Watkins: Jerry on Claiborne - 'A hard year for him'

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,727
Jerry on Claiborne: 'A hard year for him'

January, 21, 2014

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com


MOBILE, Ala. -- Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne had a difficult 2013 season.

The Cowboys expected more from their first-round pick, but injuries and personal issues hampered his season. Claiborne was hoping he'd start the 2013 season off well, but he suffered a shoulder injury in Week 1 and it bothered him most of the season. Then Claiborne missed six total games because of nagging hamstring injury.

On the field, Claiborne had just one interception and was credited with eight pass-breakups in 2013.

Off the field, Claiborne became a dad and lost his father all within days of each other in December.

"A very challenging year," Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said. "From what I know, from his perspective, if you step back from it and look at his age (23) and his personal experience there with the loss of his dad and building a family, on top of dealing with the disappointment with injury, he's a competitor. You put all that together and it was a hard year for him."

The Cowboys traded up in the 2012 draft to No. 6 overall to snag Claiborne, and the results haven't benefited them as yet. He lost his starting job to Orlando Scandrick and moved into the nickle corner spot. With the Cowboys playing plenty of nickle defense in 2013, it wasn't deemed a demotion. However, more plays on the ball are expected from Claiborne moving forward.

During the season, Claiborne said he wanted the Cowboys to play more man-to-man coverage, something he was used to doing in college and in his rookie season, which also could be described as a disappointment.

Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin employed more man coverage as the season progressed, but the injuries, especially a nagging hamstring problem that didn't leave him alone, was just one of the problems he faced last season.

Brandon Carr and Scandrick are the projected starters at cornerback again, with Claiborne being the nickle guy. But if the Cowboys draft another cornerback, it will be interesting to see the competition for the No. 3 cornerback spot in 2014.
 

UncleMilti

This seemed like a good idea at the time.
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
17,981
They broke the GM mold when Jerry came along.

Jerry Jones, making excuses and showin' em since 1989.
 

Bluestar71

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
602
Too early to call bust on Claiborne? I'm leaning that way based on what we've seen so far.
 

Hawkeye19

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2013
Messages
143
Too early to call bust on Claiborne? I'm leaning that way based on what we've seen so far.
Not for me. The kids has had a rough 2 years no doubt. IMO-- he has a point about playing more man coverage. I don't get Kiffin. He said to look at Seattle's D as the model for what he wants to build. They almost exclusively play press man on the outside. Carr, Claiborne, and Scandrick are all better at playing man than zone-- so Kiffin plays more zone?!

I digress… Claiborne can't control what the coaches call. But he can definitely do 2 things that will show me he's not a bust:

1. Stay healthy the whole year
2. Make more plays on the ball
 

Smitty

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
22,488
He's a bust in the sense that he's not ever going to be the Deion Sanders, Darrelle Revis, or Champ Bailey that was promised to us.

He's not anywhere close to where Terence Newman was at this point in his respective career, even, but he could end up as a Terence Newman type player by time all is said and done.

That's flat out a horrible investment of a first and second pick, though, so we should be angry about it both this time and the next time they do something so obviously fucking stupid.
 

Smitty

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
22,488
Not for me. The kids has had a rough 2 years no doubt. IMO-- he has a point about playing more man coverage. I don't get Kiffin. He said to look at Seattle's D as the model for what he wants to build. They almost exclusively play press man on the outside. Carr, Claiborne, and Scandrick are all better at playing man than zone-- so Kiffin plays more zone?!
What's not to get it? Kiffin made his entire career off of coaching zone, and was brought in to install the Tampa-2 zone scheme.

As a fan, asking Kiffin to call more man coverage is like asking Tony Romo to play more like Colin Kapernick. It's not what he's able to do effectively.

What you shouldn't get is why our fucking moronic GM invested like $90 million and first and second picks on man coverage corners, then turns around and hires a zone coach.
 

UncleMilti

This seemed like a good idea at the time.
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
17,981
What's not to get it? Kiffin made his entire career off of coaching zone, and was brought in to install the Tampa-2 zone scheme.

