Riq Woolen - Best Man Corner in the NFL

[Fade]

Problem, Pete hardly ever runs man.

With Woolen & Witherspoon you could absolutely dominate on the backend, Pete chooses not to.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Best Appetizer.............GO!!!!!!

 

[keasley45]

Problem, Pete hardly ever runs man.

With Woolen & Witherspoon you could absolutely dominate on the backend, Pete chooses not to.

Might be because we have garbage edge play and if your corner is constantly in man coverage, leaving the flat, you open yourself up even more to being gashed on OTT runs.

I dont know... maybe THAT has something to do with it.

 

[sutz]

So, if we "hardly ever" run man coverage how do we know this?

On the other hand, they look sweet in those traditional blues.

 

[Maelstrom787]

I can already tell this thread is going to have people coming up with some ruinously misguided takes on Riq Woolen and coverage as a whole.

That stat... does not mean what you are trying to say it does, and the fact that you're not even acknowledging that is why people have some issues with the credibility of your arguments.

Woolen was categorically a better zone coverage prospect than straight man-to-man prospect. He's sloppy in press and easy to redirect.

This stat is likely a function of us playing man in very select circumstances moreso than Woolen suddenly being a lockdown man-up corner. The conclusion drawn from this is one that could only be honestly reached by hamfisted propagandists.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

All I know is Riq needs to change his name back to Tariq cause he forgot how to tackle after he changed his name.

Dude's way too big of a corner to be this bad of a tackler.

 

[WarHawks]

Best Appetizer.............GO!!!!!!

Shrimp

 

[soxhawk]

All I know is Riq needs to change his name back to Tariq cause he forgot how to tackle after he changed his name.

Dude's way too big of a corner to be this bad of a tackler.

He became Big Time too early. He thought he Richard Sherman when he played closer to Kelly Jennings this year.

 

[Appyhawk]

Problem, Pete hardly ever runs man.

With Woolen & Witherspoon you could absolutely dominate on the backend, Pete chooses not to.

Agreed! I've been saying forever our defensive scheme is the problem. We run mostly zone reactionary stuff when we could be running in attack mode to keep offences from dictating the game to us. Flush Adams and Diggs and play Love and draftee Reed (when he gets off IR) and we will have the makings of a D backfield that can ball out with lethal force.

 

[knownone]

Rates are meaningless without knowing the sample size.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

He became Big Time too early. He thought he Richard Sherman when he played closer to Kelly Jennings this year.

I'm hoping we find out he had a serious injury or something, cause I can't handle it if it's just he's too soft and regressed.

 

[scutterhawk]

All I know is Riq needs to change his name back to Tariq cause he forgot how to tackle after he changed his name.

Dude's way too big of a corner to be this bad of a tackler.

C'mon man, Woolen's been positioned & playing as Coached this season, whereas Spoon is playing 'Instinctually', making plays that thwart Coaching interferences...Fix the Coaching 'Brain-Farts' & Woolen gets back on track. ;-)

 

[AROS]

I just assumed he was dealing with a nagging injury all season which could explain his massive drop off.

 

[TwistedHusky]

Riq would be a stud in man... in position, ability to play the ball, coverage area, and recovery speed.
He isn't a press corner and shouldn't be used as one. Honestly, any overly physical defensive contact before the ball gets there (including at the snap and off the line) puts him at a disadvantage AND negates all the pluses we just covered.
But he is still a better man corner than zone, and would be better used in that kind of defense.

Maybe part of the drop off was/is injury? But some of that sure looks like he is being asked to be physical and THAT IS NOT HIS GAME. He is actually less likely to stick his head in than most corners, and tries to avoid tackling where possible.


But yes, both corners would thrive in Man defenses vs the zone we play.

 

[keasley45]

Riq would be a stud in man... in position, ability to play the ball, coverage area, and recovery speed.
He isn't a press corner and shouldn't be used as one. Honestly, any overly physical defensive contact before the ball gets there (including at the snap and off the line) puts him at a disadvantage AND negates all the pluses we just covered.
But he is still a better man corner than zone, and would be better used in that kind of defense.

Maybe part of the drop off was/is injury? But some of that sure looks like he is being asked to be physical and THAT IS NOT HIS GAME. He is actually less likely to stick his head in than most corners, and tries to avoid tackling where possible.


But yes, both corners would thrive in Man defenses vs the zone we play.

He was pretty physical before the injury. As a matter of fact he got dinged in Detroit coming in on a tackle like a heat seeking missile.

But you're right. Since then he's not been as eager.

 

[knownone]

Looked at the numbers; Riq was targeted 13 times and gave up 5 receptions in man coverage. He has one int.

He grades out well within a tiny sample size, which is why he's an outlier on that graph. It's unlikely he'd maintain that production level if asked to play it regularly. But it's interesting, nonetheless.

 

[cymatica]

I just assumed he was dealing with a nagging injury all season which could explain his massive drop off.

Looked like he may have gotten a groin injury after that post game celebration

 

[cymatica]

Looked at the numbers; Riq was targeted 13 times and gave up 5 receptions in man coverage. He has one int.

He grades out well within a tiny sample size, which is why he's an outlier on that graph. It's unlikely he'd maintain that production level if asked to play it regularly. But it's interesting, nonetheless.

I don't know, I think he would keep it up. He's really good at trailing behind a receiver and baiting the QB then closing fast. Seems like playing too much zone might negate his strengths and forces him to think too much as opposed to just sticking to his man. He's also horrible at jamming and trying to play physical

 

[getnasty]

You leaving out the fact that while those two could be studs you're also asking Wagner, Diggs, Adams, and Brooks to participate in man coverage which is about as scary as it gets.

Pete biggest fault in my opinion is he is to loyal and to much of an optimist. He doubles down on guys like Diggs and Adams hoping to make it work and it just doesn't because there not the difference makers they once were. He's the opposite of Bill Belichick in that regard.

 

[knownone]

I don't know, I think he would keep it up. He's really good at trailing behind a receiver and baiting the QB then closing fast. Seems like playing too much zone might negate his strengths and forces him to think too much as opposed to just sticking to his man. He's also horrible at jamming and trying to play physical

He might ultimately be better in man than zone. I don't know. But it would be improbable that he maintains those rates. For comparison, his FI% is 15% higher than Sauce, PFF's best Man corner with over 100 coverage snaps.

It's worth noting, Witherspoon, Brown, and Jackson are the inverse of Woolen. They are significantly better in zone than man, so changing the system to support Woolen may create more issues than it solves.