If John Elway is looking for a Chris Harris Jr. clone he should grab himself a Wolverine."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Broncos NewsBroncos Free AgencyBroncos DraftBroncos PodcastsBroncos 2019 ScheduleKey Offseason DatesCommunity RulesFull ArchiveBroncos StoriesScheduleRosterStatsOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁旴reaking NewsBroncos 2019 Draft Class Announced脳Broncos Draft 2019The 2019 Prospect who most resembles Chris Harris Jr. New Royce Freeman Jersey ,25commentsIf John Elway is looking for a Chris Harris Jr. clone he should grab himself a Wolverine. The 2019 Prospect who most resembles Chris Harris Jr. Last night the bombshell dropped. Chris Harris Jr. wants a new contract or a new team. In light of that revelation John Elway enters the 2019 draft with a much bigger hole in the secondary than anyone anticipated. Heck it wasn’t two months ago that Kareem Jackson and Bryce Callahan had Broncos Country fighting to coin a new moniker for a rebuilt No Fly Zone. Now that Denver is suddenly in the market for a cornerback, I thought I’d dig through my notes an reveal the player that most reminded me of Chris Harris Jr. He didn’t make any of my GIF Horse Big Board posts, but David Long of Michigan bears an uncanny resemblance to Strap. Long was a 4 star recruit coming out of high school and played under Jim Harbaugh the length of his collegiate career. He broke out as a Sophomore in Defensive Coordinator Don Brown’s man-heavy scheme, notching 21 tackles, two interceptions, and six pass breakups. Last year in Ann Arbor Long broke up eight passes, made 17 tackles and intercepted one pass. He earned first-team All-Big Ten in 2018. Long’s stats don’t really illustrate how good he was for Michigan. Scouting Report-Elite lateral mobility. -Isn’t the fastest corner, but he sure isn’t slow.-Exceptional technique for press man.-Loose hips to swivel and stay on the receivers hip.-He’s quick to diagnose opposing pass patterns.-He’ll play the run. Quick to attack the ball.-Needs better technique to consistently bring down ball carriers at the next level. -Short.-Shorter arms than you’d like.-May need to get less physical in the pros to avoid flags.-88 percent of his college snaps were at outside cornerback-Played significantly more man coverage than zone.Long is deceptively physical and willing to come up to make plays on the ball carrier, and quarterback. What I’ve heard/read-Dane BruglerNFL Draft & Combine Profile - David Long | NFL.comPFF’s Top-250 Big Board for the 2019 NFL Draft | NFL Analysis | Pro Football FocusDavid Long CB Michigan - Draft Player Profile | The Draft NetworkWhy he fitsI’d much rather have a cornerback hit the pros needing to adjust to zone than man coverage. Long stood out to me as a player who could step in and adjust during his rookie year to the NFL and may prove to be a steal of the draft in the right scheme. He’s a better athlete than Harris was coming out but displays many of the same traits that makes the Broncos future Ring of Famer an elite nickel defender. He’s aggressive at the catch point and will fight with much bigger receivers, he’s fearless against the run, and his savvy is unmistakable. Why he doesn’tIn most NFL schemes his size and length limitations may push him to the nickel, where he’s woefully inexperienced right now. It isn’t that he can’t do it. It’s that we just don’t know. Much like Harris Brandon McManus Jersey , he’s also spent the majority of his career to date playing mostly man coverage so there will be some growing pains if he came to the Fangio defense where Cover 4 and 3 are the predominant coverage shells. Final ThoughtsMost analysts seem to agree that Long is a 2nd or 3rd round pick and I’d like him a lot at 41. The big reason I didn’t place Long into my original big board were my concerns over his adjustment to Fangio’s D, and if he’d be a man without a home with Bryce Callahan on the roster. I still wonder if the Broncos will even consider him for these reasons. That said, I do think Long has a great chance to outperform his draft position and grow into a dominant NFL player. If Chris Harris Jr. isn’t in John Elway’s plans beyond 2019, I hope the long term plan includes this former Wolverine. Long could give the Broncos a young shutdown corner on Day 2. NFL Insider, Benjamin Allbright, joined the crew from Orange and Blue 760 today to talk about Denver’s offseason so far. Around the 9:00 mark, he addresses Denver’s offensive coordinator search and the expected hiring of Rich Scangarello.Allbright, who knows Scangarello said Denver would be getting a great X’s and O’s coordinator who’s calling card is quarterback and wide receiver development (know any young wide receivers who need development?). It was Scangarello who found 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens and convinced Kyle Shanahan to sign him as an undrafted free agent in 2017.“Coach Scangarello, he pretty much found me,” Mullens said. “I was at East-West Shrine game in [St. Petersburg, Florida] and I guess he liked the things that I did in that game and in those practices. And then he followed up with me with a phone call after that.””Then I took a visit here to the facility in [Santa Clara, California]. The 49ers showed me the most interest all the way through the draft process. So Todd Davis Jersey , in the sixth round, they gave me a call, said they wanted to sign me as a free agent.”Allbright also credited Rich for finding J.T. O’Sullivan while coaching at UC Davis. While not lighting the league on fire, O’Sullivan went on to have a long football career. Scangarello has a knack for finding guys that don’t have all the physical tools and getting the most out of them. Lastly, while perhaps his career path has not been the most orthodox, Allbright suggests this might actually benefit him because “innovation in football typically occurs at the lower levels”. It has taken the NFL years to catch on to spread trends that have been commonplace at the lower levels of football for over a decade. Thus, exposure to D-II and the FCS levels in the coaching ranks gives Scangarello a broad base of experience, to pair with his knowledge of Kyle Shanahan’s system.Be on the lookout for the news to potentially become official tomorrow, and give the interview above a listen for some great insight on Denver’s potential offensive coordinator.
