Joselio Hanson’s Inability to Backup At Cornerback May Have Cost Him

There have been numerous reports that the Eagles have released veteran nickel back/cornerback Joselio Hanson and i think roster numbers had a lot to do with it.  Hanson is no longer a cornerback, he’s really a nickel back specialist and that’s what I believe cost him his roster spot.

The veteran was in a battle all training camp and preseason with rookie 4th round draft pick Brandon Boykin for the number one nickel position.  One of the reasons I believe Hanson was let go was the fact he couldn’t play the cornerback spot, meaning he wasn’t fast enough to play outside at cornerback.

You don’t need as much speed to cover the slot as you do to play the outside cornerback position. You normally always have safety help deep at the nickel position, plus you can get more physical with the receiver, which was one Hanson’s techniques.  The refs aren’t as quick to call pass interference at the slot position as compared to outside at the cornerback position.

Rarely does the slot receiver run a deep route.  Quickness is more valuable than speed at that nickel position.  At the outside cornerback position, you must have speed.

Hanson’s speed is gone, he can’t run with the speedy receivers in the league.  Every time I would watch him in the one-on-one drills outside, he was no match for the deep pass when he played outside.  The veteran lost some weight to try to help with his speed disadvantage but it wasn’t enough.

He’s able to use his experience and toughness at the nickel position versus slot receivers and he was willing to come up and make tackles, like a safety at the nickel position because it’s almost like playing strong safety.

Unfortunately he can’t backup at cornerback because he doesn’t have the speed to run with the speedy receivers in the NFL, which means keeping him as a cornerback means he’s using an extra position.  Keeping him means using an extra roster spot for the cornerback position, yet he can’t backup at cornerback.

Boykin on the other hand has both the toughness to play the nickel position and the speed to play the outside cornerback.  It’s one of the reason I think he should play some safety.  In fact years ago, the nickel position was played by strong safeties.