травня
2
With their final draft pick of 2015, the Miami Dolphins selected the Big 10 receiver of the year, Michigan State’s Tony Lippett.
They selected him as a cornerback, making him one of the most intriguing picks in the draft.
Lippett played both positions at Michigan State. He was recruited as a cornerback, then started five games at corner in his redshirt freshman season before flipping to wide receiver.
As a wide receiver, he had 149 catches for 2,247 yards and 15 touchdowns, scoring 11 touchdowns in 2014.
The Dolphins selected Lippett with the intention of making him a cornerback, which was an idea floated by NFL Network’s Charles Davis:
“Personally, I would flip Lippett over and make him a corner. I wouldn’t even hesitate. I just think with his length, the league is dying to get corners that can go out and match up with the monster receivers that are out there, and I think that that would be a way to distinguish himself a little bit. And personally, I think his upside is better over there than it is being another one of these receivers.”
Mike Mayock of NFL Network feels the same way:
“If I was in the NFL, I’d really want to grind him a little bit and see if he could be an NFL-quality corner because the length intrigues me. With all those big-bodied wide receivers, more and more teams are looking for corners that are 6-feet and above. The way the league thinks is there’s too many 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-9 corners that are losing jump balls outside the numbers and in the red zone.”
The length that Davis is referring to is Lippett’s 32 3/4″ arms, along with his 6’2″ 192 pound frame. It’s very reminiscent of another fifth round pick, Seattle‘s Richard Sherman. This comparison has been thrown out there in the past, and the similarities are quite striking.
However while Lippett’s success as a receiver came after he was recruited as a cornerback, Sherman’s success as a receiver came first, followed by being moved to the defensive backfield.
If the Tony Lippett winds up being half the player that Richard Sherman is, they have a steal, and a starting cornerback.
Statistics provided by sports-reference.com/cfb
Open all references in tabs: [1 – 7]
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.