Originally posted by Crazy49er1313:
I agree Gilbert is not the #1 corner (when he was bad, he was BAD!) and even with his athleticism, he doesn't warrant a #1 CB grade.
As for Dennard, I really really REALLY like him and see him as a tremendous talent. My only issue is his lack of versatility at the slot, which is why Fuller got a slightly higher grade. Also, I think we'd have to give up more draft wise for Dennard rather than Fuller, so that's why I have Fuller over Dennard.
If we snagged Dennard instead, then we would drastically need a slot guy. Possibly Purifoy/Watkins/Joyner?
Honestly I don't want to see either Fuller or Dennard playing in the slot, whatsoever. If you draft Dennard, you draft him to play him on the outside, have him man up with receivers, use his physicality to knock them off their routes and hope he progresses into a true elite #1 CB that is capable of defending on an island.
As far as slot corner goes, Verrett to me is pretty much the ideal. Joyner is a similar player but doesn't have the exact same athletic ability which allows Verrett to recover so well. He would be a good pick up in the 2nd were he still available. His approach tends to be a little different, whereas Verrett just glides across the field and simply uses his agility and coverage skills to basically shadow receivers everywhere they go, Joyner likes to be physical, beat them up a little inside, decent quickness but hips not nearly as fluid.
Beyond that, Watkins would be a nice pickup as a guy who could play the slot, in latter rounds, Vic Hampton, Nevin Lawson and Ricardo Allen are also good potential slot guys with varying degrees of ability to contribute from the get-go.
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