Buccaneers: Brent Grimes Best Against the Double Move
Buccaneers CB Brent Grimes can stop the double move with the best in the league.
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When the Buccaneers acquired Brent Grimes, I had my doubts. Standing at 5’10”, there are a lot of receivers that he has to look up to, literally. He was coming out of 2015 having been torched by the Jets Brandon Marshall twice. There were visions of Julio Jones giving him fits running through my head.
And besides anything, with Brent Grimes comes Miko Grimes. We know that her reputation precedes her, and we heard from her quite a bit during the 2016 season. But we can’t hold that against him of course.
What Grimes gets credit for, however, is wealth of experience. He used that to put in a terrific 2016 campaign. He posted four interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and a career-high 24 passes defended.
He proved me wrong in spades.
What does experience do for a cornerback? It lowers the chance that they will be fooled on a given route. They have seen more and reacted to more. They have seen more film and have a greater knowledge base than the younger players in the league.
That would account for why Eliot Crist of Pro Football Focus was showing him some love in a recent post. Crist broke down the best cornerbacks in the league against each pass route. Grimes was the best against the double move. Here is what Crist had to say:
"Grimes dominated receivers on double-moves. He did not allow a single reception on five such attempts into his coverage area, giving QBs a 39.6 rating when targeting Grimes, tied for lowest in the league. Grimes had deep responsibilities on all five of his double-move targets. On one play he was the man defender, while on the other four he had deep-zone responsibilities. Grimes broke up three of the five passes on his way to earning the highest PFF grade for any corner versus double-moves. Grimes did a good job sticking to his man for a long time, as the average time to throw when he was targeted on double-moves was 2.76 seconds, 0.07 seconds above the league average."
What is the double move? Simply put, the receiver sells the defender that he is going one way, and breaks the other. It takes experience and knowledge to be aware when that is coming and to not be fooled. Grimes brings all of that to the table, and would account for why he was impossible to beat on it.
All of the talent in the world is no substitute for experience.
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Imagine if Grimes puts in another good year, and Vernon Hargreaves comes into his own. It could make a defensive backfield something very special.