<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - Minnesota Vikings rookie Cedric Griffin might be only two starts into his NFL career, but his physical style of play at cornerback already is drawing raves from coaches, teammates and opponents.Minnesota chose Griffin in the second round, with the 48th overall pick, of April's draft. The 6-foot, 203-pounder started 38 consecutive games at the University of Texas his final three seasons, including 13 last year as the Longhorns won the national championship.Griffin's former college teammate, Detroit Lions third-year receiver Roy Williams, said the Vikings got "a steal" when they selected Griffin. Williams will get a chance to square off against Griffin when the Lions (2-10) host the Vikings (5-7) on Sunday."To me, I thought he was a first-round guy," Williams said Wednesday during a teleconference with reporters. "He's really come a long way. When he first got there, would I say he was a first- or second-rounder? No. But as I watched him grow and watched him play more and more games at the University of Texas, he grew into a first-rounder in my eyes, so the Vikings got a good steal."Griffin played in Minnesota's nickel packages and on the team's special-teams coverage units to start the season. He still participates on special teams, but he made more of a splash Nov. 26 when he replaced Fred Smoot at starting right cornerback and registered six tackles and broke up a pass in the Vikings' 31-26 victory over Arizona at the Metrodome. Griffin started again Sunday at Chicago and had two tackles in Minnesota's 23-13 loss.Griffin earned a reputation at Texas as a physical cornerback, someone who could apply big hits on receivers in the secondary or jam them at the line of scrimmage."I believe he's probably one of the most physical ones I've been around," Vikings safety Dwight Smith, a six-year NFL veteran, said Thursday.Eight-year pro Antoine Winfield, who starts opposite Griffin at left cornerback for Minnesota, agreed, saying: "We play a lot of Cover 2 (defense), so when he comes up on that edge, the way he's hitting running backs and receivers, he's very aggressive. I can only see him getting better."Griffin, soft-spoken off the field, said he developed his physical style while he was at Texas. The Longhorns produced another player, San Diego fifth-year pro Quentin Jammer, who often is cited as one of the NFL's most aggressive cornerbacks."I think coach (Duane) Akina, my DB coach back at Texas, just always emphasized, 'I want you to go out there and be physical and try to dominate the other guy,'" Griffin said. "So that's probably where it came from."Said Williams: "I would put him in the top three. I think Quentin Jammer back in my Texas days, going against him every day, I think he's the most physical corner that I've played against. And then (Green Bay's) Al Harris is second in that boat, and then you have to put Cedric Griffin (in there)."Last week, Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin said with admiration that Griffin is "playing violently.""Let's face it, this is a violent game that we play," Tomlin said. "He's a football player first and a corner second, and we honor those types of attributes."Griffin said he hasn't changed the way he gets ready for games just because he's a starter now."I've got to prepare like I'm a starter all the time, even when I was a backup," Griffin said. "It's just part of the job; you have to come out there and prepare yourself if an opportunity comes up. And it came up."You never can be surprised by anything, because this is the NFL and anything can happen. So I just prepared myself and practiced and just believed in myself, and that's what happened to me."That kind of humility plays well with Minnesota's veteran players."It's always impressive when a young guy isn't caught up in stardom," Smith said. "He comes to work every day, he works hard, and they rewarded him for it."</div> Steal of last years draft. He's going to learn a lot playing with winfield and should be a stater in a year or two.
Second Round Picks are expected to start at some point. It really should come as no suprise that he's become a starter....I can't really call him a steal until he becomes a pro-bowl caliber player.
By starter I mean someone who doesn't lose his job by sucking and is a pro-bowl player or close to pro bowl player every year. Kind of like Antoine Winfield (even though he gets jipped every year).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Brooksie5 @ Dec 8 2006, 02:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah, steal of last years draft. Marques Colston was expected to be good. </div>Colston for the Saints was the steal.The Jets got Coleman who has started a couple games and been great from the 6th round.Then again, the Jets always seem to find late-round DB steals.
You do know DB stands for Douche Bag, right?And I know Colston was a steal, it was some sweetizzle sacazzle.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Brooksie5 @ Dec 8 2006, 11:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You do know DB stands for Douche Bag, right?And I know Colston was a steal, it was some sweetizzle sacazzle.</div>Um, maybe in the cyber-geek online world it stands for Douche Bag. But in the Football world it stands for Defensive Back. :thumbsup:
