It’s the new thing in the Northwest, tall and physical corners that can cover ground and compete for 50/50 balls with their long wingspan. Of course the Seattle Seahawks introduced this idea to the NFL on both sides of the field a couple of years ago with Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman but the idea isn’t new to the Pac-12. Browner was a player at Oregon State and Sherman played corner late in his career at Stanford after beginning at receiver.
In fact all over college football you’ll find some pretty darn-good, “big” defensive backs. Although there have been some good ones come through, Washington State has never really been known for their tall corners, but it’s time for WSU fans to get their fill when Joe Turner comes on board in 2014. At the College of San Mateo, Turner’s side of the field is known as “Frost Island”.
Turner has that Sherman build at 6’2″, 190 lbs and loves to press and run. He has incredible foot quickness for his size and wastes very little movement. He also has terrific closing speed and his wingspan allows him to make up a lot more ground than your average corner as the ball is in the air.
Defensive Coordinator Mike Breske has plans for Turner right from the beginning on the boundary. It’s a good plan to put the more physically imposing cornerback in the boundary and put him up closer to the line of scrimmage, which is something the Cougs haven’t done for years. I think in this case Breske is also planning to get more exotic in year three of the 3-4. Turner can be the shutdown corner that this defense needs to really utilize all of the pieces properly, so putting him in the boundary and leaving him 1-on-1 will allow both safeties to get involved in the box without being afraid of getting beat deep out on the edge.
After three corners graduate following the 2013 season, the edge gets very young, very fast. Adding Turner’s (to be) two years of experience at the college level was a major priority for the Washington State staff and they kept up with him throughout the process which impressed him enough to commit. He becomes the ninth commit to the 2014 recruiting class and quite frankly he’s a steal for the Cougars. He could immediately play for any team in the conference and almost certainly will have some teams bummin’ that they didn’t recruit him harder by the end of his sophomore season at CSM.
For some Frost Island highlights from Turner’s Spring and freshman season, go to this link on HUDL.