With the 16th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Ravens pulled out quite the shocker by selecting Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama. With highly rated, possibly top five, talents like Reuben Foster, OJ Howard, and Jonathan Allen on the board, Ozzie opted for the oft-criticized corner. It should not have come as a surprise, though, when one really thinks about it.
Marlon Humphrey is a cornerback, a position that the Ravens have struggled to maintain depth for thanks to injuries to Jimmy Smith. Marlon Humphrey was picking up steam as a top three corner in the draft, so he fit Ozzie Newsome’s mantra of best player available. Marlon Humphrey played for Alabama, Newsome’s alma mater. This was the perfect situation of best player available meets a top need. After how much Marlon Humprhey was pumped up by the Ravens staff at the Senior Bowl, it really should not have surprised anyone when all of this is taken into account. With that in mind, let us take a deeper look at the newest Ravens addition.
The first thing that will jump out on tape is that Marlon Humphrey is a height/weight/speed specimen. Standing 6’0” and weighing in at 197 pounds with 32.25” arms, Humphrey has the desired measurables to go along with 4.41 speed. For a big corner, though, he has fluid and loose hips. With a time of 6.75 seconds in the three-cone drill, Humphrey finished in the top five of all cornerbacks at the NFL Combine. From an athletics standpoint, it is like he was created in a lab. However, none of these measurements mean a thing if they cannot translate well to the field.
Fortunately, Humphrey takes his size onto the field with the attitude that he will be the most physical player on the field. Just ask USC (link) or LSU’s Leonard Fournette (link 2:50-2:56). Despite being one of the most physical runners in college football, Fourntette is easily brought down by Marlon Humphrey on this play. If this were a normal cornerback, Fournette is breaking that tackle. The thing is, Humphrey is no normal cornerback and he loves to lay the wood and blow up players. Receivers will not block him and screens are run to his side at the risk of the offense (link 0:40-0:46, PFF credited Humphrey with three yards given up via screen in 2016). He has a nose for the football and he wants to impose his will on every single play. While it may be great that he can be a devastating run defender, he will make his money as a pass defender. Luckily for the Ravens, Humphrey was one of the premiere cover corners in college football.
With size worth drooling over, Humphrey excels from press coverage. He delivers a strong punch into the shoulder of the receiver and loves to dictate the motions of the receiver and direct them to the sidelines. He uses his length and strength to work receivers to the sidelines and quickly close passing windows before they can open by smothering receivers along the white chalk. Humphrey, though, is equally adept in off coverage and might actually be viewed as better in off coverage due to his instincts, knowledge of route concepts, and amazing speed to react to passes thrown in his direction. With these skills, Humphrey projects best as a Cover 2 or Cover 3 corner where he can press his man and direct them to the sideline and drop into a zone to keep his eyes to the quarterback. On this particular play against Texas A&M, Humphrey is able to drop into a mid zone and keep his eyes to the quarterback. He sees the ball and quickly breaks to the ball for a very easy interception (link 2:14-2:48).
So where is the catch? Why was Marlon Humphrey not the first cornerback taken above Marshon Lattimore of Ohio State University? I see three glaring flaws in his game. The catch is that Humphrey struggles with the deep ball, often due to sloppy footwork. Take this play against Auburn, for example (link 0:58-1:20). On this play, Humphrey wants to deliver a strong punch into the shoulder of his man and is able to direct the receiver to the sideline, but sloppy footwork leads to the wide receiver running right past Humphrey. What do I mean? Take a look at Humphrey’s feet as he delivers his press. He shuffles his feet and entirely stops his motion for a second. Instead of delivering his press, guiding his man to the sideline, and running in phase with the receiver, he stops and allows his man to make the first move down the sideline without opening his hips and working down the field as well. This often leads to the struggles against the deep ball. He does not have an issue tracking the ball; he has an issue turning his head and even giving himself a chance to track the ball due to his poor footwork putting himself behind the play. This, however, is not the only issue. When playing in off man coverage, Humphrey too often bites on double moves. Watch this play against Malcolm Mitchell of Georgia in 2015 (link 0:00-0:24). Mitchell shows a stutter step and is easily able to run past Humphrey who opened his hips too early. A better-thrown pass turns this into a long completion down the sideline. The final issue that stands out is that while Humphrey is often late to open his hips out of press man coverage, he is often too early opening his hips inside or outside from off man coverage. Referencing the previous play, because he opened his hips too early and turned to run, the stutter step forced a change of direction to come respect the underneath fake and allowed Mitchell to blow past Humphrey as he tried to open his hips up again. He leaves himself open to shorter routes, such as hitches or curls due to this. His hip fluidity, however, is not an issue, as shown by this play against Tennessee, as many would like to believe (link 1:03-1:09).
Marlon Humphrey has the tools, size/weight/speed, and mental make up to be a premiere corner in the league. He may never be the ideal shutdown corner that shadows wide receivers in man coverage (although, he may become that if he can iron out the issues with his footwork), but he has the ability to be one of the top zone coverage corners in the NFL (think Richard Sherman) and develop into a very good man cover corner for the Ravens.
