Sunday, April 03, 2011

Player Profile #33: Terence Newman


Terence Newman
Position: Cornerback
Size: 5'11, 193
Age: 32, 9/4/78
College:Kansas State
Drafted: 2003: Round 1, Pick 5
Experience: 8 seasons

Salary History and Contract Status - 5/20/2008: Signed a six-year, $50.2 million contract extension through 2014. The deal contains $22.5 million guaranteed, including a $12 million signing bonus. 2011: $8 million, 2012: $6.016 million, 2013: $7,600,417, 2014: $7.5 million, 2015: Free Agent

2003 Draft Profile From OurLads.com:Terence Newman - Kansas State - 5'10 1/2 - 185 - 4.38 - Two-year starter at cornerback. Thorpe Award winner this past season. Has only average size but he's an explosive athlete with excellent speed - was the conference sprint champion. Very confident player with impressive man coverage skills. Not physical, but he works well in bump and run - can pedal quickly while maintaining tight position with the receiver as he comes off the line. Light on his feet. Reads routes well. Does a good job of coming out of his pedal and driving the ball. Has loose hips and can turn and accelerate smoothly. Positions his body well in deep coverage. Great leaper. Natural playmaker with good hands. Was used some as a wide receiver as a senior. Dangerous with the ball - big play return man. Has kick block ability. Doesn't look to get involved much in run support - tends to hang at the back of the pack rather than attack - is a decent tackler when called upon. Needs to wrap more consistently. Had a superb combine performance. A blue chip prospect.

Pre 2010: Since the day he was drafted in 2003, Terence Newman has been protecting the left side of the Cowboys defense on the corner. He has never played at a level that was considered spectacular by league standards, but always at a solid-to-above-average level. In 2007 and 2009, Newman was sent to the Pro Bowl for his play, and for most of his 8 seasons with the Cowboys was considered part of the solution to the Cowboys defense being among the league's best; yet, at the same time, he was always susceptible to the occasional deep ball over his head. On his draft day, many suggested the reason he was given the nod over Marcus Trufant of Washington State was Newman's exceptional ability to return punts. This, of course, would seem somewhat superfluous given that only in 2006 did the Cowboys ask Newman to return more than 10 punts and in his entire 8 years has only returned 38 - with 1 going for a TD (vs Detroit, 2006). Despite that, it seems reasonable to admit that he was the proper pick in 2003. Newman has been a solid and steady contributor - and a very highly compensated player as well.

2010: Unfortunately, last season Newman's performance was not very good. ProFootballFocus.com's graders positioned Newman's 2010 near the very bottom of all qualifying corners in the NFL. In fact, in terms of pass coverage, he was ranked #93 among the 100 who played enough in 2010. He was targeted the most (98) of the Cowboys corners and conceded the most catches as well (64). His opponent's passer rating to his man was best amongst corners, but at 91.1, there will not be too much bragging. Surely, his roughest day was on Thanksgiving, when he was the man who Drew Brees targeted often, including on a 3rd Down and long late in the 4th Quarter that would have secured the game for Dallas if they could have found a stop. Instead, Robert Meachem's 1st and only catch of the day came on a play where he simply ran right past Newman for 55 yards - the play certainly was a major key in the Saints' escape with a win. Then, 2 weeks later, he was victimized for 60 more yards on the game's first play against the Eagles and Desean Jackson. On the plus side, 3 interceptions in the final 3 weeks of the season gave him 5 for the year - tying him with Gerald Sensabaugh for the team lead.

2011 Analysis: Looking at Newman makes you wonder what some of the league's more shrewd personnel departments would do with him. On the books for $8 million in 2011 and he hits age 33 before Week 1. Should they assume 2010 was simply a few bad plays and he can still provide reasonable corner play again in 2011 like they received in 2009? Or, would some teams respect the - "it is better to cut the cord a year early than a year late" - cliche? If the Cowboys were feeling like they must replace him, then you can understand the fascination with taking a corner at #9 because while you can upgrade from Newman these days, you can also really miss him if you don't find a very suitable replacement. I fully expect the Cowboys to proceed with him on the left flank again because there are too many holes elsewhere. His play did drop in 2010, but no worse than Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, so it would seem folly to automatically assume he played poorly because of his advanced age. It would make sense to begin to plan for his departure, but I think it is a bit early to make the move - assuming that Patrick Peterson doesn't fall into their laps.

Previous Profiles:

Miles Austin

Alex Barron

Martellus Bennett

Stephen Bowen

Josh Brent - new 3/30

Keith Brooking

Dez Bryant

Victor Butler

Marc Colombo

Phil Costa

Leonard Davis

Doug Free

Andre Gurode

Montrae Holland

Jesse Holley

Sam Hurd

Bradie James

Kyle Kosier

Sean Lee

Kevin Ogletree

Igor Olshansky

John Phillips

Jay Ratliff - New 3/28

Marcus Spears

Anthony Spencer

DeMarcus Ware

Brandon Williams

Leon Williams

Roy Williams

Jason Witten

Sam Young

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