Originally Posted by
Olympic Fan
I think Cockrell should serve as a reminder to us not to prejudge players who are sometimes forced by circumstances to play before they are reasy.
When Cockrell was forced to start as a redshirt freshman in 2010, he was not ready. Although he made some splendid plays, he was burned more times than I care to remember. Overall, it was a below average ACC corner. Last year, as a third-year sophomore, he was much, MUCH better -- a solid player ... probably an above-average ACC corner.
So far this year, he's been outstanding. Yeah, he's made a few mistakes (so does Darrelle Revis, the best CB on the planet at this moment). Through three games, he's probably the best CB in the ACC -- anybody who saw Tennessee burn David Amerson, a returning first-team All-American at NC State, time after time -- then saw Cockrell hold his own against Stanford's receiving corps (Cockrell and Canty were just about the only two Duke players to impress the Pac 10 crew doing the game), would give the edge to Cockrell ... so far. The stats back that up -- leading the nation in passes defended ... plus he's already scored two non-offensive touchdowns in three games.
My point is that if Duke were a more solid program, Cockrell would have been a spot player as a freshman and would have started playing a major role -- maybe as a nickel back -- as a sophomore.
I bring this up because before the season, there was a lot of criticism of LB Austin Gamble, another guy forced to play a major role before he was ready. I agree that in his first two seasons, Gamble was a below average ACC linebacker. I think this year -- when Gamble is a fourth-year junior -- he's finally doing a solid job. I think there are other young guys, especially on defense, who are still growing into their roles -- guys like Dez Johnson, Jamal Wallace, Nick Sink, Steven Ingram, David Helton, Kyler Brown ... Jamal Bruce was like that last season playing as a true freshman. The biggest tragedy of his injury is that he was sidelined just when it looked like he was ready to become an outstanding player.
A few guys are good when they are very young (such as Kelby Brown, Conner Vernon, Ross Martin) ... but others take time. With Ross Cockrell, we're going to get two seasons (this year and the next) of outstanding cornerback play.