Seattle Seahawks star Richard Sherman is one of the truly elite defensive backs in the NFL. He’s a one-on-one nightmare and routinely shuts down the sport’s top receivers.
Sherman is also one of the most outspoken players on and off the field, never afraid to share his opinion – be it positive or negative.
The three-time Pro Bowler is a regular contributor to The Players’ Tribune and in his latest entry he gave scouting reports on some of the wide receivers he deems most difficult to cover.
Here’s what he had to say.
On Julio Jones…
The thing that really puts him over the top is the fact that he’s a blue-collar player. He doesn’t take plays off. He doesn’t jog on decoy routes. He runs every route at max effort, even when there’s a 100% chance he’s not getting the ball. He blocks on run plays as hard as he expects his teammates to block for him on pass plays. And because he’s always going 100 mph, he doesn’t give you any indicators that might help you decipher whether it’s a run or a pass, or if he’s getting the ball or they’re throwing to the other side of the field.
On Brandon Marshall…
Brandon Marshall is one of the hand-fighting greats. He will use his hands really well to pull or push to gain separation — sometimes pushing guys to the ground because he’s so strong. He’s great at creating separation at the line of scrimmage by using his hands, and he’s just as good with them at the last second, right when the ball arrives, using them to gain an advantage.
On Larry Fitzgerald…
He has a keen understanding of everything that’s happening on the field around him, and he has an incredible feel for timing, and how everything is supposed to line up…He understands the timing of the quarterback’s drop, the timing of the route, the timing of the play and the coverage that the defense is in. And at the line of scrimmage, he has a plethora of tricks and moves — head-fakes and stuff like that — that help him get separation. If he gets a lot of separation quickly, he needs to adjust his route a little so as to not throw off the timing of the play. Same for if he gets jammed. Timing is everything.
On A.J. Green…
The thing about A.J. is that he’s not really a YAC guy. He does most of his damage before the ball gets to him. He’s always a threat deep down the field, and he’s able to elevate and catch the ball at its highest point.
On Antonio Brown…
AB has mastered the subtle moves within running a route that can shake even the best cover guys in the league. Sometimes the deviation is so drastic that it looks like a double move, but it’s really Antonio changing his stride just enough to throw you off his trail.
On teammate Doug Baldwin…
I go up against him every day in practice, so nobody sees him more than I do. For Doug, it all starts at the line of scrimmage. I think he has some of the most explosive releases in the league. But also, at the top of his route, no matter what the route might be, he’s equally explosive. We can talk about hand fighting and changing speeds and physicality all we want. But when it comes to Doug, it’s all about creativity.
