The Pittsburgh Steelers need a cornerback. Without many options on the free agency market, should they target Washington’s Marcus Peters in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft?
Where Peters is selected in the draft will be intriguing. On talent alone, he could easily be taken off the board early in the first round. Unfortunately, there are some red flags off-the-field.
First off though, let’s look at what he can do on the field.
I won't write about Marcus Peters because it feels like everyone has, but he's CB1. Don't see anyone contesting him.
— Derrik Klassen (@QBKlass) March 18, 2015
At 6’0″ and 197 pounds, Peters is the ideal size for the cornerback position. In his three seasons with Washington, he made 129 tackles, 27 defended passes and 11 interceptions–according to Sports Reference.
Peters is an aggressive player, and has the athleticism and strength to go with it. He reads the game well and is able to play at a high level in both stopping the run and covering the pass. Peters is able to make life difficult for wide receivers and regularly makes plays by either batting away passes or picking them off.
In the video below, Peters’ ability to make plays is shown during a game against Georgia State in 2014:
Despite his talent, taking Peters in the first round would be a risk. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote:
"“Talented cover cornerback with size, ball skills and the confidence NFL teams are looking for, but lacks the necessary discipline and maturity on the field and in practice. Peters has raw talent, but is far from a polished cornerback, and that is without taking the character concerns into consideration.”"
Those character concerns could be the factor that drops Peters to the Steelers first round pick and 22nd overall. Peters didn’t complete the 2014 season in Washington after being kicked out. This was due to an alleged altercation with members of the coaching staff.
Last November, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reported that it was an argument with an assistant coach that was the deciding factor in his dismissal:
"“Peters got into an argument with an assistant coach during practice Wednesday, a source said, apparently the final straw in a series of run-ins with Washington’s new coaching staff. He also got into an argument with coaches during UW’s victory at Colorado on Saturday and then missed practice on Tuesday, sources said.“It’s never one thing. We’re not going to dismiss a guy because it’s one thing,” UW coach Chris Petersen said after practice Thursday morning. “That’s not what we’re in this business (to be) about. But when you feel like it just can’t work, you gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”"
It’s a risk-reward scenario for the Steelers potentially. If Peters falls to them in the first round, they could certainly benefit from his talent in the secondary. With the red flags over his attitude, would they be better off targeting a player such as Wake Forest’s Kevin Johnson or Miami’s Quinten Rollins?
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That’s what general manager Kevin Colbert will need to decide, and the interview process will be a determining factor in the confidence levels in Peters.
Talent isn’t the issue. Peters has plenty of that and a lot of upside. He could give the defense that ranked 27th against the pass with just 11 interceptions (ranking 25th in picks), according to ESPN Stats, a serious jolt.
If he is available when the Steelers hit the clock for the first time, Colbert would have a major decision to make and he would have to get it right. Select Peters and he has to behave off-the-field. Don’t take him and the Steelers will be hoping they haven’t passed up the next cornerback star.
| Tackles | Def Int | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | TD | FF |
| *2012 | Washington | DB | 13 | 26 | 18 | 44 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 54 | 18.0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | Washington | DB | 13 | 44 | 11 | 55 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 5 | 18 | 3.6 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| 2014 | Washington | DB | 9 | 25 | 5 | 30 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | Washington | 95 | 34 | 129 | 9.5 | 1.0 | 11 | 72 | 6.5 | 1 | 27 | 1 | 1 |
Provided by Sports-Reference.com/CFB: View Original Table
Generated 3/19/2015.
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