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Gary Gray Focused On Pro Day

  • http://notredame.247sports.com/Article/Gary-Gray-Focused-On-Pro-Day-68454

    Former Irish cornerback Gary Gray is looking to impress NFL scouts and coaches at Tuesday's Notre Dame Pro Day.

    Wes Morgan

  • Dan Murphy and I will be at Pro Day and will be pumping out a number of reports on the nine players participating. Check back tomorrow afternoon for results, video interviews and player reactions.

    Wes Morgan

  • Looking forward to hearing how our guys do. Thanks, Wes.

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    "No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another" -- Charles Dickens

    dave83nd

  • Gray had a recurring flaw of not looking back for the ball instead watching the receiver.
    The Michigan game is an all time example of what NOT to do as a defensive back. I recently re-watched the Stanford and Florida State games and Gray was burned often and always the same technique of not knowing the ball was coming to the receiver. I just can't see the Pro's allowing this flaw.

    ScrapOD

  • I wish him the best. I would be surprised if he gets drafted but you never know.

    First time POTW for 4/18/2011-4/24/2011.

    edd1066

  • I have a hard time believing that if Walls wasn't drafted last year that Gray will be drafted this year. I wish him the best though. I still think he has NFL talent, so maybe he will make a roster as a free agent the way Walls did.

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    3 time POTW; Twitter: http://bit.ly/glN3Pc

    IrishWon

  • I don't see Gray being drafted, but he'll get a look from some team as a free agent. It's unfortunate that he's had to deal with a groin injury at a time when he needs to make a really good impression.

    Wes Morgan

  • I wish him and the rest best of luck today.

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    CMC: President, Monkey Motor Sports, Inc., a CMC Racing Venture

    TDHND

  • ScrapOD said...

    Gray had a recurring flaw of not looking back for the ball instead watching the receiver. The Michigan game is an all time example of what NOT to do as a defensive back. I recently re-watched the Stanford and Florida State games and Gray was burned often and always the same technique of not knowing the ball was coming to the receiver. I just can't see the Pro's allowing this flaw.

    Playing a receiver's eyes and hands instead of looking at the ball can at times be the right play. It did burn Gray a few times last season, but the problem started before that moment. Alabama's Nick Saban gave a really great breakdown of how he coaches his defensive backs to decide between finding the ball or the man on his radio show last fall. It's a little long, but I found the detail pretty fascinating...

    “Let me explain it to you this way: There’s two positions you can be in when you’re defending a receiver. You’re either ‘in-phase’ with him or you’re ‘out-of-phase’ with him. Now, . . . ‘in-phase’ means that you’re pretty much even with the guy [as he runs straight downfield], but if you can see the guy’s number nearest [to] you, you’re in-phase when you’re covering him down the field. So when he gets through the move area — the move area defined being 14 to 18 yards down the field where the guy’s going to break a route in or out — we play a lot of closed coverage, [i.e.] we’re in bump-and-run a lot; we’re in that position with the guy when he gets in the move area. Now, if you’re in-phase with him when he gets into the move area, you should become the receiver and look for the ball. That’s what you should do, and then the ball has to go through you.

    “If you’re in the out-of phase position, which means you can’t see his near number, you can’t be even with him, then you have to play the guy’s eyes and hands for the ball because you’re not in position and if the quarterback throws it correctly [on a fade type pass] you’re not going to be able to get to the ball — you’re behind him too far."

    The link to where I came across the explanation is posted below. If you're into the nitty, gritty details of coaching it's a fun site to check out from time to time.

    Nick Saban schools you on how to play pass coverage | Smart Football

    This is seriously one of the best explanations of this I have heard, from a coach or anyone else. I guess it helps that he's been doing it for thirty-years. And

    smartfootball.com

    Dan Murphy ●

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