Alfonzo Dennard: The Steal of the 2012 NFL Draft

Today will mark day two of my three day belated rant about the NFL Draft. Yesterday, I went over a player that I was not a fan of in Kirk Cousins, so today, I will go over the biggest steal in the draft, Alfonzo Dennard. 


I love Alfonzo Dennard. I would have gladly the Bears taken him in round two (although I do like the Alshon Jeffrey pick), and there is no way I would have let him get past round three if I had any say in an NFL Draft room. Unfortunately for me and Mr. Dennard, I do not have that power, so he dropped to round seven where he was taken by the New England Patriots. 


Dennard's precipitous fall was caused by a run-in with the law right before the draft. This did not stop Todd McShay from sounding like a jackass. He immediately attributed his fall to a disappointing 2011, while adding that Dennard is "occasionally physical." We'll attack the latter first. Occasionally physical? It took four cops to restrain him. Dude is a beast. He is as physical as it gets at the corner position. That is specifically why I loved watching him so much.


And onto that first point. In Dennard's disappointing year, he was named Big Ten's Defensive Back of the Year. Basically, the only thing that was disappointing was his lack of interceptions. He can hardly be blamed for that, because quarterbacks were forced to throw away from his side as he blanketed the best receiver on the field. If you watched him play, you would notice that he shut opposing receivers down. As an Iowa fan, I saw it first-hand with the way he dominated Marvin McNutt. 


A big knock on him is that he is not tall enough at only 5’10”, but this completely fails to recognize the physicality that he brings to the position. The other knock is that he didn’t have a good 40 time, so clearly speed is an issue. If that were the case, you would think the size of B.J. Cunningham and the speed of Keshawn Martin would have destroyed the Nebraska defense. Kirk Cousins did tear them apart by going 11/27 for 86 yards and an interception. Kirk Cousins is a leader and a winner, but he did neither against Nebraska. Alfonzo Dennard is so good that he can negate the power of intangibles.


Seriously, look at this video of Dennard dominating Michigan State. If you like cornerback play, you better have a woman around, because this will make you rock hard:

I still cannot get over the fact that he lasted until the seventh round. I would have pushed for him in the second and without a doubt would have taken him in the third. I would be very surprised if he isn’t starting for the Patriots at some point during this season.


So, yeah, I love Alfonzo Dennard.