Syracuse cornerbacks are lanky. Their hands hang down near their knees and many of them see eye-to-eye with six-foot something receivers.

In day-to-day life, they can replace the light bulb that no one else can reach, or grab a drink from the coffee table without leaning off the couch. In the football world, they’re part of a decade-long trend toward cornerbacks with longer wingspans and a wider reach, who press receivers better off the line and deflect passes that used to not be defendable.

“Most teams have a very, very tall set of receivers,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. “And you need your secondary to be taller because you need those three to four inches, as crazy as that sounds.”

Chris Fredrick, the only defensive back in No. 21 Syracuse’s starting lineup under six feet, is known for his long arms, though he doesn’t know his exact wingspan. The other two — Ifeatu Melifonwu and Trill Williams — stand 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-2 respectively. In 2018, SU’s 18 interceptions tied for fifth in the nation, and the Orange picked up where they left off with two picks against Liberty in Week 1. As the Dino Babers era enters its fourth season, more of Syracuse’s secondary players look like Richard Sherman (6’3) than Ty Law (5’11).

“I feel like that’s the way they’re starting to recruit,” Fredrick, who was recruited before Babers started at SU, said. “Even playing the ball, maybe a step behind, I can’t get to some balls that maybe others can.”

Syracuse isn’t alone in recruiting tall defensive backs. Both Clemson and Alabama’s starting corners stand at six-feet or taller.

The shift to longer corners in the NFL began in the mid-2000s around the time Law, an NFL Hall of Famer, was wrapping up his career, according to a Sports Illustrated article by Robert Klemko. The emphasis on length may have started around 2005, when three 6-foot-1 cornerbacks drafted in the top-four rounds of the NFL Draft combined for 245 appearances. But it was mainstreamed in 2013-2014 when the Seattle Seahawks played Sherman, Brandon Browner (6’4) and Byron Maxwell (6’1) at cornerback, allowing the league’s fewest points and yards on the way to a Super Bowl victory.

Syracuse’s corners aren’t as big as the Legion of Boom — the nickname given to the Seahawks’ 2014 secondary group — but they’re not as small as they were during Babers’ first season at Syracuse in 2016. Before Week 1 of that season, Syracuse’s largest starting corner was Corey Winfield at 6-foot-1 and 191 lbs. This season, Melifonwu, a starting cornerback on this year’s team, stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 207 lbs.

Other current starters in the secondary include Trill Williams (6’0, 200 pounds) and Fredrick, whose wingspan puts him into the Seahawks mold. Former Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn noted to SI that having at least 32-inch long arms can be more important than height.

Syracuse wide receiver Trishton Jackson (6’1) says a longer cornerback is harder to beat. Ideally, he’d want to get close to a taller cornerback, since they’re typically known for being less mobile. In many instances, that’s not an option. Since cornerbacks like Williams, Frederick and Melifonwu have longer arms, they can keep Jackson at a comfortable distance — close enough to make a play on the ball but not close enough to stumble on each other’s feet.

“You don’t expect how long they will be, how they can push you to the sideline, move you with their length, and their arms and stuff like that,” said Jackson. “It can be a tough challenge playing the ball in the air, everything really.”

On a vertical route down the field, Fredrick wants to be hip-to-hip with the receiver. While it seems like his length wouldn’t matter in this instance, it’s really serving as a security blanket.

It starts at the beginning of the play, where Fredrick and other long corners can jam the wideout without standing on top of the receiver. When the ball’s in the air, shorter players would play a receiver’s hands, waiting for the ball to come down into the pass catcher’s pocket. That’s not the case for a taller corner who can compete with opposing receivers for passes at their highest points.

Size made a difference last year when Fredrick intercepted a pass against Florida State after appearing beat. It also contributed to Melifonwu’s four pass breakups against North Carolina and his first of the season on Saturday against Liberty.

The corners and their counterpart Jackson agree size is core to the defender’s game. And as more Syracuse corners flaunt size, it’s becoming a trademark of defense.

Published on September 3, 2019 at 10:22 pm

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