12-21-2010
A CASE FOR NFL DEFENSIVE BACKS
I first begin watching football during the "Luv Ya Blu" era but I didn't begin to really understand skilled positions until the "Moon Run & Shoot" era. My favorite unit of positions were the Wide Receivers. The one thing I noticed, outside of Haywood Jeffries, Earnest Givens, Drew Hill, and Curtis Duncan were all small receivers. At that point, I figured all receivers were suppose to be small. With the receivers looking small, the size of the defensive backs never really stood out.
Fast forward 15 to 20 years, alot of the receivers are looking like giants and the Defensive backs are looking like midgets.
Raheel, Nuno, and Marcus Coleman (1560 The Game)
A question that has been on my mind since I seen Vincent Jackson 6'6 in height of the San Diego Chargers, why are the receivers getting larger and the defensive backs are getting smaller. I have asked various local football minds this question and they all give me the same answers
- a DB is a receiver w/o hands
- taller guys lack the agility
- thats what the NCAA is currently breeding
I wanted to know the size of some of the best Defensive Backs therefore I begin my research at a website listing the Top 25 Defensive Backs of All Time.
THE LIST
Position: DB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 205 lbs.
Born: March 10, 1965 in Fort Wayne, IN
College: Purdue (school history)
Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1st round (10th overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft.
Position: DB-E
Height: 6-1 Weight: 194 lbs.
Born: April 16, 1927 in Austin, TX
College: Western Nebraska Community College-Scottsbluff
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 107 (84th overall since 1950)
7-time Pro Bowler & 3-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1974, finalist in 1971, 1972, 1973
Kenneth Mason Easley Jr.
Position: DB Height: 6-3 Weight: 206 lbs.
Born: January 15, 1959 in Chesapeake, VA
College: UCLA (school history)
Drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 1st round (4th overall) of the 1981 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 65 (730th overall since 1950)
5-time Pro Bowler & 3-time First-Team All-Pro
Position: DB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 190 lbs.
Born: November 26, 1947 in New Point, MO
College: Missouri (school history)
Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (19th overall) of the 1969 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 98 (156th overall since 1950)
7-time Pro Bowler & 3-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 2007, finalist in 2005, semi-finalist in 2004, 2006
Position: DB
Height: 6-1 Weight: 187 lbs.
Born: March 29, 1925 in Bryn Mawr, PA
College: Iowa, Toledo (school history)
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 122 (32nd overall since 1950)
9-time Pro Bowler & 4-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1967
Position: DB
Height: 6-3 Weight: 197 lbs.
Born: November 12, 1944 in Lufkin, TX
College: Prairie View
Drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 9th round (214th overall) of the 1967 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 112 (61st overall since 1950)
12-time Pro Bowler & 2-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1986
Position: DB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 203 lbs.
Born: May 8, 1959 in Albuquerque, NM
College: USC (school history)
Drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1st round (8th overall) of the 1981 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 117 (49th overall since 1950)
10-time Pro Bowler & 6-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 2000
Position: DB
Height: 6-3 Weight: 205 lbs.
Born: April 10, 1948 in Vidalia, GA
College: Southern (school history)
Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 3rd round (53rd overall) of the 1970 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 111 (69th overall since 1950)
5-time Pro Bowler & 2-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1989
Position: DB-RB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 190 lbs.
Born: December 30, 1941 in Houston, TX
College: Oregon (school history)
Drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2nd round (17th overall) of the 1964 NFL Draft.
Drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 10th round (79th overall) of the 1964 AFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 112 (61st overall since 1950)
10-time Pro Bowler & 1-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1996, finalist in 1993, 1994, 1995
Position: DB
Height: 5-11 Weight: 200 lbs.
Born: September 11, 1978 in St. Rose, LA
College: Miami (FL)
Drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 1st round (24th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 84 (295th overall since 1950)
6-time Pro Bowler & 4-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Position: DB
Height: 6-0 Weight: 192 lbs.
