneed (Titans2LA Tech
5. Jalen Ramsey (Dolphins)5FSU
6. Trent McDuffie (Chiefs)4Washington
7. Jaire Alexander (Packers)3Louisville
8. Jaylon Johnson (Bears)4Utah
9. Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks)2Illinois
10. Derek Stingley (Texans)5LSU
So the average rating is 3.6 stars. Good, but not a great hit rate for 5 stars.
 
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ESPN came out with their thoughts on the top 10 CB heading into this season.

What were their star rankings in High School ? I am a star guy but did not think there would be so many 5 Stars in the top 10 being they make up such a small percentage of every class, yet there are 3 in this CB group.

Is this what you would have thought?



NFL CBStarsCollege
1. Pat Surtain (Broncos)5Alabama
2. Denzel Ward (Browns)3Ohio State
3. Sauce Gardner (Jets)3Cincinnati
4. L'Jarius Sneed (Titans2LA Tech
5. Jalen Ramsey (Dolphins)5FSU
6. Trent McDuffie (Chiefs)4Washington
7. Jaire Alexander (Packers)3Louisville
8. Jaylon Johnson (Bears)4Utah
9. Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks)2Illinois
10. Derek Stingley (Texans)5LSU

I’m going to assume these were ESPN rankings vs. true, composite rankings b/c Denzel Ward was a Composite 4* coming out of Nordonia, Devon Witherspoon wasn’t even ranked coming out of Pine Forest in Pensacola (He’s truly a diamond in the rough), & L’Jarius Sneed was a composite 3*.

So 6/10 were blue chip recruits coming out, 3/10 were 3*, & 1/10 was a true late bloomer, under the radar.
 
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I’m going to assume these were ESPN rankings vs. true, composite rankings b/c Denzel Ward was a Composite 4* coming out of Nordonia, Devon Witherspoon wasn’t even ranked coming out of Pine Forest in Pensacola (He’s truly a diamond in the rough), & L’Jarius Sneed was a composite 3*.

So 6/10 were blue chip recruits coming out, 3/10 were 3*, & 1/10 was a true late bloomer, under the radar.
I used Rivals ranking for no particular reason and yes Witherspoon had no ranking so I incorrectly assumed 2 star.
 
Star ratings matter for a cumulative collection of talent as it pertains to the entirety of your team, not necessarily per individual player.

But specifically, for CB's, what's more important than star ratings is physical attributes/traits. Technical skill & IQ are also important as well, but there are intangibles that can be taught & maturated over time. What can't be taught are tangibles & for the CB position, your physical capabilities are the most important foundation from which you can build everything else. If you don’t have the physical tools necessary to start with, you might be able to get by for awhile off Football IQ, film study, good technique etc, but eventually regression to the mean happens & you'll struggle a lot more than you succeed.

Here's what's more telling than just their Star rankings coming out of HS:

Pat Surtain II - 4.41

Ahmad Gardner - 4.41

Jaylon Johnson - 4.5

Jaire Alexander - 4.38

L'Jarius Sneed - 4.37

Trent McDuffie - 4.44

AJ Terrell - 4.42

Devon Witherspoon - 4.42

Denzel Ward - 4.32

Trevon Diggs - 4.42

Derek Stingley Jr - 4.37

Asante Samuel Jr - 4.41

Darius Slay - 4.36

Jalen Ramsey - 4.41

Notice a pattern?...

Now, of course there are fast Corners who aren't actually good CB's (DVD for example), but most good CB's are also fast. It is pretty rare to find a CB who's slow & also a good CB.

Simply put, there can be slow Corners who are good & there can be fast Corners who are bad, but most of the time the fast ones are usually also the good ones. You increase your odds of having a good one if he has the prerequisite tangibles necessary to build with. Recruiting/signing slow Corners makes this task a lot harder than it should be.

There's a reason why LSU, FSU, Bama, UGA, Texas, OH ST, Clemson, Oregon etc, all recruit the same players at this position...
 
Star ratings matter for a cumulative collection of talent as it pertains to the entirety of your team, not necessarily per individual player.

But specifically, for CB's, what's more important than star ratings is physical attributes/traits. Technical skill & IQ are also important as well, but there are intangibles that can be taught & maturated over time. What can't be taught are tangibles & for the CB position, your physical capabilities are the most important foundation from which you can build everything else. If you don’t have the physical tools necessary to start with, you might be able to get by for awhile off Football IQ, film study, good technique etc, but eventually regression to the mean happens & you'll struggle a lot more than you succeed.

Here's what's more telling than just their Star rankings coming out of HS:

Pat Surtain II - 4.41

Ahmad Gardner - 4.41

Jaylon Johnson - 4.5

Jaire Alexander - 4.38

L'Jarius Sneed - 4.37

Trent McDuffie - 4.44

AJ Terrell - 4.42

Devon Witherspoon - 4.42

Denzel Ward - 4.32

Trevon Diggs - 4.42

Derek Stingley Jr - 4.37

Asante Samuel Jr - 4.41

Darius Slay - 4.36

Jalen Ramsey - 4.41

Notice a pattern?...

Now, of course there are fast Corners who aren't actually good CB's (DVD for example), but most good CB's are also fast. It is pretty rare to find a CB who's slow & also a good CB.

Simply put, there can be slow Corners who are good & there can be fast Corners who are bad, but most of the time the fast ones are usually also the good ones. You increase your odds of having a good one if he has the prerequisite tangibles necessary to build with. Recruiting/signing slow Corners makes this task a lot harder than it should be.

There's a reason why LSU, FSU, Bama, UGA, Texas, OH ST, Clemson, Oregon etc, all recruit the same players at this position...
Lance Roffers had a great write up on what makes a player successful at each individual position. Here is what he wrote on CB and the link to the whole read.




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Lance Roffers had a great write up on what makes a player successful at each individual position. Here is what he wrote on CB and the link to the whole read.




View attachment 295549
Speed is more important for CB than any other position on the field.
 
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