For many Super Bowl champion teams, the following year’s training camp is not full of competition for playing time. Generally, there aren’t many battles for starting or reserve spots. That will not be the case for the Giants this season, who have a number of important positions that will be determined by performance at training camp. Leading up to camp, Giants.com reporter John Schmeelk will analyze six of those battles. This is Part 2, cornerback.
Last year the Giants proved the old axiom: You can never have enough cornerbacks. Five different cornerbacks started games for the Giants, and there were five different starting combinations. Sam Madison started 15 games last year, Aaron Ross 12, Corey Webster 7, Kevin Dockery 4, and R.W. McQuarters 2. Injuries were the primary culprit for the veritable merry-go-round at the position, but performance played a part as well.
While such inconsistency at a key position on defense is certainly not ideal, it gave a lot of players a chance to show the coaching staff their stuff.
“We were rotating guys and they got a lot of reps,”
veteran Sam Madison said this offseason. “When you have a really good football team usually your starters just play, play, play and the young guys never really get a lot of action. Then later on in the season it hurts you because guys go down and suddenly they say, ‘Oh, I’ve got to go play.’ By having those guys get that experience early, it paid off later in the year.”
And it will pay off this season, with five returning players and a draft pick competing for playing time and roster spots. Last year the Giants carried five corners the majority of the season, but six is not out of the question if enough participate on special teams. No matter how many they carry, there will be heavy competition for playing time.
“You go in every year with a clean slate and everyone goes in competing for a starting job,”
cornerbacks coach Peter Giunta said. “Everything works itself out and in the end the cream rises to the top.”
Who the starters are going to be remains a mystery, though the favorites appear to be Sam Madison, Aaron Ross and Corey Webster. Madison is the veteran of the group, and when he was completely healthy he started every game last year and was effective. He started fifteen straight games until an abdominal strain in the last regular season game limited him in the playoffs.
“Madison showed the whole season he has plenty left in the tank,”
Giunta said. “He is great with young kids and teaching them and working with them and he can contribute in many ways.”
The injury opened the door for Corey Webster, who started all four playoff games and was arguably the team’s best defensive back in the postseason. He intercepted two passes, including one to set up Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning field goal in the NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field. He also knocked away a potential game changing pass to Randy Moss on the Patriots last drive in the Super Bowl. All this came after Webster was pulled from the starting lineup in Week 4 because of poor play and was buried so badly he was deactivated in weeks 10 and 12.
“He kept working, and he fought through the hard times,”
Giunta said. “He overcame the obstacles he faced earlier in the season and became a key player for us down the stretch and did a great job.”
“It was a learning experience,”
said Webster. “Guys like Sam Madison and R.W., they’ve been in the league for a long time and they always say stick in there, don’t change anything, keep working hard and at the end there’s going to come a point in time where we’re going to need you to step up and make a big play and I got the opportunity. I did exactly what they said and never looked back.”
Aaron Ross, the 2007 1st round pick, moved into the starting lineup in Week 4 and then started the rest of the season when he was healthy. A hamstring forced him to miss three games in the middle of the season, and an injured shoulder didn’t let him start the NFC Championship game against the Packers.
“He came on and gradually worked his way into being a starter,”
Giunta said. “He made some big plays against the Jets and got better every week. He got banged up later in the year but kept playing. We are really pleased with his progress.”
“I think he’s pretty much on the right track,”
said Madison. “He kind of sat back and absorbed everything we were throwing at him, and we threw a lot at him because in the beginning he wasn’t a starting corner. He was playing nickel. His mind was just like going in a race but he calmed down. He had an injury and was able to mellow out a little bit more. Once he came back from that injury he was a different football player and a very aggressive player. This offseason is going to help him now that he has been here for a full year.”
Just as important as the starters is who will play the inside slot position when the Giants have five or more defensive backs on the field. To help mitigate bump and run defenses, teams often move their top wideouts in motion to the slot position on passing situations. The Cowboys use Terrell Owens in the slot, and Wes Welker lives on the inside for the Patriots. The wideout is able to break left or right, and the corner also has serious run and blitz responsibilities, making it the most difficult corner position to play.
Ross learned the slot position at training camp last year, and adjusted well considering he didn’t play the position in college.
“The coverage part is the easy part,”
McQuarters, who has played the slot throughout his career said. “Standing in front of the guy is not the easy part and it gets a little more difficult when you talk about blitzing.”
“He was a good blitzer, very good against the run, big and a good tackler so that was a big plus for him inside,”
Giunta said of Ross. “When you have someone of his size, and burst to blitz it’s a big plus, so we’ll see him a lot in the slot.”
Kevin Dockery also played a lot in the slot when Ross hurt his hamstring in the middle of the season. Much smaller than Ross, Dockery (5’8 188 lbs) excelled at the coverage aspect of the position.
“He can match up with quicker, smaller receivers and it’s great to have someone like that,”
Giunta said. “He’s had some freaky things happen to him but his durability is something he has to work on, but he’s a great asset.”
Dockery was inactive for five games during the regular season and playoffs with ankle and hip injuries. With all the other corners on the roster, being flexible will be a key to getting playing time for Dockery.
“I’m comfortable where the coach puts me,”
Dockery said. “He puts me outside, I’ll go outside. He puts me inside, I’ll go inside. I feel like I can do either as good as the other. I actually prefer the inside though because it is more of a challenge.”
R.W. McQuarters can play the slot as well, and has throughout his career. He led the team with three interceptions in the playoffs. Besides his play at corner, he can also move to free safety in a pinch. Despite his problems in the NFC Championship game, coach Tom Coughlin loves McQuarters’ reliability and ball security on punt returns. His versatility endears him to the coaching staff. Besides his on the field contributions, McQuarters, along with Madison, serves as a mentor to the young players.
“I do get a kick out of it when guys ask me questions. It makes me feel responsible to a certain extent,”
McQuarters said. “I hope they look back like that guy helped me out and it wasn’t about me trying to take his position, or him trying to take my position. We’re all on the same team and on the same page trying to reach the same goal.”
“Sam Madison and R.W. McQuarters have 20 something years between them and a couple of Pro Bowls,”
Webster said. “They’ve been through everything and there’s nothing they can’t teach me. I just try to be a sponge to both those guys and soak up all the knowledge they can give.”
The youngest member of the secondary is second round pick Terrell Thomas out of USC. Barring injuries, Thomas should have some time to adjust to the NFL but there are high hopes for the rookie.
“He’s got great size, runs well, very athletic and comes from a pro system at USC. He does a lot things we ask corners to do,”
Giunta said. “He’ll play inside and outside. He did both at USC. The more who can play on the inside the better.”
Thomas will battle Dockery and McQuarters for playing time in nickel and dime packages. Two other young players are Geoffrey Pope and Darren Barnett, who have to make a name at training camp to garner any playing time. The position is simply too crowded.
If the Giants only keep five cornerbacks, there will serious competition for that sixth roster spot. With NFL teams going towards more of a pass oriented system it isn’t rare to see four corners on the field at the same time. Every team’s third corner is a virtual starter. With their depth the Giants are in a good position to combat those four wide receiver sets teams are employing more and more of the time. Training camp will determine which corners will be on the field when the season kicks off on Thursday, September 4 against the Washington Redskins.
