The Cowboys clinched a playoff spot on Sunday but it came with an overtime loss in Jacksonville. The Jaguars were able to expose a few areas of concern for the Cowboys, particularly in the secondary.
Second-year cornerback Kelvin Joseph was benched late in the game for Nahshon Wright after getting beat for two touchdowns. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said on Monday that it’ll be a competition for the cornerback spot opposite of Trevon Diggs.
Bobby Belt and former NFL scout Bryan Broaddus of the Audacy Original Podcast “Love of the Star” talked about Quinn’s comments and what the Cowboys can do at the cornerback position to shore things up.
“He basically said Kelvin Joseph doesn’t have the job anymore. It hasn’t been completely stripped away but it’s a competition now. And he was benched late in the game in favor of Nahshon Wright,” Belt said (2:23 in player above). “He got beat on two touchdowns – got beat really bad on the double move and you saw instantly how he knew he messed up and he turned around and was grasping, trying to just do anything to slow that down. They’ve got real problems with that cornerback spot opposite Trevon Diggs. They’ve had problems all year with it.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Joseph has allowed 12 receptions on 18 targets this season. Jacksonville wide receiver Zay Jones burned Joseph and the Cowboys for 109 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday.
Joseph got beat multiple times in zone coverage on Sunday, which isn’t an ideal spot for him.
“Kelvin Joseph in off-coverage is not a good combination for him to play. He plays back and you run a double move on him, he’s going to get fooled because he’s going to drive on the ball, he’s going to be aggressive. That’s his nature,” Broaddus said. “Kelvin Joseph is a man corner. You put him up, you let him jam, you let him hold, you let him run with, you let him turn. You don’t play him in a situation where he’s having to read from depth.”
Joseph’s lack of experience is one of the key issues. The Jaguars knew they could expose that and they did. But perhaps all the blame shouldn’t fall on Joseph’s shoulders.
“They knew that if they could they can get that ball going down the field and he was going to bite because he was playing from depth,” Broaddus said. “So is that on Kelvin Joseph? Sure. Is that on Dan Quinn and them? Yes, it is. It absolutely is on Dan Quinn and the secondary for putting him in that situation, and I know you can’t play man coverage the whole game but I watched Diggs on the other side play up on guys all day.”
Quinn may deserve some blame and it’s going to be up to him and the rest of the coaching staff to figure things out in the secondary. They could turn to a veteran cornerback that they picked up a few weeks ago.
“Me, personally, do you look at Mackensie Alexander, who they brought on a couple weeks ago, and say – hey, all my buddies around the league tell me Mackensie Alexander is a really good slot player, or that’s his best trick, slot player,” Broaddus said. “Do you trust him enough to play the slot and then also put (Daron) Bland on the outside? That’s what this might come to. If they don’t find something suitable at that left cornerback spot then maybe you put Bland on the outside and put Alexander inside and you go to battle that way.”
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