Mo Claiborne, will he ever be a productive player?

[es4m11]

Is this the year Claiborne finally stays healthy and contributes on the field? God, I hope so. The news about Claiborne so far this summer is encouraging, it seems the reports earlier this spring/summer of him being behind in his rehab turned out to be false. Luckily, we haven't heard about any new injuries yet. Mo will have a good opportunity to show what he can do with the first team D over the next week or two, while the other CB's are nursing injuries.

Imagine for a second, what if Mo Claiborne puts it all together this year and plays up to his draft status? Allowing Jones to play FS. That is all I want for Christmas this year...

 

[UK Cowboy]

Is this the year Claiborne finally stays healthy and contributes on the field? God, I hope so. The news about Claiborne so far this summer is encouraging, it seems the reports earlier this spring/summer of him being behind in his rehab turned out to be false. Luckily, we haven't heard about any new injuries yet. Mo will have a good opportunity to show what he can do with the first team D over the next week or two, while the other CB's are nursing injuries.

Imagine for a second, what if Mo Claiborne puts it all together this year and plays up to his draft status? Allowing Jones to play FS. That is all I want for Christmas this year...

It's now or never with a star on his hat...

 

[jarntt]

I think he will play better. Draft status kind of goes out the window after the first year. I think we should be happy if he plays well and contributes. Playing like the #6 pick would be a pipe dream at this point. But, I think this time next year we will have a much more positive opinion of him as a Football player than we do today. Maybe it will be the SB clinching Int that we end up remembering!!!

 

[Bmurph]

Prove something Mo, besides getting hurt

Cowboys
Former first-round CB Morris Claiborne mentioned that he has high goals for himself this season.

“When y’all come talk to me, I want y’all to say, ‘That was a nice pick.’ ‘Oh, you made this play.’ ‘How does it feel to be going to the Pro Bowl?’ ‘How does it feel to be going to the Super Bowl?’” Claiborne said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Those are the questions I want. I’m ready to take on that task, and I know the coaches expect a lot from me. I know I expect a lot from myself. Nothing less. I have some high goals this year, and I’m going to try to do everything it takes to get there.”

 

[Bmurph]

Gotta prove you can stay healthy first Mo. Even then though, you wont be the best corner in the league.

Jets' Morris Claiborne: 'I can be the No. 1 corner in this league if I'm healthy'
Cowboys fans will probably disagree with Claiborne's statement

• by Sean Wagner-McGough
• @seanjwagner
• 3h ago • 2 min read

In a time of year filled with hyperbole, Morris Claiborne might've just taken the throne for himself.

Claiborne, who left the Cowboys this offseason to sign a one-year deal with the Jets, told the New York Post at OTAs this week that he can be the best cornerback in the entire NFL as long as he's healthy. No really, he actually said it.

"I feel like I can be the No. 1 corner in this league if I'm healthy … when I'm healthy," Claiborne said. "When I'm out there playing and I'm healthy and I'm on my game, I don't feel like there is anybody better than me."

The biggest problem, of course, is that Claiborne has yet to stay healthy since the Cowboys made him the sixth-overall pick in 2012. He's appeared in 47 of 80 possible regular season games. He missed 33 games in five seasons. His injuries? An assortment of knee, hamstring, shoulder, ankle, and groin knocks.

So, it's certainly been a rough go for Claiborne. Injuries are the reason why he could only land a one-year, $5 million contract this offseason.

But when Claiborne has been on the field, he's actually been a strong player. The basic statistics don't really show it -- he's notched four interceptions in five seasons -- but more advanced metrics paint a prettier picture. Last year, he allowed a 64.1 passer rating in coverage, which ranked eighth in the NFL, just below Richard Sherman. The big difference between the two? Sherman was targeted 76 times while Claiborne accumulated only 48. That wasn't because Claiborne's coverage was so dominant that quarterbacks chose to ignore him. It was because Claiborne appeared in seven games last year.

In 2015, Claiborne's passer rating in coverage rose to 100.3. So, he's definitely not the league's best cornerback when healthy.

Passer rating stats via Pro Football Focus

So, here's the thing: Claiborne isn't entirely wrong. He can be a pretty damn good cornerback when healthy. He still holds potential. The only problem is that there's a difference between being good for half a season and being good for an entire season. And really, given that he's never played in an entire season, there's no way to know if he can be consistent enough over a 16-game stretch.

He'll get his chance to prove his value this season. The Jets parted with Darrelle Revis this offseason, so Claiborne is the team's primary corner. And playing in the AFC East means facing Brandin Cooks and Sammy Watkins (if he's healthy) four times a year.

 

[cowboycolors]

no doubt Claiborne has the talent from my view
But almost any Cowboys fan will answer that question with for how long will he be available ?

No Team in the league will ever let a player go that is a first round draft pick when they could resign him and have a need at the position unless they honestly believe they have exhausted every avenue of trying to make it work and it just has not worked out .
The league is litter with players who had as good or better talent than Mo but for whatever reason it just did not work out for them

JMHO

 

[jarntt]

Claiborne was very, very good last year until injury. But he is gone because he did again get injured (like every year) and even when he came back he wasn't the same guy. I actually like Claiborne as a person (and Carr too) so I wish him well. If he stays healthy it will likely end up a mistake to have let him go for so cheap, but as we sit here today is anyone really that unhappy that he is gone? Does anyone think he plays 16 games injury free next year? Letting him walk and signing Carroll was a mistake IMO, but you can certainly make the case that it will end up the smart move or at least the safe move...

