CBs are the crucial for the Oregon State defense to perform. The Beavers need those guys to take away deep WRs one-on-on. When they do that the front seven can go wild on stunts.
The Beavers are in good shape with James Dockery as the veteran senior. Junior Brandon Hardin has been well-used, so he’s not really being broken in.
Depth, however, is still in the development stage. Sophomore Jordan Poyer is penciled in as the No. 3 CB for the fall. Read about his transition from safety to corner is going in Monday’s GT here.
“It’s going well,” CB coach Keith Heyward said of the CB development. “Brandon and Dock are doing some good things. They just need to develop consistency in the play. Then we have to develop the young guys, and find out where they fit in.”
Dockery, never a loss for words or confidence, believes the corners can do their jobs. That is, as long as everyone stays healthy.
“As far as this year goes, we are going to be fine with Brandon and I as upperclassmen,” Dockery said. “Guys like Jordan (Poyer), Rashaad, (Reynolds) and Keynan (Parker) will compete.”
Now that the Beavers have corners staggered in class level there won’t be massive rebuilding years. Plus, there’s a slew of talented underclassmen who we’ll get to see make impacts on special teams.
“As the future goes there’s going to be a lot of competition,” Dockery said. “There are six guys in the room with us who at some point in their careers will be starters.”
Coach Mike Riley agreed.
“Our corner depth with continued development will be really good – better than it has been in a while,” Riley said. “We are going to have 5-6 guys who can go into coverage situations and do a good job for us.”
14 comments
angrybeaver says:
Apr 12, 2010
Dockery seems like a great guy, and I felt for him when he went down with injury, but he is wildly inconsistent on the field. If Poyer shows he's more consistent in practice/scrimmages, why not pencil him in? He is clearly talented as he just made the transition and he's 3rd on the depth chart. Simply being a Senior should not in itself be enough reason to start.
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coachtk9 says:
Apr 12, 2010
i agree that Doc has been inconsistent in his career, but towards the end of the season he started pickin it up and made some unbelievable plays. i think we need to see a lot of him in all situations before we can make that jump to Poyer. I think as long as Poyer is a reliable 3rd guy, we can use Doc on the tall-deep threat receivers, and Hardin locks down the other guy, we should be in outstanding shape.
Cliff, do you think Hardin is fast enough to cover the faster guys in the pac? iv always kinda wanted him to be a safety that plays close to a LB, for run support and especially for spread teams. last year when he was in for Stanford, the run support was much better.
ckirkpatrick says:
Apr 12, 2010
For whatever reason coacktk9's comment isn't showing up. So here it is:
i agree that Doc has been inconsistent in his career, but towards the end of the season he started pickin it up and made some unbelievable plays. i think we need to see a lot of him in all situations before we can make that jump to Poyer. I think as long as Poyer is a reliable 3rd guy, we can use Doc on the tall-deep threat receivers, and Hardin locks down the other guy, we should be in outstanding shape.
Cliff, do you think Hardin is fast enough to cover the faster guys in the pac? iv always kinda wanted him to be a safety that plays close to a LB, for run support and especially for spread teams. last year when he was in for Stanford, the run support was much better.
angrybeaver says:
Apr 12, 2010
Hardin is the best CB we have, so why move him to S just because he is big? I think having a big CB will be an advantage in run support, and Hardin is fast enough to cover any receiver in the league.
I'm not that down on Dockery. I think he's a tweener, right between good enough to start/should be a nickle back. All I am saying is that if Poyer turns out to be better during practice/scrimmages (or even early in the season) then he should get the nod. I dislike the notion that seniority rules simply for being seniority.
jwescru1 says:
Apr 12, 2010
Hardin has the bigger body.. but what did he do last year better than Dockery? Hardin has the physical tools, he just lacks the cover ability… Dockery blew the Oregon play and everyone is down on him.. he was solid for the majority of the year.. Hardin should be playin saftey CBS sports has dockery the 14 ranked CB coming into this year, thats not shabby if Poyer is taking anyones spot its going to be Hardins
ckirkpatrick says:
Apr 12, 2010
And to answer coachtk9, yes Hardin is fast enough. He is one of the faster guys on the team.
People look at him and safety because he's really buff. But he's times out fast enough and athletically enough to be a CB. Maybe he can't full-time. We'll see. And if he can't, he can move to safety pretty easily.
jwescru1 says:
Apr 12, 2010
Whoa, ur talking sitting dockery down for Poyer? thats nuts Dockery is there best cover man.. he had his downs, but how can u forget about him taking Damian Williams from SC completely out of a game? or giving Mardy Gilyard on of the toughest games he played all year.. Dockery is the 1 cb for a reason.. if Poyer can steal some PT from Hardin that good but as of now he's just 3rd option
angrybeaver says:
Apr 13, 2010
It's easy to come up with coverages he's blown, too (see Rose Bowl, Jeff Maehl). Oregon State gave up loads of passing yards.
Again, he's a tweener, with good and bad moments. If he's starting it won't be the worst thing, but if Poyer can lock down better he should start.
jwescru1 says:
Apr 13, 2010
The same cant be said about Hardin? its just the big play vs Oregon that u can knock.. Hardin physique deff gives him a edge but his cover skills arent as good, i think he will be exposed for just being a big body at cb, you can be big and fast but it doesnt mean squat if u cant stay in front of ur target… i think Doc's stature is why he gets knocked if he wasnt skinny this wouldnt even be a debate
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