Why the Slide?: Isaiah Oliver, CB, Colorado
By Charlie Campbell, @draftcampbell
Four years ago, we started a series of articles on why certain prospects went undrafted. In that series, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player, and/or, what were the reasons for other teams to pass on that prospect. We got a lot of positive reader feedback about the series, so we decided to expand in the genre to investigate why some prospects slid in the draft. Three years ago, we started the Why the Slide? series, and this year it is back. Feel free to email me requests for Why the Slide? and Why Undrafted? at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.
For a lot of the leadup to the 2018 NFL Draft, Colorado cornerback Isaiah Oliver was considered to be a candidate to go late in the first round. The 6-foot, 201-pounder is big corner who also has the speed to run with NFL receivers. Coming off a final year in which Oliver totaled 13 passes broken up, two interceptions and 25 tackles, he had also displayed the ability to play on an island, as the Buffaloes lined him up in man coverage all the time. With his combination of size, speed, production, and good workouts, Oliver seemed like a good chance to go as a late first-round pick given his skill set at a premium position in the NFL. Surprisingly, Oliver slid to late in the second round in the 2018 NFL Draft, and almost got to the third round, before he was selected.
In speaking with team sources, they said that Oliver went late in the second round for a few reasons. The first was that some teams had Oliver graded in Round 2, so to them, Oliver went in the appropriate range. The reason why they had Oliver graded in the second round was he played almost exclusively press-man coverage at Colorado, and some teams want corners who have done more in zone and off-man coverage. Playing so much press man also led to some evaluators questioning whether Oliver can play off-man or zone because they never saw him do it.
One general manager from a team who thought Oliver could go in the first round told me they felt that Oliver slid because some teams had questions about his commitment to football after spending a lot of time competing in track. Those concerns weren’t wide spread from speaking to other teams, but it was on the mind of some. Thus, there were a few reasons why Oliver slid.
The Atlanta Falcons ended Isaiah Oliver’s fall, and he was a steal for them. After Jalen Collins didn’t work out, the Falcons needed another big outside corner, which Oliver fits. Dan Quinn’s scheme should be able to use Oliver in press-man coverage while developing his ability to play zone or off man. With Oliver, Desmond Trufant, Robert Alford and Brian Poole, the Falcons run four deep at cornerback, giving the Falcons a versatility in terms of the kind of receivers they can match up against. Oliver also is in a nice situation in that he doesn’t have to start immediately and can rotate into the game for the right matchups. Atlanta has an astute front office and coaching staff that I think will develop Oliver into a solid starting corner who ends being an excellent value as a late second-round pick.
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