Jim Owczarski

jowczarski@enquirer.com

It’s become a standard statement: The Cincinnati Bengals like first-round cornerbacks.

But when did it become a fact, and how?

The seeds were laid two decades ago when Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis left Pittsburgh to become the defensive coordinator in Baltimore in 1996. At the end of Lewis’ tenure with the Steelers, former first-round pick Rod Woodson led a cornerback room that included fellow first-rounder Deon Figures and second-round pick Carnell Lake.

“I underestimated how good our guys were in Pittsburgh, and it’s been something that has tuck with me; you can’t have enough,” Lewis said of top corners. “So we’ve continued to do that.”

It began in Cincinnati shortly after Lewis’ arrival when Pro Bowlers Tory James and Deltha O’Neal were aging, and the team had to look to the future.

Bengals' Draft Tracker

It was then, in the spring of 2006, when secondary coach Kevin Coyle stood up in the draft room and made his case for South Carolina corner Johnathan Joseph.

The junior wasn’t a consensus pick at the time, being raw and relatively inexperienced. But Coyle saw something.

“I just think you spend an awful lot of time taking the measurables and then looking for those – intangible is not the right word – it is tangible. I can see it,” Coyle told The Enquirer.

Even a decade later, Coyle recalls a specific hip turn and play Joseph made against the University of Tennessee that caused him to rewind and watch, and rewind and watch again. Joseph needed some schooling, but in Coyle’s mind, the potential was there.

And with James and O’Neal still on the roster, Joseph was able to start 10 games and play in all 16 as a nickel behind accomplished veterans.

In 2007, the draft options were different. After the New York Jets traded up to take Darrelle Revis at No. 14, the Bengals were content to select Leon Hall, a fifth-year senior out of the University of Michigan who was ready to start as a rookie.

Bengals' Draft Tracker

“With Leon it was a little cleaner,” Coyle said. “He was so efficient and good at everything; it was kind of like you can’t miss.”

Then in 2010, the Bengals signed a former first-round pick in Adam Jones – the No. 6 overall selection in 2005. In 2012 they signed Terence Newman, the No. 5 pick in 2003, and drafted Dre Kirkpatrick out of Alabama at No. 17 overall.

In 2014, Darqueze Dennard became the fifth first-rounder in the room after being picked No. 24 overall out of Michigan State.

On Thursday, William Jackson III joined the now-long history of first-round corners selected by the Bengals, being picked No. 24 overall out of Houston.

Since Lewis’ first draft in 2003, the Bengals have picked 12 cornerbacks, but since 2006 only Morgan Trent (sixth round, 2009), Brandon Ghee (third round, 2010), Korey Lindsey (seventh round, 2011) and Josh Shaw (fourth round, 2015) were not first-rounders.

All of the corners picked have been 5 feet, 11 inches or taller, but they’ve come from small schools to the “power five” conferences, from four-year starters to early entrants. But there is a thread that links Joseph to Jackson III.

“We need guys that can play man to man, we need guys that will tackle,” Coyle said. “The idea of ‘cover corner,’ that’s not in our vocabulary. That’s just one aspect of your job. Obviously you’ve gotta cover but you gotta show up in the run game, you better be able to have versatility to do different things.”

“There’s an innate competitiveness and that position and a confidence level that you have to play with that oftentimes separates certain guys that may have equal talent but some can rise to play at extremely high levels.”

Coyle does his research, too, tracking a list of all of the corners selected in the first and second rounds over the last decade. He lists the measurables, where they go, and how often they play.

He notes that, like in Cincinnati, very few highly drafted corners play much their rookie years. But he adds that if a team is going to find a long-term starter, or perhaps a star, the odds increase if he’s picked within the first round.

Since 2003, 56 corners have been picked in the first round. The Bengals drafted five of them, and signed two more. It’s a number that equates to nearly 13 percent of all first-round corners the last 14 years having worn orange and black at one point.

“There’s a lot of them that end up to be the premier type players,” Coyle said. “In some respects it might be a little bit unique.”

“Some of them develop at different stages but if you’re looking at positions where guys usually become the elite-type players, at the skill spots, usually they’re guys that are going to go very early in the draft because of their physical attributes. Those put them in a different category as an athlete.”

The Bengals feel they’ve been able to have success with those picks (Joseph signed a $48 million deal in Houston and then went to two Pro Bowls, Hall was a borderline Pro Bowler and Jones has become a Pro Bowler) in large part because they make them, and put them together.

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“They all have understood that collectively they get better by pushing each other to be better, by basically holding each other to a high standard makes everybody better,” Marvin Lewis said. “They’ve been competitive in their drill work, competitive in practice. They’ve raised each other’s level of learning how to study the game and the opponent and the plan and being able to implement the plan and to be able to talk the plan. So that has raised the level of the room, which is, to me, is just a great opportunity for Will to come in to and understand how NFL players go about their day and go about their week and learning to get better in order to pay at a high level. Because it not only becomes a physical part of the game but the intellectual part of the game as well.

“That’s what our guys have really matured and taken a new step in by following the guys that, some of them are no longer here, but they blazed that trail.”

Coyle told the current corners to not be surprised if their room was expanded with a new pick, or two, because it’s the nature of the position and the business. But, all have been in the same shoes Jackson III just slipped on, and the Bengals will continue fitting others for them in the years to come.

“It’s tough duty,” Coyle said. “That’s why when you get really good ones it’s such a bonus to your team. And they’re hard to find. Great, consistently great players at that position, are rare.”