As a fan, asking Kiffin to call more man coverage is like asking Tony Romo to play more like Colin Kapernick. It's not what he's able to do effectively.

What you shouldn't get is why our fucking moronic GM invested like $90 million and first and second picks on man coverage corners, then turns around and hires a zone coach.
Exactly.

I have a better shot at becoming the President of the United States than the Cowboys ever have of being like Seattles D.

You could bring Quinn in tomorrow and you still wouldn't have Seattles D because fucking Jerry is too stupid to assemble the talent needed to run it.
 

Smitty

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
22,488
Exactly.

I have a better shot at becoming the President of the United States than the Cowboys ever have of being like Seattles D.

You could bring Quinn in tomorrow and you still wouldn't have Seattles D because fucking Jerry is too stupid to assemble the talent needed to run it.
Notice Richard Sherman immediately gave proper credit to the DL after that championship game.

What do we have here? Nick Hayden? Hells MFing Ayuuuh.
 

UncleMilti

This seemed like a good idea at the time.
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
17,981
Notice Richard Sherman immediately gave proper credit to the DL after that championship game.

What do we have here? Nick Hayden? Hells MFing Ayuuuh.
You'll take continuity and like it.

Think of the entertainment factor, and it becomes much easier to deal with.
 

Donpingon

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
460
He's a bust in the sense that he's not ever going to be the Deion Sanders, Darrelle Revis, or Champ Bailey that was promised to us.

He's not anywhere close to where Terence Newman was at this point in his respective career, even, but he could end up as a Terence Newman type player by time all is said and done.

That's flat out a horrible investment of a first and second pick, though, so we should be angry about it both this time and the next time they do something so obviously fucking stupid.
I like to think his Wonderlic score of 4 has something to do with it
 

jootep

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2013
Messages
604
The entire defense just had a hard year.

It's not that they suck or anything.

Just a hard year.

Again.
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,459
Jerry keeps thinking he's gonna find another Deion in a young player. Not happenin.
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
121,754
What's not to get it? Kiffin made his entire career off of coaching zone, and was brought in to install the Tampa-2 zone scheme.

As a fan, asking Kiffin to call more man coverage is like asking Tony Romo to play more like Colin Kapernick. It's not what he's able to do effectively.

What you shouldn't get is why our fucking moronic GM invested like $90 million and first and second picks on man coverage corners, then turns around and hires a zone coach.
Way too much is being made of the zone thing in regards to the CBs we have.

There is absolutely no reason why we cannot run more man and still keep a lot of the concepts. In fact, we did. We just did not do it very well. We were not running Tampa 2 zone coverages all the time.

While it was not shouted from the rooftops, Kiffin and the players talked a lot how this was not going to be a defense just like Chicago's with little zone CBs. Even Jones gave hints when he admired how Seattle played them earlier in 2013.

Seattle's defense is basically the same thing, except with press cornerbacks. The pass rush, not the coverage, is the key aspect.

Since we didn't have a pass rush thanks to believing/wishing that Ware, Ratliff and Spencer would terrorize the NFL, we got what we got.

Claiborne has to get healthy and just not suck. The fact he's not great at zone is practically irrelevant.

If he does the things he was capable of doing at LSU, which is play the football in the air and jam effectively on the line of scrimmage, we would not be having this discussion. Same thing goes for Carr. We also need a real safety to make it work.
 

Genghis Khan

The worst version of myself
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
37,486
In all fairness, Ware, Ratliff, Hatcher, and Spencer, assuming health, should be a DL that terrorizes the NFL. Yes, we shouldn't have relied on Ratliff, that was dumb. Be we didn't get health from any of them. The other problem, and this was a huge problem, is that there was practically no depth whatsoever. It was reasonable to think that Ware/Ratliff/Spencer/Hatcher would be really good, but it was absolutely inexcusable to act as if we were set after that.

