Cornerback Preview and Observations from Fall Camp

Another position battle that has seen a lot of guys going in multiple spots is the corner battle. Chris Graves seems like he will be a week one starter given the prior experience and given some camp stuff, but we've seen pretty much everybody take snaps after that. There's been Nick Deloach, there's been Sione Laule, there's been Jaleel Florence, there's been Jackson Gates and Cam Keys even take some second team snaps or second unit snaps. There's a couple groups that roll through. Like I've seen all these guys play alongside Graves at one point and then I've seen them play without Graves at one point and so it's interesting to kind of figure these out, but I think the corner room is obviously one of the rooms where there wasn't a ton of production from the 2025 season. It's some guys who are working back into elevated roles recovering from injury like Florence or guys who just previously played higher roles and then were kind of demoted to smaller roles like Laule and Deloach and then some young guys who are looking for their first chance at a big role like Keys and like incoming freshman Jackson Gates. So there's a lot going on in the corner room shuffling and that can be another one that potentially kind of works itself through the first few games, but Zach what do you kind of see in a few, I'll let you start with whoever you want, but what do you see in a few of these corner candidates that make you yeah kind of make them pop out to you? Well Laule pops out to me I think the most. The six foot four frame is really interesting to me. I've talked about it before and also just being a guy that I think he really does embody the something to prove mantra. Started at San Mateo, worked his way up to Oregon, worked his way up to getting 116 snaps last season and now is he going to be able to take that next step really prove himself and I think there's a good chance that he can. I mean last season he's a guy that his statistics have looked very good in limited steps so you can take it with a grain of salt because obviously sometimes you're playing in these these games where it's less significant minutes against maybe worse teams, but he had a pass coverage grade of like 76.7. He had two breakups last season, seven tackles, so pretty impressive in the limited snaps that he had. That's a guy that really pops out to me. Jaleel Florence as well just because he had been really good his sophomore season. He was very strong. His stats were also really good in the 70s for most of his grades from PFF and then obviously that injury kind of derailed his career at Oregon and it's a comeback story is always is fun to watch. I think Florence is a guy that could take that comeback story and he's a guy that has proven himself. I think out of everyone minus Graves, Florence is the guy that has had the most success at one point in his career in this group. Obviously Deloach did have some some starting minutes as well in his sophomore season, but I think that Florence was even a little bit more successful when you look at the stats, you look at the amount of starts that he had. Both of those Oregon transfers are really interesting to me. I remember early on, I was thinking Deloach and there's still a high chance. He knows the system very well. He knows the system very well. He came back this year when he wasn't necessarily expected to because his snaps decreased dramatically. That does show being committed to the team. Those three for sure guys that really stand out to me and Keyes and Gates are going to be great building blocks. Jackson Gates is incredibly speedy, which is that's just a fun guy to watch. I remember earlier on in the offseason before Florence and Laule got in town, I was thinking like, man, I know Keyes is young, but there's something there. It's worth keeping an eye on. He was good and very limited snaps, but I think it's not unreasonable. You can't rule it out a potential Keyes rotational role because like you said, I do think him and Gates are going to be awesome in the future. But even now, I don't know. Who knows? Maybe they could work their way on the field. But yeah, Florence, I think is awesome because he's ridiculously fast. According to a couple of coaches and players, tell me he's one of the fastest guys on the team. So there's the option there. If you want speed, maybe it's Florence. You want the height, maybe it's Laule. Laule is going to be interesting as one of those kind of modern built tall corners. And then Deloach obviously, who knows the system. He's the longest tenured corner in the room and has been with Alpo for multiple years now. So there's a lot of interesting options to keep an eye on in the corner room.