Breaking Down The Aggies' 3-4 Defense: Right Cornerback

In a 3-4 defense, the Right Cornerback (RCB) often aligns to the field side of the formation, or the wide side of the field. What makes this alignment so important is that teams will often put their star WR on the wide side of the formation so he has more room to operate and can be more of a difference-maker. For this reason, your RCB is usually your best cover corner, and usually asked to shut down the opposition's star WR.

In a 3-4 defense, a true shutdown corner at RCB can make all the difference, because it means you can shut down half the field to the passing game when facing 21 personnel. With only two WRs in 21 personnel, you are leaving both safeties and the LCB free to cover the other WR and the TE in the passing game, meaning you have a numbers advantage in coverage. With the passing game locked down, the offense is now one-dimensional, so you can tell your front seven to not worry about the pass, just pin their ears back and go after the ball and the QB on every snap. A true shutdown corner at RCB can make all the difference in the 3-4 because it allows you to take more chances and be relentlessly aggressive without worrying about getting gashed on a big play through the air. On the contrary, with such an aggressive defense, the offense is going to try to beat the defense deep, and they're going to be taking more high-risk, low-percentage shots deep, and taking such high-risk, low-success shots is what you want as a defense. It increases your likelihood of getting a 3-and-out, and increases your chances for intercepions.

Like the Left Cornerback, the RCB must be comfortable in both press man coverage, and in dropping back into zone coverage. He must be strong enough to give a WR a good jam on the LOS in press coverage to knock him off his route, and athletic enough to get out of his backpedal quickly and run with the WR in zone coverage. In the zone blitz scheme we'll be using under Deruyter, there is also a chance for CBs to be used on blitzes, especially coming from the QBs, blindside, so the RCB needs to be fast enough to get a jump off the snap and get to the QB before he can get the pass off. Because the RCB will be playing on the weakside of the formation most often, he isn't going to see as many running plays to his side of the field, so you can get away trading some size for coverage ability at RCB.

Let's look at our candidates for Right Cornerback in our 3-4 defense.

Dustin Harris, So, 6'0, 168 lbs

Harris started as a true freshman for us last season, starting the first ten games of the season on defense, the only true freshman to do so on defense. Harris was hampered late int he year by an ankle injury against Baylor, but he came back to shut down Georgia's star WR A.J. Green, holding him to only 57 yards on 6 receptions in the Independence Bowl. Despite a sizable height and weight advantage (Green is 6'4, 205 to Harris' 6'0, 168), Harris was physical with Green, often manhandling him in coverage. Assuming he adds some muscle in our offseason S&C program, Harris should be ready to bust out as a shutdown corner in 2010; I wouldn't be surprised to see him play at 180-185 this year. Harris finished 2009 ninth on the team in tackles, with 40 total tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT, 3 passes defended. Those numbers were good enough for Harris to make ESPN's Big 12 All-Freshman team. Harris also returned punts for the Ags in 2009, returning 16 punts for 126, including a long of 33 yards. I think there is a very good chance we'll see Harris break one for a TD in 2010.

Coryell Judie, Jr, 5'11, 185 lbs

Also a candidate for the LCB position, I expect Judie to get looks at both CB spots. I wouldn't be surprised to see Judie as the primary backup at both LCB and RCB going into the season, because he has the ability to play both positions. A juco transfer from Fort Scott CC, Judie should have the physical maturity to step in and play right away.

Toney Hurd Jr, Fr, 5'9, 184 lbs

Hurd will be a true freshman coming into Fall Camp, but I expect us to look at him at RCB, especially if he shows coverage ability. Sherman won't hesitate to start the best player regardless of experience, as he showed last season, so Hurd has a decent chance of earning playing time at RCB.

Tramone Mickens, Fr, 5'10, 170 lbs

Mickens is another true freshman with some ability but there is a question about his ability to make it into school academically, which is why he also signed with Navarro College. If Mickens qualifies, he could help add depth to the RCB position.

Desmond Gardiner, RS-Fr, 5'10, 186 lbs

Gardiner redshirted during the 2009 season, and will be competing to crack the depth chart in 2010. Gardiner's size also makes him a candidate for the LCB position.

Of all of the candidates, I expect Harris to be our starter at RCB entering the season, with Coryell Judie right behind hm on the depth chart. We have a lot of bodies at the CB positions to compete for two spots, which is good for depth; what we are short on is experience, and we need to get as many players as much playing time as possible early on in the season so we can build experience depth.