Third year Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard is more than familiar when it comes to lofty praise.  The former Michigan State prospect was projected to be selected in the top half of the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.  When the Bengals selected him at the 24th spot, defensive coordinator Paul Guenther and then co-defensive backs coach Vance Joseph chose another Big 10 alum to compare him to:

None other than former Bengal and current free agent cornerback Leon Hall. 

They couldn’t really give any higher acclimation to the rookie two years ago. 

There may not be a tougher position in the modern NFL than being a slot cornerback.  Sure, the most recognizable corners in the game spend the vast majority of their snaps on the outside.  But with offenses transitioning to more three wide receiver looks, and slot receivers being used in more creative ways than ever before, the task of being just a serviceable slot cornerback requires supreme quickness and a vast amount of trust in your eyes and footwork. 

For many years, Hall exhibited these traits better than practically anyone else in the league.  And even after two achilles injuries in the last five years, he still managed to perform like his old self in spurts last year. 

Reactionary skills are by far the most vital for any defensive back, but the need for it is unmatched for slot corners.  Since the majority of routes they cover occur in short areas, the margin for error is so small where a misstep is answered with an easy completion.  Not to mention they have to be athletic to at least mirror the route. 

This play came from last year’s Week 9 Thursday night encounter with the Cleveland Browns.  While quarterback Johnny Manziel has four different targets to go for against this cover 1 man look from the Bengals, this play is designed to have a single read.  The other three routes of the play call is to get Y receiver Taylor Gabriel isolated.  The only thing Gabriel has to do is sell the slant and transition to a flat route to beat Hall.  Too bad he was lined up against the wrong cornerback: (BTW, that’s Dennard at the top of the GIF)

It’s almost impossible to play it better than that if you’re the cornerback. 

With countless plays like this under his belt, Hall has enjoyed a distinguished nine year career here in the Queen City, and is somewhat of an unsung hero around the league.  His All-Pro Team exposure consists of only 2009 AP and PFF Second Team honors, and he has never been voted to a Pro Bowl.  But this is not to slander the media’s and fan’s ignorance to Hall’s skill, it’s a testament to how unappreciated any nickel corner has been in recent memory, if arguably the very best of a generation has been snubbed of recognition so many times. 

The long and short of it: Dennard has some very large and underrated shoes to fill if Hall has indeed played his final games in black and orange.  Has he shown he can live up to his hype so far in his short career?  Let’s go back to the tape. 

Late in the fourth quarter, back in Week 4 last year against the Kansas City Chiefs, we see another cover 1 man look from the Bengals, with a three wide receiver set from the Chiefs.  Dennard and Dre Kirkpatrick on the opposite boundary are playing off man coverage, which is understandable in this scenario where the Bengals were leading by 18 points with less than five minutes remaining in the game.  The simple objective is to not get beaten deep and allow any big plays. 

Remember those reactionary skills?  It’s a pretty broad term, but having quick hips is a monumental part of it.  Dennard learned this the hard way:

This is what technique can look like from a lack of snaps.  Dennard is sold by wide receiver Chris Conley’s fake go route, where he turns his hips to the right to keep Conley outside and give him less sideline room to run.  Conley uses a simple dig and completely turns Dennard around. 

This is a prime example of having stiff hips, which isn’t promising for someone whose projected to play significant time covering the slot.  Speaking of which, Dennard had two notable snaps covering the slot this past season, let’s diagnose them. 

We’ve seen a couple of cover 1 looks, now we see the Bengals cover 0 concept with no safety over top.  It’s an eight man blitz with three corners playing man.  There’s not a whole lot of margin for error for any of them if the pass gets off, and unfortunately for Dennard, quarterback Russell Wilson does just that:

Now, Doug Baldwin, the wide receiver who made this catch, didn’t have a career-year last year by not burning most of the corners he lined up against.  This is a veteran stop and go route from the Seahawk standout, and Dennard is caught flat footed and left out to dry.  Defensive end Carlos Dunlap was a split second away from flattening Wilson for a sack, and the pressure he created caused Wilson’s throw to be under-thrown, bailing out Dennard to an extent by giving him more time to catch up to Baldwin, but the aftermath of the double move and the difference in speed is too much for him. 

Of course, the game of football is predicated on mismatches, and in the pre snap phase, Wilson and Baldwin were on the same page.  The signal caller moved Baldwin inside to create a more favorable matchup against Dennard, while also moving tight end Jimmy Graham next to the line of scrimmage to help against the pending blitz:

This tactic is normal to do against an inexperienced player like Dennard, and the very next week, the Buffalo Bills probably thought they could have some success on a similar play. 

On a third and short, the Bengals added some short zone coverage to their ever appearing cover 1 man coverage.  Quarterback E.J. Manuel had three short yardage options designed to mask wide receiver Chris Hogan’s go route from the slot.  Dennard had solid positioning throughout the entirety of the route and instead of throwing Hogan open, Manuel hesitated and ended up under throwing the pass; giving Dennard an opportunity to show off his hands for the very first time in his career:

Whether you’re playing the slot or the boundary, the ability to find the ball is crucial when playing man coverage downfield.  Dennard displayed he could do just that here. 

Last but not least, playing the run and making plays behind the line of scrimmage is imperative as a corner, and most of that starts from disengaging from the block the receiver gives.  The best example from Dennard last year is this play from the Sunday night game at Arizona:

It’s a play action reverse handoff to wide receiver Jon Brown, who motioned all the way from the Z spot on the far boundary.  Weak side defensive end Michael Johnson does a good job of getting off the line quickly and is in position to maintain backside containment, but the reverse catches him in a bad spot to make a play in the backfield.  Brown, being the athlete he is, makes his way around Johnson and begins accelerating up field.  He would’ve left Johnson in the dust had Dennard been blocked out of the play:

Dennard does a superb job of shedding the receiver’s block and using his hands to push back towards Brown.  Had the block been effective, Brown would have had ample room to run for a much greater yardage on the play, but Dennard’s presence turned Brown back towards the middle of the field and Johnson and Dennard finished the stop for a short gain.  The less effective trick plays are for the opposing squad, the more one dimensional they become over the course of the game. 

So we’ve seen Dennard have issues with his hips in off coverage and letting his lack of proper footwork get the best of him.  We also saw him utilize good ball skills and great reactionary block shedding.  It was a very up and down second year for the "Leon clone" that was eventually halted by injury, but this doesn’t mean that the words his coaches used back in 2014 carry any less weight.  More than anything, with a first Round investment looking to make a bigger impact in his third year, it’s time to really see what he can do in a starters role. 

The modern day NFL defense has evolved to where three corners are playing the majority of the time, and with Hall still a free agent, Dennard is in line to replace his role as that third corner, where Hall has thrived.  We don’t quite know yet if Dennard can prove to be a worthy predecessor, what we do know, is that now is the time to truly find out.