 

[tomodach10]

Claiborne was very, very good last year until injury. But he is gone because he did again get injured (like every year) and even when he came back he wasn't the same guy. I actually like Claiborne as a person (and Carr too) so I wish him well. If he stays healthy it will likely end up a mistake to have let him go for so cheap, but as we sit here today is anyone really that unhappy that he is gone? Does anyone think he plays 16 games injury free next year? Letting him walk and signing Carroll was a mistake IMO, but you can certainly make the case that it will end up the smart move or at least the safe move...

Claiborne? Who is he? Oh that's right, the high first round average injury prone corner. Good riddance.

 

[jarntt]

Claiborne? Who is he? Oh that's right, the high first round average injury prone corner. Good riddance.

I never understood the constant bringing up of where Claiborne was drafted. Draft status goes out the door the day the guy comes into camp. If you cling to that as your barometer of whether or not a guy can help the team you are holding onto the past and not seeing the present. All that matters is whether or not the team is better with or without a player and his current and future cost (salary). It was clear early on taking him was a mistake, but that has nothing to do with anything other than fans constant desire to grade draft picks. If Claiborne didn't get hurt last year he would be here and our draft this year would have looked different. I'm happy with an overhaul in the secondary this year. I've been yelling for two safeties with cover skills since my first post on ESPN. Getting rid of average is fine with me, but we need to hit on our picks or we could be in trouble. Some times the devil you know...

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

Claiborne is not the biggest bust for the cowboys. He is on the list though. I thought the guy on the giants was the best corner going into that draft. Claiborne never had the speed,smarts,or instincts to be a lock down corner. Trading up for him was a major mistake. Jourdan Lewis will make us forget about claiborNE if he can stay out of trouble. Lewis is the best cover corner we drafted.

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

I never understood the constant bringing up of where Claiborne was drafted. Draft status goes out the door the day the guy comes into camp. If you cling to that as your barometer of whether or not a guy can help the team you are holding onto the past and not seeing the present. All that matters is whether or not the team is better with or without a player and his current and future cost (salary). It was clear early on taking him was a mistake, but that has nothing to do with anything other than fans constant desire to grade draft picks. If Claiborne didn't get hurt last year he would be here and our draft this year would have looked different. I'm happy with an overhaul in the secondary this year. I've been yelling for two safeties with cover skills since my first post on ESPN. Getting rid of average is fine with me, but we need to hit on our picks or we could be in trouble. Some times the devil you know...

I agree. I like what we did getting awuzie,Lewis and woods. Wood's is good in coverage and can really deliver huge hits for his size. If only jones would learn to get interceptions. Maybe he finally breaks out. Status quo was not going to make the defense any better. It was time to find replacements and get younger in the secondary. When a guy like heath is the only guy in the playoffs creating turnovers there is a problem

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

No

 

[tomodach10]

I never understood the constant bringing up of where Claiborne was drafted. Draft status goes out the door the day the guy comes into camp. If you cling to that as your barometer of whether or not a guy can help the team you are holding onto the past and not seeing the present. All that matters is whether or not the team is better with or without a player and his current and future cost (salary). It was clear early on taking him was a mistake, but that has nothing to do with anything other than fans constant desire to grade draft picks. If Claiborne didn't get hurt last year he would be here and our draft this year would have looked different. I'm happy with an overhaul in the secondary this year. I've been yelling for two safeties with cover skills since my first post on ESPN. Getting rid of average is fine with me, but we need to hit on our picks or we could be in trouble. Some times the devil you know...

Where he was drafted does matter. Do you think that if Ryan leaf was drafted in the second round, that he would be seen as the same level of bust? When you are top ten pick, you are under more scrutiny. That's life. Mo did not perform as a top ten pick. I am happy with us moving on from him.

 

[jarntt]

Where he was drafted does matter. Do you think that if Ryan leaf was drafted in the second round, that he would be seen as the same level of bust? When you are top ten pick, you are under more scrutiny. That's life. Mo did not perform as a top ten pick. I am happy with us moving on from him.

Him not performing as a top 10 pick is a given but it's a sunk cost. It has zero bearing on whether or not he can help the team or should make the team.

 

[jarntt]

But, like I said. I have no problem letting both he and Carr go. If it were my call I think he is a much better player than Carroll (I think Carr is too) but I'm pretty happy with the offseason changes overall in the secondary. May take a year to get there but I really like the promise of our young secondary.

 

[tomodach10]

But, like I said. I have no problem letting both he and Carr go. If it were my call I think he is a much better player than Carroll (I think Carr is too) but I'm pretty happy with the offseason changes overall in the secondary. May take a year to get there but I really like the promise of our young secondary.

I hope we would have kept carr. At least he was on the field and could have helped the young guys. But I am excited about our new secondary.

 

[jarntt]

I hope we would have kept carr. At least he was on the field and could have helped the young guys. But I am excited about our new secondary.

Yes. Carr was a big disappointment IMO, but the guy showed up, laced up and played. I'm happy to see him go, but wouldn't have complained if they brought him back as long as cheap. It all comes down to these kids. Are they going to be good and if so are they going to be good enough to play a lot year 1? Very tough to do that in the secondary. A DE misses his assignment and it's a 7 yard run. A DB does and it's 6 points...

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

I had to laugh when I read what Claiborne said. 4 picks in 5 years is horrible