If Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley, formerly the Seattle Seahawks' defensive coordinator, wants to set up his own "Legion of Boom" secondary in Jacksonville, one potential piece is right there at the Reese's Senior Bowl in Nebraska defensive back Stanley Jean-Baptiste.
With the requisite size (6-foot-3 and 220 pounds) and coverage skills (four interceptions as a senior), Jean-Baptiste is inviting comparisons to Richard Sherman. And as Sherman showed in the NFC Championship Game, that length allows a bigger cornerback to make a play even the best traditionally built defender might miss out on.
"The bigger corner can do 90 percent of the play wrong and at the last second sway that ball away, and that's what Jean-Baptiste and these other bigger corners bring to the table," said Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage, who served as general manager of the Cleveland Browns from 2005-08.
NFL Media analysts Mike Mayock and Charles Davis disagreed on where each has Jean-Baptiste ultimately playing at the next level. Davis sees Jean-Baptiste as a safety because of his ball skills, but Mayock prefers him at corner because of the expanded use of fades and back-shoulder throws that can be disrupted by the size of a Jean-Baptiste.
"More and more defenses need a guy that with his back to the quarterback has some length and an ability to find the football. I want that kid to play corner," Mayock said.
Savage split the difference, noting the team that drafts Jean-Baptiste would always have the option of moving him to safety.
Said Savage: "For these teams that are interested, they start him at corner and have the ability to slide him back into safety, so he is kind of a safe pick because if he doesn't do well at corner you have a fallback option."
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