Dante is. Dante Giannetta. You should be too. It’s been a while.
Unfortunately, the last time we saw Orlando Scandrick in the regular season was in 2014. He tore his ACL weeks before the season opener and missed the year entirely. But next season is a new season and Ol’ 32 is due for a comeback!
Orlando Scandrick, standing 5’10” weighing 195 pounds, may not have the length that Richard Sherman has, but he possesses great control and discipline. He does his job on the defense and he does it effectively through good positioning and awareness. While he is better in zone coverage, which is where he frequently plays, he is still talented enough to cover a team’s best receiver while in man.
In 2014, nobody played better in the secondary, possibly in the entire defense (since Lee was hurt in 2014), than cornerback Orlando Scandrick. His physical playing style provided the secondary unit’s personality. Scandrick did not allow a touchdown in primary coverage all season and graded as the eighth-best cover cornerback in the league in 2014. He was one of only three corners who, when targeted 80 or more times, did not give up a single touchdown.
That doesn’t mean Scandrick didn’t struggle at times in 2014. Opposing QBs completed about 74% of passes against Scandrick. Ideally you’d like that number to be around 50% or less. Not to mention, he isn’t much of a ball hawk. He had two picks in 2014 and has seven on his career. Numbers like those comfort a QB and make him feel more inclined to throw in his direction.
But, speaking of QBs, Scandrick can bulldoze into opposing QBs when called into a blitz. His ability to disguise the blitz separates him from other cornerbacks. That’s a good way to make a QB uncomfortable.
For his career, Scandrick has a total of 322 tackles and 9.5 sacks. He was the most reliable cornerback for the Cowboys in 2014, registering 55 tackles, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions.
At the end of 2013, he set a goal for 2014: Play well enough to make a Pro Bowl. While he fell short of that goal in 2014 and was struck with misfortune before the 2015 season, I’m excited to see what 2016 has in store for Scandy. He’ll be returning to his old buddies Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, Barry Church and J.J Wilcox as well as new ones like Byron Jones, Terrance Mitchell, Deji Olatoye and possibly a rookie defensive back. That makes me excited.
32 has flown under the radar for most of his career, which makes 2016 a perfect recipe for a thriving Orlando Scandrick. He’s due and he deserves it. I look forward to writing a future article about what a terrific comeback season Scandy is having in 2016.
It’ll be good to have you back, Orlando. We’ve missed you.
Scandrick is a major swing factor in next year's success and he's not being talked about enough. If he's his old self then he will be a better corner than anyone we had playing last year.