The Two-Headed Rookie Monster

By Ronn Burner • on September 18, 2009

We have all seen the two-headed monster before in one form or another in football. Mothers-in-law excluded. We’ve seen it work effectively at times and fail at others at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end and even all over the defensive line but at cornerback? The ‘Ole Ball Coach’ Steve Spurrier at one time was known to rotate quarterbacks from series to series in both college and even at the NFL level. It’s become fairly common at both the collegiate and the professional level to use a two back system splitting carries. There was “Thunder and Lightning”, “Earth, Wind and Fire”, “Smash and Dash” and I’m sure many others that escape me at the moment. Heck I remember the days in high school and college when we ran our plays in through rotating wide receivers. All of those scenarios make perfect sense for different reasons. At running back it’s a great thing combining a speed scat back with a bruiser for the goal line and short yardage situations both saving wear and tear on the player and keeping the defense out of rhythm. At wide receiver it’s also probably a good thing because it allows for the opportunity to keep players fresh, to have an individual relay the play call efficiently and effectively and more importantly, it generally means you have talent and depth at the position to do it. Now at quarterback I would argue that it’s probably not a good thing. It’s just me but it’s the position to lead men, and by rotating them it gives the player himself a complex by being unsure and that is no way to lead men. I also think it means you’re probably not very good at the position and you’re trying to see if one guy can emerge as the clear better player. Not good at quarterback as it’s success rate would indicate. So what are we to make of our newly crowned two-headed rookie monster at cornerback with Sean Smith and Vontae Davis?

First of all, we need to think of a sick nickname for the two of them and it generally has to do with their skill set and size. Smith is much taller that Davis, he’s graceful, extremely fast for his size, he’s very athletic and as a former wide receiver he’s been know to make filthy one handed picks and he has a all the confidence in the world to go with his perma-grin. Davis is shorter but much more physical and in your face. His style is pesky and he love contact and the bump and run. He’s athletic and strong as an ox for his size, his cover skills in man to man are nasty and he definitely has no shortage in confidence himself. I’m thinking “Truth and Justice”.

Ok that was fun, but is this a good idea? Is it better to let one separate himself from the other by his play on the field or is better to put one at nickel until the chosen starter proves he is or is not an NFL caliber corner? For many reasons I hate it starting with Peyton Manning. Miami tried this last week with each corner getting over 30 plays rotating every two series to moderate success. In reality neither one got beat deep or made a mental error or drew a penalty or looked lost. They both looked like rookies that played about as well as you could hope for at the cornerback position at the highest level. No offense to 2nd year player Matt Ryan but he is no Peyton Manning. I fear the thought of Manning walking up to the line and licking his chops as he calls a play on 3rd and 9 that he knows is going to tie one of these youthful talents into a know resulting in moving the chains long enough to get them to bit for the inevitable home run that he will hit to Reggie Wayne. It’s just hard to imagine them not getting picked on all night. But that’s the short term and growing pains are inevitable and the only way these kids can get better is being out there and learning from their mistakes or just learning from playing. Selfishly, I want a Dolphins win Monday night but in the big picture what they will learn on Monday night can’t be quantified but could advance their young careers ions. And who says they have to struggle anyway? Maybe a true star will be born as what better opportunity to shine or fail than against one of the games best. Come 10:PM Monday night we may know who our next great corner will be.