Thread: Chris Cook is for real

I got crucified for praising him last week. He has been playing great all year. Then yesterday, he had the best game of his whole career by far. Staying step-by-step with Calvin Johnson. Making athletic moves, playing great coverage, and helping out on the run. This guy is going to be a real player. Assuming that he keeps his nose clean and stops making stupid penalties. He showed flashes of a #1 corner yesterday. How many guys have you seen cover Calvin Johnson that closely? We switched Griffin to Johnson, and we lost the game. I don't think that's a coincidence. You have to give credit when credit is due. The Chris Cook bandwagon is now accepting new members!

Couple of comments....

a. You didn't get persucuted by me. I've been saying Pagac would run that Zone Press look all offseason. Not sure why he got away from it in the second half.

b. Griff made just as many good plays in the first half. Problem is, in the second half they were back to the lame ole C2, prevent look that they have been reverting back to the first two games.

Even with K-dubb in there, we could not get pressure with just our front 4. Why even try to do it.......Looks like Leslie believes he has to go to it when he gets big leads.

Looking good? Yes.

For real? No.

He's got far to go to be a reliable every down starting CB.

Do I like what I"m seeing? Hell yes. The kid should only keep getting better, just has to stay healthy.

Some of those catches CJ made were stupid. The TD was just a well timed jump that Cook missed, tough for any CB to defend that. He's looked real good at times, but he does show some mistakes.


However, having said that, anybody still think Griffin is playing at 100? I sure don't, dude looks slow out there.

I wouldn't be opposed to drafting another CB fairly early in the draft. Maybe 2nd or 3rd round. Winfield isn't going to be here forever, and I think Griff is done. Saw him missing tackles, slow on coverage. Like I said, two ACL surgeries in less than a year doesn't bode well for a CB.

Originally Posted by i_bleed_purple

Looking good? Yes.

For real? No.

He's got far to go to be a reliable every down starting CB.

Do I like what I"m seeing? Hell yes. The kid should only keep getting better, just has to stay healthy.

Some of those catches CJ made were stupid. The TD was just a well timed jump that Cook missed, tough for any CB to defend that. He's looked real good at times, but he does show some mistakes.


However, having said that, anybody still think Griffin is playing at 100? I sure don't, dude looks slow out there.

I wouldn't be opposed to drafting another CB fairly early in the draft. Maybe 2nd or 3rd round. Winfield isn't going to be here forever, and I think Griff is done. Saw him missing tackles, slow on coverage. Like I said, two ACL surgeries in less than a year doesn't bode well for a CB.

To be fair most CBs would have a hard time dealing with Johnson and credit where it's due to Cook for the game he had yesterday. He'll definitely improve as he plays more so looking forward to seeing where that takes him.

Originally Posted by i_bleed_purple

Looking good? Yes.

For real? No.

He's got far to go to be a reliable every down starting CB.

Do I like what I"m seeing? Hell yes. The kid should only keep getting better, just has to stay healthy.

Some of those catches CJ made were stupid. The TD was just a well timed jump that Cook missed, tough for any CB to defend that. He's looked real good at times, but he does show some mistakes.


However, having said that, anybody still think Griffin is playing at 100? I sure don't, dude looks slow out there.

I wouldn't be opposed to drafting another CB fairly early in the draft. Maybe 2nd or 3rd round. Winfield isn't going to be here forever, and I think Griff is done. Saw him missing tackles, slow on coverage. Like I said, two ACL surgeries in less than a year doesn't bode well for a CB.

Two things......Cook is still learning. He is gonna keep making mistakes. Hell he probably will for another 3 or 4 years.

Griff looked slow? Even on the TD pass to CJ, he was step for step with him until he fell trying to locate the ball and that doesn't even take into account the coverage/plays he made against him in the first.

Seriously, it isn't like Cook covered CJ all by himself in the first half. He was on both sides, getting shut down by both CB's.

