Former Michigan cornerback David Long had to wait until the third round to be drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, but one Pro Football Focus stat makes it seem a lot of teams made a mistake passing on him.
No CB in this past draft class allowed a lower completion percentage on targets than Rams CB David Long pic.twitter.com/OArOkmfoFp
— PFF (@PFF) May 20, 2019
According to PFF, no cornerback in the draft allowed a lower completion percentage on targets than Long among draft-eligible players. On throws that were to players he was guarding, they were completed only 29 percent of the time.
Long is only 5-foot-11 and 196 pounds, but he plays bigger than his size and is always up to the challenge that comes with playing cornerback.
Article Continues Below“I’m a real big competitor,” Long said via the Rams team website. “So at camps and high school, everybody wants to be a receiver. Everybody’s afraid to be embarrassed and stuff like that. But, you know, I like the reps. I like to get better. The more reps you get, the better you get. So playing coiner gave me that opportunity.
During high school, Long knew how important it was to master the craft of running backward and once he did that was when he knew he didn't want to be a wide receiver anymore.
“A lot of people can run forward,” Long continued. “But if you can master your movement going backwards, it makes you really special and more valuable. So that was kind of what centered around it. I had a few scholarships at receiver, but by the end of my junior year going into my senior year, I was exclusively playing corner. I did play receiver and stuff during the season, but all my offseason stuff was all cornerback. That’s, like, all I was doing. And I kind of just fell in love with it because it was kind of like learning the game again because I’d always been an offensive player.”
The Rams hope all that practice and the hard work put in during the offseason will make him the steal of the draft. If he can continue to allow such low completion percentages, there is a good chance he will be a solid player in the league.