Born: June 22, 1978 in Folkston, GA
College: Georgia (school history)
Drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 1st round (7th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 101 (129th overall since 1950)
9-time Pro Bowler & 3-time First-Team All-Pro
Position: DB-WR
Height: 6-1 Weight: 195 lbs.
Born: August 9, 1967 in Fort Myers, FL
College: Florida State (school history)
Drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1st round (5th overall) of the 1989 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 114 (56th overall since 1950)
8-time Pro Bowler & 6-time First-Team All-Pro
Position: DB
Height: 6-1 Weight: 195 lbs.
Born: December 2, 1940 in Yazoo City, MS
College: Grambling State
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 112 (61st overall since 1950)
9-time Pro Bowler & 5-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1984
Position: DB
Height: 5-10 Weight: 200 lbs.
Born: November 18, 1948 in Cherryville, NC
College: Ohio State (school history)
Drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 1st round (19th overall) of the 1971 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 65 (730th overall since 1950)
3-time Pro Bowler
After listing some of the best defensive backs that played the game, it becomes even more amazing that the NFL is going smaller. I am not saying all receivers are giants and all defensive backs are runts however my eyes are not deceiving me. All in all, I would like to see an NFL were the DBs are not at a size disadvantage to the receivers. What's next? Linebacker units averaging 190lbs in weight. Earlier I made mention of football minds giving me routine answers, I am not saying they are incorrect but when you look at the list of great DBs, their answers are negated.
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3 comments:
You go big bird.... Nobody will ever accuse you of flying backwards...lol
my man from Houston who played wh played for the Redskins
was five eight jumped out the gym then went home hit the lightswitch and jumped in the bed before the lights went out..
The deal anout size is about guy's under six feet versus guy's six feet on up...for me it is a case by case sceanario that is it should be all about the "fight in the dog"...but your exact point is overall d-backs are smaller on average today than in the day..
Well hmm let's see how many rapper's and MC's are six feet tall and beyond...the truth is though the high school talent pool is smaller..if you check the average size of a Yates High Graduating Class
now versus a class in the day you will see a drastic reduction and this is true all over the country in innercity high
schools..if you look at the number of black males in a said class it is even more shocking...plus among the those said young men you will find they prefer to play offense versus playing on the defensive side of the ball..so you have less young quality d-one atheletes and you also have basketball being the innercity game of choice...hence that potential cornerback is more interested in being a two guard....kinda like when you in the club and ask hottmama if she is single...she replie's "baby,
it's complicated".
How evah, Dick "Night Train" is the godfather Lamont...he became the proto-type for what a defensive back should be..he was a demonic havoc wrecking god who played the entire field...that's my story and I am stickin to it!
(no need to get complicated). :)
Earlis I was feeling your point about the overall reduction in height in school. Very valid point but then the debater in me said explain, Linemen, QBs, receivers have all increased. I believe it's a product of current belief
Ok Monty Mont just stating my opinon on your specific point
concerning cornerbacks...now you are broadening the
scope to a very interesting topic..woo Yeah guys are bigger and
faster..but speaking specifically of skill positions
in football..those kids like basketball and I forgot
this is point and this just my opinion..I love questions like
this because creates they another question which is great..if you flip flop that question where sre all the lil azz Basketball guard's at?
Hell they Lil Nopoleon complex azzes playin cornerback lol..
But it seems you in are interested in the larger question, correct
me if I am wrong...why are kids bigger faster as in linebackers and other nonskill positions, and or players better now then they were in the day if so, why?
Fasinating stuff Lamont tell me what you think?
(actually this ain't the radio one on one yall, who so
ever will, come and state your comments)
I think the mental approach is different now..the sports I.Q. If you will...case in point by playin multiple sports a kid learns cross over skills..
A corner who played the outfield is skilled at playing with his back to the ball..he can feel the receiver and is not peeking into the backfield and is good at turning and running..in general that is..
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