Colts NEED Young Cornerback to Emerge

With the departure of Stephon Gilmore, the Colts need a young player to emerge as the top corner for Gus Bradley's defense to work.

The Indianapolis Colts cornerback room is undergoing a major remodel after losing three of their top four players in defensive snaps from a season ago. The team is in the middle of a youth movement at the moment, and cornerback appears to be the position most impacted by this change.

While that may seem bleak for the team's immediate future, the Colts did go out and acquire a few young, athletic cornerbacks that fit the desired mold in the secondary. Rookies JuJu Brents, Darius Rush, and Jaylon Jones are classic Gus Bradley style cornerbacks and second year UDFA's Darrell Baker Jr and Dallis Flowers are athletic options with some intrigue as well. 

In a wide open cornerback battle that is truly all about letting the best man win, the Colts need to find their most trusted coverage guy this offseason. It doesn't matter if it is somebody with the pedigree of JuJu Brents or Darrell Baker Jr, they just need one of these young guys to establish themselves as somebody capable of covering on an island.

If the team doesn't have one of these young players emerge for that role, the Colts' defense could be in trouble in 2023.

The Importance of an Trusted Cornerback

Gus Bradley's defensive scheme is a tad bit more complex than many in the media make it out to be. He is far from being "just a cover three guy" and all the negative connotations that come with that type of categorization. Bradley still utilizes a cover three, single-high system, but it actually features more man principles than zone principles.

This style of defense does make life a tad easier on a cornerback than a straight cover zero system would, but there is still a massive need for that one player that can survive -- and thrive-- alone on an island. Much like how the three-technique was the engine that drove Matt Eberflus' system, one true lockdown cornerback is the anchor to Gus Bradley's scheme.

This analysis can go all the way back to the Legion of Boom era Seattle Seahawks, where Bradley relied on the strong play of Richard Sherman on one side to roll his help over to the other. When Bradley began to transition more into a match coverage system with the Chargers back in 2017-2020, it was the strong play of Casey Hayward that gave way for that defense to thrive.

Last season, that number one trusted cornerback for the Colts was Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore, a former Defensive Player of the Year, may not be the true lockdown player that he once was, but he is still one of the league's premier defenders with the ability to make a game-changing play when left on an island.

Let's look at a few examples of why having a player like Gilmore as the number one cornerback is so vital for this scheme. A common formation set in the NFL is a 3x1 look, which features three pass catchers to one side of the offense and one pass catcher to the backside. In Gus Bradley's match cover three defense, the coverage call to combat this look is a hybrid man/zone look.

The backside cornerback will essentially be left on an island on these calls, oftentimes stepping up in press man against that backside receiver. The strong side of the formation is playing the numbers game with five zone defenders to combat the bunched pass catchers, but that backside player is all alone on that island.

Offensive coordinators know this is how Bradley likes to run his defense, so they will typically try to isolate their top pass catcher on the backside. Having a player like Stephon Gilmore, who you absolutely trust in that position, is paramount for the success of this defense.

Here is a diagram of how the coverage itself plays out with that backside cornerback in man. There are coverage rules for matching on the strong side of the play, but that backside cornerback is on an island. On this play below in particular, Gilmore is matched up with Terry McLaurin on that island.

Without even going into more detail about this coverage call, it should be easy to see why a trusted outside cornerback is needed for this look. When a player like Stephon Gilmore is in that role, it frees up the deep safety to roll over the top of the strong side of the field. This limits the safety's responsibility to half field reads rather than full field, which allows that deep player to play faster and more aggressive.

To add a full clip for context, let's look at Gilmore's interception against the Dallas Cowboys last year. The call below is a cover three sky with the strong safety rolling down on the weak side. Gilmore is isolated on the backside with Michael Gallup while the safeties are preoccupied with helping to the trips side of the field.

Gallup is left on Gilmore island while the safeties eliminate the deep crosser from the strong side. Gilmore rewards that trust by running Gallup's route for him and coming up with the interception. This entire coverage call isn't nearly as smooth without having a player of Gilmore's caliber on the backside of the 3x1 set.

pic.twitter.com/X5cqTREDQh

— Not Zach’s Burner (@NotZachsBurner1) August 7, 2023

The importance of this role cannot be understated, as teams deploy unbalanced sets on nearly every snap in the NFL. Gus Bradley also relies on cover three match quite a bit, so this isolated cornerback is going to get a lot of action in this role.

The Dilemma with the Youth Movement

The unfortunate part of this entire conversation is that Stephon Gilmore now plays for the Dallas Cowboys. The next man up in this potential role would have been Isaiah Rodgers Sr, but he is no longer with the Colts either. That basically leaves one of these young cornerbacks on the roster to emerge as a player capable of playing on an island right now.

The biggest contenders for this job so far in camp appear to be JuJu Brents and Darrell Baker Jr after talking to coaches today. The team didn't explicitly say it, but it is easy to infer how highly this organization views Brents (with the recent high selection) and Baker Jr (the coaches rave about him every chance they get).

The potential in these two players is quite tantalizing, but are they ready to line up in these isolated situations against legit number one receivers? It's one thing to practice against Michael Pittman Jr or Alec Pierce every day in practice, but are they ready to line up against Davante Adams or Justin Jefferson in these spots?

Even the most optimistic fan would probably say no to that last question, but the Colts do need to find a way to get one of these young players ready for this kind of challenge. The Colts were the ninth best defense in football on third down last year, but that number could drop significantly by replacing Stephon Gilmore with a young cornerback in 2023.

NFL scouts tell us few guys boosted their draft stock more at @seniorbowl than K-State CB Julius Brents. 6030v w/ record-setting 82 7/8 wing. DB teach tape stuff here. Textbook tight-man focus.

Rarely see 1-on-1 rep where QB doesn’t even throw it. 👀 #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/DvZMizYPCF

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) February 17, 2023

The Bottom Line

The Indianapolis Colts' youth movement is upon us and the cornerback position may be the most impacted spot by this move. While it is great for these young players to be exposed to NFL play immediately, their lumps and bruises could spell some real concerns for the rest of the Colts' defense.

The team needs to find a player that they firmly trust to play on the backside of unbalanced sets. That player needs to be able to survive, and thrive, on an island for Gus Bradley's defensive system to work. If they can't find a player that can do that in this young group, the rest of the defense will feel the stress of it tenfold.

Luckily, the Colts are extremely high on a few of these young players and guys like JuJu Brents and Darrell Baker Jr have been excelling in camp. Both of these players fit the archetype that the team wants in their cornerback room and both have the advantage of being able to learn from DB Coach Ron Milus.

The Colts' cornerback room will certainly take some time to adjust to the young player playing in this key role, but the long term outlook for this unit should remain positive until we actually see these players on a real NFL field.

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