Christian Izien Named #1 Nickel Cornerback

[Mr_Twister]

Christian Izien Named No. 1 Nickel Cornerback - JoeBucsFan.com

Congratulations to undrafted rookie Christian Izien, the speedster small cornerback out of Rutgers. Meet your new Buccaneers nickel cornerback. He will start opening day as a key cog in the Tampa Bay defense. For those just waking up from a […]

www.joebucsfan.com

 

[LETSGORU91]

Congrats to him. DB University has been resurrected by Greg.

 

[93RUDoc]

Nice

 

[RuSnp]

Congrats to him. DB University has been resurrected by Greg.

With Greg and the ability to use the transfer portal I know our secondary will almost always be good.

 

[ashokan]

Ball strip last night

Christian Izien Forces, Kaevon Merriweather Recovers Fumble | Ravens vs. Bucs Highlights

S Christian Izien and Kaevon Merriweather team up for a turnover against the Baltimore Ravens in Preseason Week 3.

www.buccaneers.com

 

[jtung230]

Congrats to CI. He is a baller

 

[RUBOB72]

An NFL DB starter who actually played at Rutgers ? Geez how could this happen having had Schiano in charge. Happy for you Christian great job.

 

[colbert17]

Congrats Christian!!!!

 

[AM ClocksPF]

I don't know how these NFL scouts keep their jobs! Anyone watching a RU tape could see the talent, toughness and desire Izien has. For him not to be drafted is a head scratcher.

I know he is only 5'9 but he hits like a truck and is fast a heck. Expected a 5th or 6th round pick for Izien.

 

[AntiG]

not surprised! Izien was a perfect fit at nickel in the pros

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Congrats to Izien!

 

[ashokan]

not surprised! Izien was a perfect fit at nickel in the pros

At 5' 8" he's pretty small and that had to hurt (despite RU listing him at 5' 10" lol)
A nickle role is part LB with action inside the box.
A lot of small players would get swallowed-up but sometimes - if they have the leg strength - the smaller guys are really good at playing low (Ray Rice was good that way) .
When CI knocked the ball out you couldn't even see him he was so low - he actully punched up to hit ball lol

 

[mdk01]

At 5' 8" he's pretty small and that had to hurt (despite RU listing him at 5' 10" lol)
A nickle role is part LB with action inside the box.
A lot of small players would get swallowed-up but sometimes - if they have the leg strength - the smaller guys are really good at playing low (Ray Rice was good that way) .
When CI knocked the ball out you couldn't even see him he was so low - he actully punched up to hit ball lol

To me that's an argument for 3rd day, not undrafted.

 

[ashokan]

To me that's an argument for 3rd day, not undrafted.

I think a problem is that people lose jobs over bad drafts and the closer a player is to a sure thing the better staff feels about drafting the player. If a 5' 8" guy is a bust its easy for critics to complain "why did you draft a mini nickle?" I saw the same thing with Rice who should have been a 1st rounder but was considered small (he was drafted behind illuminaries like Rashard Mendenhall and Felix Jones).

Matt Millen took a chance on an Army DB in last round and then DOD said he couldn't play. Millen was dinged for wasting a pick. More often than not, team staff dont like to roll the dice. Pacheco obvioulsy had the combine to go higher but the RU stats didn't glow.

 

[RUBOB72]

I don't know how these NFL scouts keep their jobs! Anyone watching a RU tape could see the talent, toughness and desire Izien has. For him not to be drafted is a head scratcher.

I know he is only 5'9 but he hits like a truck and is fast a heck. Expected a 5th or 6th round pick for Izien.

He was not drafted because of NFL measurables we get it but even the most biased scouts would realize strength, speed explosion and desire should have put Izien into the conversation and a late rounder. Especially the history from DBU.

 

[yesrutgers01]

I had him at top of my list a while back when we had a thread on who may make a team this year. Congrats! What a great player for us.


BTW- did anyone else find the article to be all over the place?

 

[RUBOB72]

Somewhat but the fact he was from a current Rutgers team certainly played into his rankings. As far as we saw he performed well, played well and most important tested well.

 

[Knight Shift]

 

[RUTGERS95]

Christian Izien Named No. 1 Nickel Cornerback - JoeBucsFan.com

Congratulations to undrafted rookie Christian Izien, the speedster small cornerback out of Rutgers. Meet your new Buccaneers nickel cornerback. He will start opening day as a key cog in the Tampa Bay defense. For those just waking up from a […]

www.joebucsfan.com

awesome and well deserved given all his hard work