By Jordan Long
The Indianapolis Colts were in need of a cornerback. Both starting cornerbacks are injured. Vontae Davis is out due to a sprained ankle. Patrick Robinson injured his groin during the Colts loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday. Backup Jalil Brown is also sidelined with an ankle injury. The Colts decided to sign Antonio Cromartie to help the Colts’ secondary.
Cromartie is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL today. He will be entering his 11th year. Cromartie previously played for the San Diego Chargers, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals. His best year in the NFL came in 2007 when he was with the Chargers. Cromartie recorded 44 tackles and 10 interceptions, returning one all the way to the end zone. Last season with the Jets was only the second time in his career that he didn’t intercept the ball but, still was able to tackle with at total of 29.
The New York Jets decided to release Cromartie at the end of the year. This saved the Jets $8 million in salary cap space. He was waiting for an opportunity to continue his NFL career. On Monday he got the call from the Colts.
According to Yahoosports.com, Head Coach Chuck Pagano said, ”He (Cromartie) had a great workout. He is familiar with the terminology. He’s been in a similar system playing for Rex (Ryan) in New York, basically the same system. He started cramming last night once he got signed and got in the playbook.”
I believe the Colts have an excellent cornerback. Opposing quarterbacks don’t really want to throw it his way because the ball will either be intercepted or tipped away. Those interceptions could lead to a short field for Andrew Luck and the Colts offense which could equal points on the scoreboard. Cromartie has a total of 31 interceptions in his career, 3 of them he returned for touchdowns. He can also tackle in the open field and rarely misses tackling an opponent with a total of 402 tackles.
The Colts look like they have fixed their cornerback position. Cromartie should be the starter. The Colts might be a more dangerous team with him on defense. Opponents need to pay attention to where this guy is on the field.
What do you think of the Colts signing Antonio Cromartie?
Leave a Reply