https://www.theplayerstribune.com/aj-green-5-best-cornerbacks-nfl/amp/
AJ Green on the toughest CBs he has faced
Joe Haden
Two things come to mind when I think about Joe. One, this guy has got the longest arms I’ve ever seen on a corner his size. I remember the first time I lined up across from him in college, I looked down and his fingers were almost touching his ankles. He’s dangerous because he’s only 5′ 11″, but he’s got a surprisingly long reach. Two, this guy has four brothers. You know a guy is going to be super competitive when he’s got four brothers.
When you line up against Joe, he’s going to be laying hands on you all day. He’s going to initiate contact off the line with a quick stab to try to throw off your timing, and then try to ride your back hip the whole way. Watch the stab here.
Joe knows that you only got two seconds to do your work. This is something I think the average football fan might not totally understand. Like, they see the ball snap, and then they watch the quarterback drop back, and then the ball is in the air, and it all seems like a pretty long time. But if you could see the game through a receiver’s eyes, you’d realize that he only has two seconds to do his work. You got that three-step drop — that’s your whole window. By the time the ball is in the air, you better have your separation already.
So Joe knows that if he can just disrupt your first two steps off the line, he’s got you. He’s probably the best there is at knocking you off your route just a little bit — just enough where the ball is a half second early or a half second late. This is the kind of stuff that doesn’t always make the highlights, but that you appreciate as a player.
