Jalen Ramsey is the NFL's most dynamic corner -- and next supervillain
Jalen Ramsey, with his rare combination of size, speed and explosiveness, could have played any skill position on a football field. But with his mentality, there was really only once choice.
At the 2016 NFL scouting combine, NFL Network's Kimberly Jones asked the hybrid defensive back out of Florida State which position he preferred. Ramsey made it clear: He was a corner. Not necessarily because he was physically best suited to play on the outside - he's built more like a strong safety - but because that's where the competition is:
"I think my best position is cornerback," Ramsey said. "I like being out there at cornerback mano a mano against a man. Better man wins."
Through the first two seasons of Ramsey's career, he has been, more often than not, the better man. He's taken on all types of receivers - and covered them on the outside and in the slot, in man and in zone, in press coverage or off - and hasn't really been beaten for a full 60 minutes yet. And Ramsey's much more than a lockdown corner. He's an enforcer on the edge against the run. He's a playmaker. And, he's a talker.
"I lock receivers down physically and then mentally. I get in their mind and get under their skin," Ramsey told the Florida Times-Union.
Ramsey is good. He knows he's good. And he's going to make sure everyone, including the receiver across from him, knows just how good he is, whether you like it or not. If you aren't a Jaguars fan, chances are, you won't.
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Ramsey is a lot of things, but scared isn't one of them. Scared players don't call out Aaron Rodgers before and after their first NFL game. And they definitely do not trash talk Steve Smith. But that's what Ramsey did as a rookie, and he backed up that talk by holding the veteran receiver to two catches for 32 yards when the two were matched up.
Smith fired back at the rookie on Twitter after the game. He wrote…
"In 5 to 10 u will be retiring and they will be taking my measurements for something you will NEVER BE. #HOFer. I got cleats with stronger thread then you!!!"
Then he doubled down the next morning during an appearance on Mike and Mike.
Via ESPN.com:
"Guess what, 16 years, I'm done playing football and sit behind a mic," Smith said. "The eye in the sky doesn't lie. I'm going to have a lot of Sundays to evaluate a lot of players. He will be a player I will be wearing my glasses with so I don't miss anything."
So now that Smith is in the TV role keeping his eye on Ramsey, how does he feel about the Jaguars corner? The NFL Network analyst called Ramsey and A.J. Bouye the best corner tandem in the league and gave Ramsey his much deserved props…
"I've had my tiffs with him but I can dislike a guy but also give him credit. He's a good player."
It's rare to go to war with Smith and come out unscathed. It's even rarer to still manage to earn his respect.
Getting under the skin of a temperamental player like Smith is one thing, but to get A.J. Green, maybe the quietest star receiver in the history of the league, to go into UFC mode? Now, that's an accomplishment only the league's greatest instigators can pull off.
Ramsey was in Green's face all afternoon. He shadowed the Bengals star and held him to one catch for six yards before the two were ejected early in the third quarter. And that came on a scramble drill on third-and-8. You better believe Ramsey was letting Green know he was getting shut down.
A week before shutting down the 6-foot-4 Green, Ramsey was charged with covering T.Y. Hilton, a 5-foot-9 water bug with 4.3 speed. Ramsey had no problem locking him down.