Particularly when you realize that the GM was here in the early 90s when our incredible rotational depth on the DL really carried our defense and was a key factor in winning 3 Super Bowls (and in fact may have been a key factor in our decline when they all started to leave and weren't replaced). And a deep rotational DL was key to the Giants recent super Bowls that Jones seems so fond of, too.

The biggest issue isn't just that we were inadequate on the DL, it's that WE INTENTIONALLY IGNORED IT.

We had plenty of opportunities to bolster the DL relatively cheaply, both in the draft and with very affordable UFAs. But we were "set."
 
Last edited:

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
20,162
Claiborne had a good game to end the season. I think he's a fine player who can't possibly compensate for the price paid to draft him. As a CB, he'd have to be a Hall of Fame caliber guy to be worth both Michael Brockers and Bobby Wagner.

Every missed play, penalty, or injury is going to get exaggerated with him. Like Brandon Carr, he can't possibly "win" in the fans' eyes.

I'd like to see what these corners could do with some consistent DL and Safety play, but too many resources were spent on the CB's for that to be possible.
 

data

Forbes #1
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
50,293
Hopefully it doesn't turn out the same, but at this point,I chapel Jenkins was a better player than Claiborne.
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
121,754
In all fairness, Ware, Ratliff, Hatcher, and Spencer, assuming health, should be a DL that terrorizes the NFL. Yes, we shouldn't have relied on Ratliff, that was dumb. Be we didn't get health from any of them. The other problem, and this was a huge problem, is that there was practically no depth whatsoever. It was reasonable to think that Ware/Ratliff/Spencer/Hatcher would be really good, but it was absolutely inexcusable to act as if we were set after that.

Particularly when you realize that the GM was here in the early 90s when our incredible rotational depth on the DL really carried our defense and was a key factor in winning 3 Super Bowls (and in fact may have been a key factor in our decline when they all started to leave and weren't replaced). And a deep rotational DL was key to the Giants recent super Bowls that Jones seems so fond of, too.

The biggest issue isn't just that we were inadequate on the DL, it's that WE INTENTIONALLY IGNORED IT.

We had plenty of opportunities to bolster the DL relatively cheaply, both in the draft and with very affordable UFAs. But we were "set."
Ratliff was the key component though. It was stupid to count on him when the scheme demands interior pressure.
 

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
20,162
Hopefully it doesn't turn out the same, but at this point,I chapel Jenkins was a better player than Claiborne.
True, though Jenkins peaked at the point you mention (2009). In 2010, he was awful, and then barely played afterwards. Twice we saw those gutless non tackles from him. Claiborne has used awful tackling technique (costing him a shoulder injury), but hasn't been gutless or lazy like Jenkins.

Claiborne mainly needs to learn how to stay healthy as a pro. When he's healthy you can see him improving every week. Jenkins purely rode his natural talent. If Jenkins had any kind of heart for being a professional, I think he could have been an All-Pro given his speed and size.
 

Genghis Khan

The worst version of myself
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
37,486
Ratliff was the key component though. It was stupid to count on him when the scheme demands interior pressure.
But Hatcher played just as well as we ever would have hoped for from Ratliff. But there was nobody behind either spot.
 

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
20,162
Our defensive pressure amounted to random sacks from the "rushmen". A sack on one play can become meaningless if on the other two plays you are stopped fast or blown off the line. I bet the Cowboys were among league leaders in meaningless sacks.

Pressure should be consistent and not schemed or otherwise come at the expense of solid play elsewhere. Hatcher can penetrate, but without that stout player on either side he's not going to make much of a difference. A guy like Hayden can't consistently stop the run or collapse the pocket vs the pass, and ditto Selvie on the strong side.

A healthy Ratliff last did that in 2007 and at the end of 2009, and it was absolutely stupid to imagine he could do that again for a full season. He got blown off the line too often vs. the run in 2008 when he was young and healthy-- now four years of wear and tear later after a year off and multiple leg injuries?

I also wonder if a year ago today a part of Jerry was counting on Josh Brent to play in 2013. I wonder if he's thinking that now.
 
Top Bottom