So the Colts’ brass is saying
that there’s a decent chance that the starter at right cornerback next year
might be Kevin Thomas (6000/192/4.41) or Chris Rucker (6004/195/4.54). While it
may be reassuring that the team feels that they don’t need to fill that slot
through the draft or free agency, it’s a little disturbing based on their 2011
performances.
Let’s look at Rucker first. A
2011 sixth-round pick, Rucker played sparingly at first, not appearing in a
game until Week 4 against Tampa Bay, and not getting any starts until Week 14.
In the end, he played more than any Colts corner except for top guy Jerraud Powers,
the much-maligned and since-departed Jacob Lacey and Thomas.
In coverage, Rucker was true to
the Colts’ old bend-don’t-break system, giving a big cushion and allowing short
completions rather than long ones and trying to mitigate yards after the catch.
He was pretty good at preventing big gains, allowing just one touchdown and only
two completions over 20 yards. But the problem was that he allowed lots and
lots of short gains. In fact, quarterbacks threw for 25-20-184-1-0 against him
for a 110.7 passer rating. That, combined with no interceptions and just one
pass knocked down, indicates that he had a pretty rough year.
He was little better against the
run, making just four tackles (none behind the line of scrimmage) in the run
game with one missed tackle. On the bright side, he did manage a pressure on
one of his few blitzes.
Okay, it’s Thomas’ turn. A surprise
third-round pick in 2010, he spent his that season on injured reserve making
him a virtual rookie in 2012. He played in just about every game, starting from
Week 7 to Week 12 before giving way to Rucker. Although he obviously has some
skills, he was a quarterback’s dream last season, allowing 38-26-404-3-0 to
opposing quarterbacks for a ridiculous 129.7 passer reating. And unlike Rucker,
he played tight, more man-on-man. Sometimes it worked out okay — he certainly
allowed a much lower completion percentage than Rucker — and sometimes it didn’t
as when he was literally destroyed by Julio Jones in Week 9 (see the accompanying photo). He also had no
interceptions, but three passes defensed.
Against the run, Thomas also had
four tackles, but missed on three others. Wow. And he added nothing as a
blitzer.
To put it bluntly, both of them
sucked in 2011. But corner is one of the most, if not the most, difficult
positions to make the adaptation from college to pro. Many a fine corner has
sucked as a rookie, so let’s give our guys — who were playing on a team trhat
had essentially given up — the benefit of the doubt.
To tell you the truth, I actually
like Rucker’s future better than Thomas’. I watched them both very closely, and
I saw more smoothness and confidence from Rucker, Maybe Thomas will have a
better career, but if I needed one of them to cover Calvin Johnson on
third-and-10, I’d go with Rucker, He’d fail, of course, but not as
spectacularly as Thomas.
So don’t be surprised if the
Colts start 2012 with either Rucker or Thomas at right corner. Don’t be happy
about it, but don’t be surprised, either.
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