Marlon Humphrey is a cornerback, a position that the Ravens have struggled to maintain depth for thanks to injuries to Jimmy Smith. Marlon Humphrey was picking up steam as a top three corner in the draft, so he fit Ozzie Newsome’s mantra of best player available. Marlon Humphrey played for Alabama, Newsome’s alma mater. This was the perfect situation of best player available meets a top need. After how much Marlon Humprhey was pumped up by the Ravens staff at the Senior Bowl, it really should not have surprised anyone when all of this is taken into account. With that in mind, let us take a deeper look at the newest Ravens addition.
The first thing that will jump out on tape is that Marlon Humphrey is a height/weight/speed specimen. Standing 6’0” and weighing in at 197 pounds with 32.25” arms, Humphrey has the desired measurables to go along with 4.41 speed. For a big corner, though, he has fluid and loose hips. With a time of 6.75 seconds in the three-cone drill, Humphrey finished in the top five of all cornerbacks at the NFL Combine. From an athletics standpoint, it is like he was created in a lab. However, none of these measurements mean a thing if they cannot translate well to the field.
Fortunately, Humphrey takes his size onto the field with the attitude that he will be the most physical player on the field. Just ask USC (link) or LSU’s Leonard Fournette (link 2:50-2:56). Despite being one of the most physical runners in college football, Fourntette is easily brought down by Marlon Humphrey on this play. If this were a normal cornerback, Fournette is breaking that tackle. The thing is, Humphrey is no normal cornerback and he loves to lay the wood and blow up players. Receivers will not block him and screens are run to his side at the risk of the offense (link 0:40-0:46, PFF credited Humphrey with three yards given up via screen in 2016). He has a nose for the football and he wants to impose his will on every single play. While it may be great that he can be a devastating run defender, he will make his money as a pass defender. Luckily for the Ravens, Humphrey was one of the premiere cover corners in college football.
With size worth drooling over, Humphrey excels from press coverage. He delivers a strong punch into the shoulder of the receiver and loves to dictate the motions of the receiver and direct them to the sidelines. He uses his length and strength to work receivers to the sidelines and quickly close passing windows before they can open by smothering receivers along the white chalk. Humphrey, though, is equally adept in off coverage and might actually be viewed as better in off coverage due to his instincts, knowledge of route concepts, and amazing speed to react to passes thrown in his direction. With these skills, Humphrey projects best as a Cover 2 or Cover 3 corner where he can press his man and direct them to the sideline and drop into a zone to keep his eyes to the quarterback. On this particular play against Texas A&M, Humphrey is able to drop into a mid zone and keep his eyes to the quarterback. He sees the ball and quickly breaks to the ball for a very easy interception (link 2:14-2:48).
So where is the catch? Why was Marlon Humphrey not the first cornerback taken above Marshon Lattimore of Ohio State University? I see three glaring flaws in his game. The catch is that Humphrey struggles with the deep ball, often due to sloppy footwork. Take this play against Auburn, for example (link 0:58-1:20). On this play, Humphrey wants to deliver a strong punch into the shoulder of his man and is able to direct the receiver to the sideline, but sloppy footwork leads to the wide receiver running right past Humphrey. What do I mean? Take a look at Humphrey’s feet as he delivers his press. He shuffles his feet and entirely stops his motion for a second. Instead of delivering his press, guiding his man to the sideline, and running in phase with the receiver, he stops and allows his man to make the first move down the sideline without opening his hips and working down the field as well. This often leads to the struggles against the deep ball. He does not have an issue tracking the ball; he has an issue turning his head and even giving himself a chance to track the ball due to his poor footwork putting himself behind the play. This, however, is not the only issue. When playing in off man coverage, Humphrey too often bites on double moves. Watch this play against Malcolm Mitchell of Georgia in 2015 (link 0:00-0:24). Mitchell shows a stutter step and is easily able to run past Humphrey who opened his hips too early. A better-thrown pass turns this into a long completion down the sideline. The final issue that stands out is that while Humphrey is often late to open his hips out of press man coverage, he is often too early opening his hips inside or outside from off man coverage. Referencing the previous play, because he opened his hips too early and turned to run, the stutter step forced a change of direction to come respect the underneath fake and allowed Mitchell to blow past Humphrey as he tried to open his hips up again. He leaves himself open to shorter routes, such as hitches or curls due to this. His hip fluidity, however, is not an issue, as shown by this play against Tennessee, as many would like to believe (link 1:03-1:09).
Marlon Humphrey has the tools, size/weight/speed, and mental make up to be a premiere corner in the league. He may never be the ideal shutdown corner that shadows wide receivers in man coverage (although, he may become that if he can iron out the issues with his footwork), but he has the ability to be one of the top zone coverage corners in the NFL (think Richard Sherman) and develop into a very good man cover corner for the Ravens.
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