Jonathan Gannon stressing to Cardinals' rookie defenders how good NFL WRs and QBs are
At the Cardinals' rookie minicamp this weekend, head coach Jonathan Gannon will stress to his defensive rookies that they need to be ready for a step up in competition.
At the Cardinals' rookie minicamp this weekend, head coach Jonathan Gannon will stress to his defensive rookies that they need to be ready for a step up in competition.
Gannon said today that he wants his defensive backs to understand that NFL wide receivers and NFL quarterbacks have the kind of talent they didn't see every Saturday in college, and that means they have to be prefect on every play.
"Arguably the best athletes on the field, they're covering them. A lot of times they don't have a lot of help," Gannon said of his rookie cornerbacks covering NFL receivers. "There's good receivers in college and there's good quarterbacks in college — what I'm about to say, I don't want that to be misconstrued. But this is the best of the best. If you get beat the ball's going to find you. Whereas in college I don't see that all the time. The quarterbacks here can stand in the pocket and deliver the ball accurately, on time — that's an adjustment for those guys. There's not a lot of time to make up ground throughout the down to win that down up here."
The Cardinals drafted two cornerbacks and a safety, and they went defense with six of their seven picks. They're going to have some young contributors on defense this season, and Gannon wants them to be prepared for how much better the opposition is at the next level.