Originally Posted by Marrdro

Two things......Cook is still learning. He is gonna keep making mistakes. Hell he probably will for another 3 or 4 years.

Griff looked slow? Even on the TD pass to CJ, he was step for step with him until he fell trying to locate the ball and that doesn't even take into account the coverage/plays he made against him in the first.

Seriously, it isn't like Cook covered CJ all by himself in the first half. He was on both sides, getting shut down by both CB's.

Like I said, Cook looks good, but still has occasional mistakes. I'm not ready to crown him king corner just yet, but I do have high expectations of him now. No, not that he's perfect, but he has to keep it up.

As for Griffin, I'm not just talking about the Lions game, but all 3. Saw him bouncing off tackles, slow in coverage, he got absolutely toasted in the Bucs game I believe, maybe chargers, one of them was a long ball over his head.

not sure if he's just not quite in game shape yet (considering he missed alot of TC and preseason), or his knees just aren't there, but I don't think he's playing like he did in 09 yet.

Originally Posted by i_bleed_purple

Like I said, Cook looks good, but still has occasional mistakes. I'm not ready to crown him king corner just yet, but I do have high expectations of him now. No, not that he's perfect, but he has to keep it up.

As for Griffin, I'm not just talking about the Lions game, but all 3. Saw him bouncing off tackles, slow in coverage, he got absolutely toasted in the Bucs game I believe, maybe chargers, one of them was a long ball over his head.

not sure if he's just not quite in game shape yet (considering he missed alot of TC and preseason), or his knees just aren't there, but I don't think he's playing like he did in 09 yet.

they said on the broadcast that Cook was drafted specifically to defend Calvin Johnson. Probably a load of bull, but he does matchup well with him physically. Calvin is big, fast, strong, can leap, and great hands. What he's not is quick. What Cook is not, is quick. He's big for a corner, fairly fast and yesterday played the ball well. I really like the way his head was on the ball rather than just shadowing CJ. CJ will beat you everytime if you lose site of the ball.

It was definitely a good showing by Cook and I think you'll see him continue to play the bigger receivers. At least that's what i would expect. Yesterday, it didn't seem like the assignment was anything more than where the reciever lined up. That is Cook, Griffen and Winfield stayed in the same spot, but the lions move their receivers around quite a bit. In the first half CJ line up on the right most of the time.

I like how Cook is looking this year - a LOT! I think he has shaken whatever was demons were plaguing him last season, and is shaping up to be a pretty good CB. I hope he continues to play well.

Originally Posted by Marrdro

Couple of comments....

a. You didn't get persucuted by me. I've been saying Pagac would run that Zone Press look all offseason. Not sure why he got away from it in the second half.

b. Griff made just as many good plays in the first half. Problem is, in the second half they were back to the lame ole C2, prevent look that they have been reverting back to the first two games.

Even with K-dubb in there, we could not get pressure with just our front 4. Why even try to do it.......Looks like Leslie believes he has to go to it when he gets big leads.

in response to the pressure comment: earlier today I read that in the second half Matt Stafford didn't hold onto the ball for more than 2.8 seconds on any play(I'm posting from my phone and at work right now, I will provide a source later.) it's not that we weren't getting pressure, they weren't giving us the opportunity to.

[Edit]
I was wrong about the Stafford thing, it was just the 3rd quarter.
@tompelissero wrote: In the entire 3rd quarter on Sunday, #Lions QB Matthew Stafford held the ball longer than 2.8 seconds once -- and that was a throwaway.

He also noted that they switched to a silent count.

As far as Cook goes, I'm impressed. Pleasantly surprised. Although he did have a good game prior to leaving with an injury when we played Detroit last season, if I remember correctly.

I was fairly impressed yesterday with his play. It's kind of a rare sight now days to see a purple jersey fly through the air and bat a ball down in front of an elite receiver. Usually our corners are flying through the air because they tripped.