Free Agent Spotlight: Stanford Routt
By author
Name: Stanford Routt
Ideal position: LCB
Measurements:
Team: FA
PROS
-In zone coverage, he got his first pick of the season watched the QBs eyes, had good awareness of where he had help and where the ball was going.
-Man covered against Stevie Johnson, holds him to 1 catch and a bad P.I. call
-Long guy that is a better press man corner than anyone on the Titans team.
-Does a good job reading double moves but doesn’t read draw plays well
-He rarely bites on play actions, and when he does he recovers quickly
-Got flagged for faceguarding which he did, but 9/10 times they don’t call that. Swatted the ball away with barely any contact with the WR. Not a great call.
-Clearly he plays best in press man coverage. Good use of the boundary.
-Twice now, with Plax and S. Johnson, teams have changed where their number 1 WR lines up because of how well Routt has played them.
-Watching the first 2011 match up between the Raiders and the Chargers, Routt completely shuts down Jackson. Once, he is solely responsible for a sack when Rivers stares Jackson down and loses his awareness in the pocket.
CONS
-Not a guy that helps in run support.
-On backside runs you can see him stand with his hands on his hips
-He doesn’t take bad angles to backside BCs, he just doesn’t try. Frustrating.
-Receivers consistently beat him inside, needs to work on pressing them to the sideline because that is where he thrives
-In the same OAK/SD game, Routt gambles and tries to press Jackson, but does a bad job. However, Rivers doesn’t throw it to Jackson. If Routt had help over the top then the jam was ok, if not it was not that may be an area of concern
-Whether they are always correct or not, Routt gets a lot of penalties.
Impression: I thought this might be a guy that Maxie could change into a safety, but that seems like a bad decision now. I like Routt for exactly what he is, a cover corner. He can cover up top tier receivers and seriously limit their production. On the other hand, if you ask him to blitz or help you in run support you will be seriously disappointed. He is best when he is allowed to jam his guy on the LoS, but he is still a pretty good in when he is forced to give a cushion. Won’t wow you with his ball skills, but he seems to know when they are in his area. I don’t think he is better than McCourty but he could get the nod over Verner. If Gray likes Verner as a starting CB the Routt may come in and start as a NB, with the added upside of adding great depth to the CB position. My feeling is that other teams need him more, but if we could get him cheap it would leave our DB focus purely on the safeties.