Talking Cornerbacks

Just a quick post on the cornerback position…

On Chris Cook. I drew ire for not including Cook in the Stock Update post with several readers claiming that Cook deserved to be included in the stock down column. Fine. Fair game. Cook was downright miserable. He was torched on a long touchdown caught by Yamon Figurs where Cook unintelligently watched a fumbled snap instead of staying on his assigned receiver. There were also other running plays where he was blocked out by wide receivers failing to have a presence on those. Cook needs to learn, and needs to learn fast, that Cover 2 corners are required to be physical both jamming receivers on the line and finding a way to get involved on running plays. That’s why the Vikings originally targeted the 6’2” Virginia product. If Cook is to learn from any physical corner he should be writing down everything Antoine Winfield says and sleeping on that notepad. At any rate, Cook’s leash is now short with Vikings staff.

On Cedric Griffin. The good news here is that Cedric is now running full speed at practice and is well on his way to playing this weekend versus Seattle. Leslie Frazier loves Cedric repeatedly saying that he’d be the starting corner opposite Winfield whenever healthy. We shall see if he can still hang with either Mike Williams or Sidney Rice (banging my head against the keyboard) this weekend.

On Jimmy Williams. Wait, who? Williams was just reinstated into the league after violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He another large corner at 6’3” and 215 pounds, hits hard and was a 2nd round pick in 2006 coming out of Virginia Tech. He also can play safety. Being a free agent after last playing for San Francisco, the Vikings would have nothing to lose by calling Williams to have him in for a workout. Worst-case scenario all that’s lost is a small amount of time. Best-case scenario we’ve found a diamond in the rough. What’s to lose?

Jon Merckle may be followed on Twitter @thevikingpig