So far through the regular season injuries and bad fits have plagued us. Wanted to give a breakdown on what these players do and why all of them playing together are important to the Cornerback position.
Brandon Flowers:
Flowers plays generally the most important position in the secondary. Most Quarterbacks are right handed. Naturally throwing to the right is an easier pass. That read is automatically in vision of the QB on every drop due to position. It's very hard to hide what a defense is doing from this position.
Brandon Flowers is unique...it's not power and speed that make him good. Flowers has great vision and footwork. There are few wide receivers that Flowers can't match step for step. There are few Quarterbacks that can fool him on play-action or a pump fake. Flowers isn't the greatest athlete nor does he have phenomenal range. He's an intelligent player that is a good athlete with superior technique.
Flowers mirrors a lot of the talent on this Chiefs roster. I would classify Dorsey, Hali, Jackson as elite technicians more so than elite talents. Because of Flowers technique he is able to provide Romeo with schematic versatility. Has the vision and instincts to thrive in Cover 2 & 3. Has the footwork to be in position for intermediate passing game.
Stanford Routt:
While Flowers plays the most important position, Routt plays one that factors in offenses ability to make big plays. With Brandon Carr teams rarely made plays on the backside. Unlike Flowers position at left conerback, the Quarterbacks back is generally turned (right handed Quarterbacks). Outside of shotgun formations Routt man he is covering is typically the last read.
Also unlike Flowers, Routt doesn't have the vision to offer much as an off-corner back (covers 2 &3). Routt is stiff and doesn't have the footwork to break quickly. His reads do not appear to process plays quickly (not processing plays like screens prior to being caught by wide receiver).
Routt has the ability to match speed. He doesn't have the ability to cover a lot of routes like Flowers in diverse coverages. Routt does have the ability to press at the line of scrimmage (something Flowers doesn't do as well). This ability allows Routt to stick with later developing routes that often happen from the backside wide receiver.
Brandon Carr was a more dynamic athlete. He wasn't as fast as Routt, but he had better footwork and could offer more schematically to Romeo. At this point all I see him as is a press corner. Doesn't play the ball at all, and while on the WR downfield, rarely shows ability to make play on ball. Very much an asset in limiting teams ability to beat us with speed.
Jalil Brown:
Jalil Brown physically has more in common with Brandon Carr than either Routt or Flowers. Similar to Carr, cornerback Jalil Brown has the physical ability to play any coverage well. Flowers is an elite zone coverage cornerback, but lacks the raw physical ability to match up well as a pure press guy. Routt offers little as an off-corner back, while having the size and foot speed to press. With Jalil Brown he offers more versatility.
Jalil Brown has a blend of speed, size, power, hips, and footwork that no other player offers. During preseason he showed the ability to press, and ability to make plays on the ball down field. Throughout the preseason Brown improved rapidly in my opinion.
Losing Brown was a blow. Outside of Flowers he is our best cover corner. The Chiefs have been hurt by their inability to matchup in the defensive sub. This is a problem that will persist throughout the season and Sunday v. Drew Brees. Brown isn't ready to be a #1 CB, but physically has everything to give Romeo more coverages to work with.
Cornerback Breakdown:
When all 3 players are healthy and on the field, Romeo has more options. Replacing Reeves with Flowers gives Romeo the ability to mix coverages...with Reeves and his inability to play man Romeo didn't have many coverage options to work with. Flowers gift is he makes that side of the field an elite zone coverage side with ability to combo some effective man coverage (especially on non-intermediate routes).
With more ability by individuals in coverage Romeo has more effective packages. Potentially this combo will be playing their first game together. Against Brees it may be a tall order, but these 3 offer this secondary a lot of looks.
We haven't seen the best of this secondary, and because of that we haven't seen the best from this defense. For this early part of the season, the injuries have exploited this units depth. But few teams are prepared to start their 4th CB on the first game.
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