One of the big concerns about Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert with the 2014 NFL Draft quickly approaching is his ineffectiveness against the run.
When it comes to playing cornerback for Pittsburgh Steelers, being able to offer run support and tackle is a pretty big prime requisite.
So how did Gilbert do against the run last season? While stats aren’t everything, you might be interested to know that of his 42 tackles last season, only 14 came against the run. Three of those 14, however, consisted of him merely pushing the runner out of bounds.
Of those remaining 11 run tackles that Gilbert was credited for last season, five of those went for 10 yards or more. Also, as you can see in the play by play below from last season, nine of the 14 run tackles that Gilbert was credited for resulted in a first down.
So what does the tape say? Well, it pretty much matches the stats. Gilbert wasn’t very involved at all last season in run support. He doesn’t seem very interested in sticking his face in the fan.
The Steelers like their young defensive backs to cut their teeth on special teams as kick and punt coverage players. Unless Gilbert changes his ways pretty quick, he could quite possibly be a liability when it comes to that phase of the game should he land in Pittsburgh.
Don’t get me wrong, Gilbert has positive attributes when it comes to playing the cornerback position, but run support is certainly not one of them and I really don’t see that changing at the NFL level.
| Play By Play | YDS |
|---|---|
| H 2-10 H48 Soza rush left for 10 yards to the OSU42, 1ST DOWN UTSA, out-of-bounds (Gilbert, Justin). | 10 |
| K 1-10 K21 Sams, Daniel rush for 12 yards to the KSU33, 1ST DOWN KSU (Gilbert, Justin). | 12 |
| K 1-15 O47 Sams, Daniel rush for 6 yards to the OSU41 (Gilbert, Justin;Lewis, Shaun). | 6 |
| K 2-5 O22 Hubert, John rush for 5 yards to the OSU17, 1ST DOWN KSU (Gilbert, Justin). | 5 |
| T 3-5 O15 Boykin, Trevone rush for 4 yards to the OSU11 (Gilbert, Justin). | 4 |
| I 1-10 I32 Richardson, SB rush for 51 yards to the OSU17, 1ST DOWN ISU (Gilbert, Justin;Gary, Shamiel). | 51 |
| K 1-10 K20 Sims,James rush for 11 yards to the KU31, 1ST DOWN KU, out-of-bounds (Gilbert, Justin). | 11 |
| K 3-9 O12 Sims,James rush for no gain to the OSU12 (Gilbert, Justin). | 0 |
| T 1-10 T25 Bergeron, Joe rush up middle for 5 yards to the UT30 (Gilbert, Justin;Lowe, Daytawion). | 5 |
| T 2-5 T30 Bergeron, Joe rush over left guard for 6 yards to the UT36, 1ST DOWN UT (Gilbert, Justin). | 6 |
| T 2-6 T40 Bergeron, Joe rush over right guard for 21 yards to the OSU39, 1ST DOWN UT (Gilbert, Justin). | 21 |
| O 4-1 S44 Saunders, Jalen rush for 12 yards to the OSU32, 1ST DOWN OU (Gilbert, Justin). | 12 |
| O 2-10 S44 Saunders, Jalen rush for 37 yards to the OSU7, 1ST DOWN OU (Gilbert, Justin). | 37 |
| M 1-10 M43 Clock 04:32, Hansbrough, Rus rush for 13 yards to the OSU44, 1ST DOWN MU, out-of-bounds (Gilbert, Justin). | 13 |
