The hard part is catching a ball when you’re not focusing on it, and DBs in general cannot expend more than a tiny portion of their focus on the ball because it takes so much effort to keep up with their man and/or their zone. You could try it with your buddy- keep your eyes on something else, like a tree, and backpedal; tell the QB to throw it near you at a random time. I bet it’s pretty tough to catch.
That’s the main point I think. DBs are typically playing the man, and not watching for passes with the intent to catch them. They’re looking to obstruct the receiver legally, and disrupt his catching of the ball. If that means catching it, great, but the higher percentage play is to bat it away or prevent the receiver from catching it.
I can agree with this. And I’m not expecting these guys to be Jerry Rice out there. But I think we all have seen a DB get a ball right in their hands and drop it. Maybe their mindset is different, and maybe there is a mental part of this I’m not considering.
It’s clearly something that is common throughout the league, though, so there must be common threads throughout.
I think this is the common thread- it’s really tough to catch a football at NFL speeds when your focus is elsewhere.
Think about it this way- which is more likely: NFL DBs have really bad hands (like worse than the average adult American male), or it’s really hard to catch a ball in the position that NFL DBs are usually in?
You could try this- bring out your buddy and a dog. Play with the dog- chase him around and wrestle and stuff. Instruct your friend to throw a football near you at some random point.
I bet you don’t catch it.
We’ve also all seen wide receivers get a ball right in their hands and drop it. They knew where to expect it, they were prepared for the ball, and they practice with the QB and they still drop a disturbing number of passes. In a real game situation all these tasks are considerably harder than just chucking a ball around on the practice field.
I think it’s worth noting that the OP is a Steelers fan and therefore has had to endure years of watching Ike Taylor drop catchable INT’s.
That guy really does have hands of stone.
Well, his hands are always full already.
Ha, yeah.
And I saw someone else mention it, but the height/speed thing in what determines a CB versus a WR is important to note. Very few NFL receivers are successful under a certain height (much like QB’s), but almost all NFL CB’s are in that 5’9" to 6’1" range. CB’s tend to be faster than WR’s as well.
I think that means a lot more than how well they can catch a football in terms of why these guys end up in the positions they are in.
There certainly WAS a time when “If that cornerback could catch, they’d have made him a receiver” would have been valid, just as “If that relief pitcher were really good, they’d have made him a starter” was once valid.
But in today’s NFL, a lock-down cornerback is at LEAST as coveted and as highly paid as a star wide receiver. Probably MORE so. You rarely see wide receivers drafted in the top 5, do you? That’s because coaches increasingly think that a good quarterback can make average receivers look like stars.
The Patriots didn’t mind letting Wes Welker go because they believe (with some justice) that Tom Brady can give almost ANY receiver All-Pro type numbers.
If Deion Sanders Jr. and Jerry Rice Jr. were both in next year’s draft, I suspect Deion Jr. would go higher.
Justin Blackmon, AJ Green, CJ, Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Braylon Edwards, Charles Rogers. Conversely, if we’re looking at the top 5, going as far back as Woodson, I’ll be damned if I can think of another cornerback other than Terence Newman and Quentin Jammer.
I mentioned it earlier, but I think it’s going in the opposite direction you think it’s heading in.
That reminds me of the early-2000s seasons as a Giants fan, probably from 2001-2005, where it was a running joke on the NYG messageboard “The pass almost intercepted by Will Allen.” It felt like we were sure to hear that at least once a game.