The Detroit Lions Are Projected To Take Corn Elder With The Number 60 Pick In The 2017 NFL Draft.
This series is to give a look at who Matt Miller, NFL Draft Lead Writer from Bleacher Report, has us taking in his mock drafts as the season goes on. We will be breaking down who we “take” and if the player would be a good or bad fit for the team.
In his first Mock Draft, Matt Miller had us picking sixth and taking linebacker Jabrill Peppers from the University of Michigan. Next he had us taking Malik McDowell, defensive lineman from Michigan State. A week later he had us taking Jamal Adams, safety from LSU, and for the past few weeks he had us locked in with Malik McDowell. Last week he had defensive lineman Caleb Brantley from Florida in the first round.
With the newest mock he still has Brantley in the first, but has expanded to a second round and that second round pick is cornerback Corn Elder from Miami FL.
Does Corn Elder Fill A Need?
Yes and no. The cornerback position on the team is set with Darius Slay and Nevin Lawson as the top two players. Quandre Diggs is the slot cornerback, but after him we have Johnson Bademosi, mostly a special teams player and Adairius Barnes. Detroit needs some help and depth at that position, but a second round pick for it seems too early with a deep cornerback class. Detroit needs help at linebacker, defensive line, or safety, over cornerback in the first two rounds. While Corn could be the number two corner as Lawson would move to the slot, it seems like a stretch.
Is Corn Elder A Good Or Bad Fit?
Bad projected pick here in Corn Elder. First off he is 5’10 and sure Nevin Lawson is 5’10, but there is a difference. Lawson has better coverage skills. Elder seems to struggle with man coverage and once he gets blocked by a wide receiver, he seems to be out of the play and not a factor anymore. Elder wouldn’t be a bad pick for Detroit in maybe the fourth round, some experts have him as high as the third round. In his career so far at Miami he has 151 tackles, 11.5 for loss, six sacks, three interceptions, 27 pass deflections, five fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.
Detroit needs linebackers, defensive lineman and safety help before they look at cornerback. Unless they feel that Lawson would be better in the slot and they can find a lock-down cornerback, which there are many in this draft. Looking at Matt Miller’s draft with the picks he assigned, the cornerback that would be a better fit for Detroit if the ones taken before are off the board is Chidobe Awuzie from Colorado.
Awuzie is taller at six foot tall and is more dynamic than Elder. He can go in on cornerback blitzes and disrupt plays. Along with that he is hard to block and has impressive man coverage. So far at Colorado he has 261 total tackles, 25 for loss, nine sacks, three interceptions, 24 pass deflections, three fumble recoveries and six forced fumbles. He is projected to be as high as a second round pick and low as a fifth round pick. He would be a stretch again in the second round for Detroit to take as there are other needs, but if the team decides to go cornerback at that round and he is the best option available, it would be a good pickup for the team.
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