With the 24th Pick of the 2014 Draft the Bengals Select: Darqueze Dennard
- Updated: May 8, 2014
Why this works: The Bengals grabbing my top-ranked cornerback with the 24th overall selection qualifies as the best value selection so far in this draft. Dennard will help the Bengals secondary this season. He brings attitude and physicality to an already tough defense.
Draft Day Grade: A
Player Profiles courtesy of Nick Sardina – Editor Football Memo
Darqueze Dennard, CB, 5-11, 200, Michigan State
Strengths: Uber-aggressive corner who doesn’t let receivers breathe. … Is a press corner first, and excels in getting physical at the line and roughing up receivers throughout the entire play. … Is a technician, who knows his position. … Very competitive player, who hates even giving up a five-yard completion. … After making contact for five (or more) yards, Dennard turns and locates the ball as well as any corner in this draft, and better than many current NFL corners. … Uses the boundary as another defender. … Is very physical and a great tackler. … Flies up to help in run support and will deliver with solid shoulder hits.
Weaknesses: Not blazing fast, so if he gets beat early, doesn’t have elite recovery speed. … Will need to scale back his physical play or he will draw plenty of flags. … Sometimes needs better hand placement on his jams. … Will need work in playing off-man and zone coverages.
Conclusion: In my opinion, Dennard is the best corner in this draft. He will likely take his lumps early – as most rookie corners do – but, I guarantee he won’t back down or change his style of play. By year two or three, he should be one of the more solid cover corners in the league. … He’s physical, competitive and has solid technique. That’s a formula for success.
NFL comparison: Joe Haden.
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