The Dallas Cowboys are now faced with a big decision in the secondary.
Orlando Scandrick their starting cornerback has torn his MCL/ACL and needs to be replaced. This production will be hard to replace because Scandrick did not give up a touchdown in 2014.
The Cowboys currently have Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Tyler Patmon, Byron Jones, Corey White, as their cornerbacks so it isn't like they don't have a lot of names to analyze. But are any of them as effective as Scandrick? Let's take a look...
Brandon Carr: Carr became infamous last season when Odell Beckham caught a one handed grab over him making him famous to the whole world for all the wrong reasons. Carr has been one of the biggest free agent busts in recent memory as he has certainly not lived up to his contract. After a career year in 2011 with 4 interceptions Carr managed to tally 3 in 2012, 3 in 2013, and 0 in 2014. Carr needs to step up big time just to stay on the team however it is not out of the realm of possibility that he does play significantly better after a pretty strong camp. Carr suffered a broken bone in his right hand similar to what DeMarco Murray suffered in the middle of last season. Carr should be full go for week 1.
Morris Claiborne: Claiborne was the top ranked defensive back in the 2012 draft class. He won the Jim Thorpe Award, the award given to the country's best defensive back, in his junior year of college. He entered the draft soon after and was drafted number 6 overall by the Dallas Cowboys. He was ranked number 2 on their draft board right after Andrew Luck.
Since then Claiborne has been a massive disappointment. In his first season he missed minicamp and all OTA's as he recovered from a surgically repaired wrist. He was penciled in as a starter beside Brandon Carr and was routinely victimized as most rookie cornerbacks are.
He suffered sporadic injuries and only came away with one pick. He missed 3 weeks of training camp in 2013 with a sprained knee and then suffered a dislocated shoulder in the regular season opener. He missed 6 games with a hamstring injury and was at this point spiraling towards massive draft bust territory. In 2014 he tore his patellar tendon early in the season and was placed on IR. Claiborne will have to be healthy and productive all season long if he wants to stay a Dallas Cowboy.
The 2015 Preseason/offseason has been the first time Claiborne could work on his craft and focus on getting better since camp started he has been playing lights out football but will that translate to the regular season?
Tyler Patmon: Patmon grinded to get to his place with the Cowboys. He went undrafted in 2014 and was signed as an UDFA. He beat out former Cowboy's cornerback B.W. Webb and was added to the roster. He had a pick 6 last season on his sole interception but Patmon has been fighting for more playing time all offseason. He has played exponentially better than the Cowboys could have hoped and could be in line for some significant minutes this season.
Byron Jones: Jones is the Cowboy's first round pick of the 2015 NFL draft. He set a new world record for the broad jump by leaping 12 feet, 3 inches. He was a combine monster registering a 4.36 40 time and was expected to be gone by the time the Cowboys were to draft. Now he was seen as a day one starter however the Cowboys want to develop him for multiple positions such as free and strong safety.
It is safe to say that with Scandrick's injury Jones will remain a cornerback for his rookie year. Jones's awareness is off the charts and can pick up the playbook relatively easy, he is also a bigger corner than Scandrick at 6 foot 1 so it will be interesting to see if he can live up to the hype.
Corey White: White started his career with the New Orleans Saints when he was drafted in the 5th round of the 2012 NFL draft. In his first season he only started in 4 games and had 1 interception. The very next season he was forced into starting by injury and had 41 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 forced fumble. The Saints converted him to a safety the following year where he recorded 2 interceptions and a forced fumble.
Since Joining the Dallas Cowboys he has been one of the training camp MVP's. White has looked incredible playing for Rod Marinelli and if he continues to play well he may be in for a shot at the starting job.