Lynch's move to CB showing signs of being a major success story
The ten cornerbacks selected in the first two rounds of 2017 NFL Draft averaged slightly over 6-foot tall, including eight at or above the mark, and weighed in on average at 197.1 pounds. Only one of those, Kevin King of Washington, was listed at 6-foot-3.
Conversely, the six receivers selected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, who those CBs were drafted to defend, averaged just over 6-foot-1, but three of those were listed at over 6-foot-2.
Even as the cornerbacks are perceptually getting bigger, there is still a consistently wide gap between the size of the largest receivers being selected in the process and the cornerbacks who are asked to cover them.
This also leads to the fact that the 2017 NFL Draft shattered the record for number of defensive backs taken with 56, making up over 20 percent of the players selected. In other words, the days of the best athletes being placed on the offensive side of the ball are over.
Meet Blake Lynch, Baylor’s sophomore cornerback who played receiver as a redshirt freshman in 2016 and hauled in 34 passes for 404 yards and three touchdowns for the Bears last fall.
The move was met with major question marks as the season began as the Bears were still looking for a breakout receiver to emerge. All eyes were on Lynch to be that man, but he was moved to corner the week of Baylor's first game and has only taken one offensive snap since.
Four weeks in and the move of Lynch is beginning to find its traction, especially with the emergence of fellow sophomore Denzel Mims at the receiver position.
At 6-foot-3 and a meager 205 pounds, Lynch has played in all four games and started one for the Bears, collecting 10 tackles and team-leading four pass breakups. He was part of a defensive unit that played five defensive backs the majority of the time against Baker Mayfield and No. 3 Oklahoma’s high-flying offense. He was only targeted once and the pass fell incomplete.
As they often do, stats can lie, but when given the opportunity to move Lynch back to the offensive side of the ball after a season-ending injury to Chris Platt, Matt Rhule stated that the East Texas product was too valuable of a piece the cornerback puzzle for the Bears to move back to offense despite the temptation.
“Yeah, I would love to, I just think he’s playing too well over there,” Rhule said. “Really at the end of the day, (Oklahoma) hit one deep ball on a tipped ball down the sideline. I thought our corners, when we played man, held up really well. Our safeties had a harder time, but our corners held up well.”
With his size and speed, Lynch provided the ability to line up on the outside when needed but also moved to the slot when needed to cover Oklahoma’s 6-foot-5, 254-pound tight end Mark Andrews. That type of versatility shown by the sophomore in only his fourth game as a defensive back shows the potential NFL General Managers drool over.
After tasting success offensively last season, the former U.S. Army All-American wide receiver admitted that the thought of moving to defense made him pause initially, but now he is fully embracing the move as he learns the position.
“It’s been kind of frustrating going out there the first week and not really doing what I had planned on doing, but personally, for me, it’s just getting better every single week and listening to Coach Fran (Brown) and working on my technique,” Lynch said.
Playing corner at the collegiate level will allow Lynch to hone his coverage skills, but the versatility he will develop through the next two-plus seasons will make him an even more valuable commodity for the Bears and eventually an NFL team.
Rhule recently stated Lynch’s well-rounded abilities would allow him to line up at cornerback and move inside to rush the passer in the same defensive series. That hasn’t happened yet, but that’s OK by Lynch, who is wanting to do everything he can to be the best corner he can right now.
“Yeah, I’m starting to get more comfortable with the defense,” Lynch said. “Just learning the coverages, knowing what to do, trying to get my technique right, and Coach Fran is a good coach that’s helping me do that.”
It’s a reality that Lynch has the talent to be an NFL receiver, but with the trend of defensive backs — not to mention the need for the big ones — the ceiling for his collegiate and future professional career make sense on the defensive side of the ball. It is also viewed as a move that will help Baylor win games in the short-term.
“It’s been a good process. In high school I played a little bit of both. I liked Coach (Bob) Bicknell as my receivers coach, I like Coach Fran, so it’s just really doing whatever Coach Rhule ask me to do to try and win games,” Lynch said.