Commanders Free Agent Fits: Cornerback
Taking a look at a couple of cornerbacks that the Washington Commanders could potentially target in free agency
NFL free agency starts next week and while Washington Commanders GM Adam Peters has said that he’s not anticipating the team being big spenders chasing the big prize free agents, the team does have a lot of holes that need filling by somebody. One of those holes is at cornerback. The team has two young corners with good potential in Emmanuel Forbes and Benjamin St-Juste, but both have had their issues in the NFL. Behind them, there is very little depth and the team lacks a veteran presence with Kendall Fuller set to hit the market. So who are some potential targets for Peters and head coach Dan Quinn? Here’s a few names to look out for.
Big name: Stephon Gilmore, 33
The obvious thing to do here is find players that recently played for both Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. Gilmore isn’t the top tier cornerback he once was, but he still had a productive year in Dallas last season under Quinn and Whitt. At 33, he could well be looking for a contender rather than a team undergoing a “recalibration” as Quinn called it, but from the Commanders perspective he would provide a reliable veteran option in a room full of young guys that are very up and down. He would also come with the benefit of knowing how Quinn and Whitt like to do things and how aggressively they like their cornerbacks to play.
Here, we see a great example of how aggressively Quinn and Whitt had their cornerbacks play in Dallas. Gilmore aligns in an off-coverage position, which is different from what he typically did earlier in his career where he was a physical press corner. But while he’s playing off coverage, he’s very aggressive. The Lions have a receiver with a tight split running an out route against him. With Gilmore playing off, he can sit on anything underneath and play with vision on both the receiver and the quarterback. You can see on this play, Gilmore looks through the receiver and into the backfield. As soon as the quarterback begins his throwing motion, he breaks on the route and gets there almost before the ball does. Because of that aggression and anticipation, Gilmore breaks up the pass.
While Dallas did tend to have their corners play off to attack things underneath, they did still allow them to rotate up into press coverage at times, and that’s something that comes natural to Gilmore still.
This time we see Gilmore up in press coverage against Rams receiver Puka Nacua. Gilmore isn’t aggressive with a jam and instead focuses on mirroring Nacua’s movement. Nacua uses a stutter release before working hard to get outside. Gilmore lets him release out there knowing he can match his movements. He opens his hips and sticks tight to Nacua, staying on top of the route the entire time. From this position, Gilmore can run with Nacua deep on a vertical route and still react to anything that breaks off and outside. Nacua does break outside on an out route, but Gilmore is able to stick tight to him and take him away.
Now Gilmore isn’t the cornerback he once was and had some inconsistencies creep into his game last season, but he was still largely reliable. I would imagine at his age he’s looking to land with a team that’s more likely to contend than Washington, but if that opportunity doesn’t arise for him, his veteran presence and experience with Quinn and Whitt would make a lot of sense for the Commanders.
Good value: Jourdan Lewis, 28
I know two Cowboys on this list won’t go over well with Washington fans, but Lewis makes just as much sense as a fit with the Commanders as Gilmore, if not even more so. Gilmore only played one year under Quinn and Whitt in Dallas, Lewis has been with the Cowboys since he was drafted in 2017, so he has played under Quinn and Whitt for all three seasons that the pair were in Dallas. His experience in the system and with the techniques Quinn and Whitt teach would be valuable to add to Washington, he’d add a veteran presence to the room and he could fill a potential hole inside at nickel corner.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Bullock's Film Room to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.